02.13.2009 — ReQuest appears to have the first high-performance media server with Hulu built in.
A pioneer of integration-friendly music and movie servers, ReQuest now has a free Hulu app that lets users access thousands of free TV episodes, movies and other content from the comfort of their couch.
Anything that can be done from a computer desktop can now be accomplished with a simple IR remote.
The solution was "not at all easy" to develop, says ReQuest CEO Peter Cholnoky. That's because Hulu has a PC-centric, mouse-driven interface, and ReQuest wanted something that was more TV-friendly.
"We think we put together a really simple interface," Cholnoky says. "It's all IR-based – up, down, left, right, enter."
ReQuest did the dirty work on the back end to offer navigation tools that Hulu alone does not provide. "You can fast-forward and skip really easily," says Cholnoky. "There's no Mickey Mouse-stuff involved at all."
There's an on-screen text-search engine, as well.
In the ReQuest scheme, users can tag favorite shows using a simple IR remote. "You can put any shows into 'My Shows' and it is automatically updated as new episodes come online," Cholnoky explains. "We do all of that tagging. You never have to go to the Hulu site."
Furthermore, he says, users need not mess with full-screen toggles. Once you select a show, "it just starts playing through the entire thing at full screen. You can fast-forward, reverse, jump around, etc., with a simple IR remote."
Do ReQuest Customers Care about Hulu?
Cholnoky notes that Hulu content "is not the best looking on a big screen, but it's free."
Considering that ReQuest customers pay big bucks for that crisp music and movie experience, do they really care about inferior – albeit free – content from Hulu?
Apparently so. Cholnoky says its dealers have been requesting this feature "big time."
That and Netflix. The Netflix application for ReQuest should be available "fairly quickly" and the company is "working with a whole bunch of partners," Cholnoky says. "The end user should be able to pick which one [content engine] they want."
ReQuest already added YouTube to the line up last year, as well as photos, Web cameras, stock tickers and other widgets.
The Hulu interface is available today via a free download.
Currently the software works with ReQuest's IMC (Intelligent Music and Movie Client). Up to four IMCs (15 when coupled with an approved NAS) can be connected through the home network to a ReQuest server, delivering 1080p video throughout the house. Users can access music and videos (including DVDs stored on the server) from any ICM in the home.
To be sure, plenty of other providers have integrated Hulu navigation into their TV-centric products.
Newcomer Boxee has it; Media Center almost has it via a third-party developer; ZeeVee offers it through its Zviewer application; and I suspect Roku will come out with a Hulu box similar to its $99 Netflix version (which still requires you to do the legwork on your PC before actually watching your movies).
And when will Hulu ever come to Vudu (sigh) and Slingbox?
Microsoft promises similar functionality with Windows 7, and Crestron will soon release the ADMS server which aggregates all sorts of content whether onboard, online or in-house.
But -- correct me if I'm wrong -- ReQuest is the only company that currently provides a rich Hulu interface through a high-performance, integration-friendly, custom-oriented media server.
The ReQuest ICM client retails for $2,495 and requires a ReQuest server, sold separately.
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