If you haven’t heard about PlayOn, MediaMall’s PC-to-console video streaming software, you will soon. Moving to become a major player in the streaming content world, PlayOn has grabbed some major wins lately, and it doesn’t look like they’re planning on slowing down. In a software update hitting today, PlayOn has added streaming support for Amazon’s Video on Demand service along with content from Revision3.
PlayOn is available for $40, and currently compatible with the PS3 and Xbox 360. You just install the server software on your PC, then stream the content over your network back to your console of choice. It’s well known that PlayOn is working on adding Wii compatibility, which ought to make it the dominant force in the console streaming market.
This news comes just days after the announcement that Roku has added Amazon VoD support to their $99 player, and the service has found its way to TiVo boxes and Sony Bravia TVs as well. It’s quickly becoming a must-have feature for anything that plugs in to your TV and has a net connection. If you’ve already got a compatible console and aren’t looking to add a new box to your AV set, PlayOn seems like a fairly solid alternative.
PlayOn has long supported Hulu, CBS.com, ESPN.com, CNN.com, YouTube, and Netflix, and these latest additions are rounding things out nicely. Next up on PlayOn’s plate is ABC.com content, for which they’re currently in talks with ABC. It’s beginning to look more and more like the average joe won’t actually need cable or an antenna in order to stay entertained in their living room.
We’ve just started putting PlayOn through the paces, but we like what we see so far – if you want to check it out for yourself, a 2 week trial is available at their site.
[via Audioholics]
I have everything they don’t currently support….
A Mac and a Wii…
What I dont understand is why PlayOn gets by showing Hulu content but Hulu is putting the smack down on boxee, which does the same thing, in an even less obtrusive way–but on Mac/Linux rather than the Windows platform.
…the devil is in the details…PlayOn and Boxee have a very different implementation
How so?
Boxee was collecting and redistributing Hulu’s content through Boxee’s server, to the Boxee client…a clear case copyright infringement.
I use PlayOn on my DirecTV HR 20 and 21, Xbox, and PS3. It works great, though the DirecTV won’t let you resume where you left off.. you have to watch the show all at once.
Boxee was collecting and redistributing Hulu’s content through Boxee’s server, to the Boxee client…a clear case copyright infringement.
I’m not understanding this market.
my pc direct connects to my tv as a monitor. 26% of households have tv’s that serve the dual role.
of the remaining 74%, most late adopter households can’t figure out to connect the pc to the tv – or set the blinking time on the console.
so, where is the market? just asking.
there’s too much in my living room already – it’s been great watching Hulu and Netflix via PlayOn (works great through my PS3)… looking forward to trying AMZN on-demand now.
Having some form of appliance (Be it console or a dedicated media client of some sort) in the living room is in most cases a much better idea than using a general purpose PC.
The main reasons for this depend on who you are. For a typical consumer the noise, aesthetics and inconvenience of another device (if using an existing console) are big negatives to the computer by the TV solution.
Extenders have a much higher cost:performance ratio compared to using regular PCs (Bullet proof 1080P support over HDMi for $199 is compelling)
I purchased PlayOn because I was enjoying the trial. Please, DO NOT purchase this service. Ever since I bought it, I’ve had nothing but problems. Hulu has not been working, which is the reason I got it. If you want to use the software, you have to check their blog periodically, because it doesn’t auto update.
When I contacted customer service regarding my issues, I was chastised for not going through the proper channels — the guy (who happened to be the CEO or president of the company), was belligerent and disrespectful. When I jumped through their hoops and finally got to their customer service, I was told there would be no refunds, even though the product remains unusable for me (because my only desire is to watch Hulu, and it simply doesn’t work).
The good news is, there will probably be free software that does the exact same thing and more. In the meantime, I can just watch anything in my Windows Media Player on my Xbox, or just stick a USB stick with movies and shows into the USB port.
You must have purchased the software right in the middle of the issues they were having a few months back. Everything works great on my XBOX 360…especially HULU.
I’ve never been so happy with a software purchase before.