Yes, we’ve seen various ways to add a Boxee / Hulu Desktop launcher to Windows Media Center before — usually requiring the use of a menu editing tool. This time, however, we’ve got a script designed for Windows 7 Media Center that will do all the work for you and even make it so that when you exit Boxee or Hulu Desktop you’ll land back into Media Center. Just download and install the free/donation-ware Boxee / Hulu Desktop MSI files from Teknowebworks.com and you’re good to go. Enjoy! (UPDATE: XBMC launcher available)

Wow, I think we might have a winner here. The folks at Myka have created a hybrid HD media player / HTPC that’s based on Ubuntu. The Myka ION provides a custom media dashboard that one boots straight into on top of a fully configured and optimized PC that supports Hulu, Boxee, XBMC, and other popular services. The Myka ION as the name suggest leverages the NVIDIA ION (9400M) graphic chipset with a power sipping Intel Atom N330 processor. In other words, it can handle full 1080p HD video with ease. MORE »

Chris Pirillo (Chris.Pirillo.com), Pete Cashmore (Mashable), and Brian Chen (Wired.com) share their thoughts on the launch of Windows 7 and the possibility of Hulu moving to a subscription model. All in all, it’s an interesting roundtable from three self avowed Mac guys with Windows experience. But I agree with Chris… the OS is becoming irrelevant in these days where everyone just logs in to their computer and fires up a web browser. I might also add that desktop replacement web apps and non-platform specific industry standards in regards to networking and media streaming help make the case as well.

Say ain’t so?! Broadcasting & Cable is reporting that Chase Carey, deputy chairman of News Corp., told the audience at B&C’s On-Screen Summit in New York this past Wednesday that Hulu will switch over to a subscription model as early as 2010, but will leave some content free to view. MORE »

It was nearly five months ago when Hulu first announced the release of Hulu Desktop for Windows and Mac. Now the Hulu Labs team has added a Linux version to the mix with 32 and b4-bit packages available for Fedora and Ubuntu. Attached here is a demo of Hulu Desktop running on Ubuntu that I created [Watch in HD]. Quick impressions: the Hulu Desktop UI is snappy, intuitive, and offers a better navigation and playback experience than Hulu.com. All Hulu needs to do now is publish a .deb / .rpm repository URL so the Linux OS package managers can download software updates automatically.

SnapStream Blog is confirming that their FireFly Mini ($29.99) remote is fully compatible with Hulu Desktop. The news isn’t mind-blowing by any means since the software’s documentation states that its compatible with most media center PC remotes. However, if you’re looking for something compact and inexpensive to navigate Hulu Desktop, FireFly Mini may be just the ticket. FYI, the Hulu Desktop interface only requires the Up, Down, Left, Right, Enter, and Back buttons to operate.

Exciting news today for Hulu lovers. Hulu is announcing the immediate availability of Hulu Desktop for Mac and PC. The current offering is one of many new products being released from the site’s new skunkworks, Hulu Labs. Above is a video overview of Hulu Desktop which will provide users a rich, browser-less media experience that can be controlled via a mouse / keyboard or six-buttom PC or Mac remote. I think the only thing missing from Hulu’s strategy now is premium movie rentals and a TV widget for next-gen networked TVs.

[UPDATE] We’ve reported on VPN workarounds before to access sites like Hulu who only serve their regional viewership (USA). Unfortunately, the vast majority of these VPN services charge a monthly fee to let you pass data through their servers and gain a US-based IP to fool the online providers. Well, it turns out a highly rated VPN service called Hotspot Shied by AnchorFree Inc. doesn’t charge a penny, but may subject you to ads through its Mac / Windows desktop client. So, if you’re looking for a way to tap US-only online services or just wish to protect your Internet surfing using an encrypted VPN, take Hotspot Shield for a spin. MORE »

TVersity has stepped up their game and has added access to many of the top video sites on the Net [full list]. According to TVersity’s announcement (attached below), TVersity Pro ($29.95) is able to accomplish this by playing premium web content via an “off-screen browser.” TVersity is still able to transcode user generated video from these same sites for playback on supported devices, but premium content, which needs to maintain ad insertion / tracking / measurement scripts, will open up in a dedicated browser. In addition, TVersity has added new drag-in-drop subscription functions (in addition to RSS) to its GUI so one can keep current with their favorite content channels. MORE »

If you’re running MediaMall’s PlayOn server application ($39.99 – 14 day free trial available) on your Windows Vista PC, you’re gonna be ecstatic to learn that a freeware add-in called vmcPlayIt has been released that will display available Netflix, Amazon VOD, Hulu, YouTube, CBS, CNN, ESPN content directly through the Windows Vista Media Center and Media Center Extender interface. Overall, the integration looks pretty solid from the screenshots available. Give it a spin and let us know how well it works for you. [via]