In November, Netflix finally introduced something its viewers had been waiting to see for a long time: the ability to download movies and TV shows so they can be viewed offline. At the same time, Hulu said it was working on introducing a similar feature, but details were fairly scarce. Now, the company’s CEO, Mike Hopkins, has given the streaming service’s subscribers a rough idea of how long the wait will be.
“Yes, it’s definitely on our road map. It’s something that we’re going to be doing in a few months,” Hopkins said in an interview with Adweek, speaking about offline playback. “We’re working hard on the technology around that and getting the rights squared away.”
While that vague idea is a far cry from a release date or even a window, it’s likely welcome news to a large number of the company’s subscribers. In November, Ben Smith, Hulu’s senior vice president and head of experience, spoke at Open Mobile Summit, telling the audience that the service has a large number of users who watch Hulu using only their mobile devices. This is the exact type of viewer that offline viewing is a key feature for, as not every area has fast enough data for streaming, if you can even get a signal at all.
Another thing that isn’t yet clear is exactly what will be available to stream. In the case of Netflix, not everything available on the service can be viewed offline. Even for items that can be viewed offline, there is generally an availability window after which they are rendered useless. Hulu has yet to confirm its offline viewing would work this way, but considering the rights issues Hopkins mentioned, it seems extremely likely.
Another long-awaited feature, user profiles, is finally being added to Hulu. Initially only available on the web version of the service, it has begun to roll out to other platforms, like its mobile app, and should be available on all versions of the app soon.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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