Hulu, a joint online video venture by NBC and News Corp that has been billed as an alternative to YouTube and other video sharing sites, launched today in private beta. Before the site crashed on us, we managed to get a glimpse at Hulu’s design and some of its features.
Hulu lets users browse an array of studio-approved content, including popular television shows such as The Office, The Simpsons and The Family Guy, copies of which are proving harder and harder to find with any kind of reliability on YouTube. Hulu’s media player includes the usual "share" and "embed" options found on most video sites. It also boasts an impressive video editor that allows users to select only the parts of a video they wish to display in an embedded clip.
An obvious downside is that the site crashed on us after just a few minutes playing around. Assuming that is just a temporary glitch – Hulu would seem to have a bright future ahead of it as a showcase for studios’ online content.
