Though it can no longer host Hulu's online videos directly, Boxee has found a way to continue streaming some of the site's content to users.
A new version of Boxee alpha supports RSS feeds from Hulu, plus YouTube, Yahoo!, Google Video and others. "While it’s not as attractive or robust as our previous Hulu application, it will additionally support Hulu’s public RSS feeds," the Boxee blog says. Boxee's software, which works with several set-top boxes, connects televisions with streaming online content.
Hulu pulled its videos from Boxee last month, shortly after it did the same with TV.com. It seems Hulu's content providers -- specifically, the content partners for News Corp and NBC Universal -- are behind all this, and Boxee is learning the hard way about the ins and outs of content licensing. "While we don’t come from an entertainment or cable background, we are learning quickly," the blog says. "It is a complex business. Our meetings with Hulu and their content providers reinforced that point."
Boxee calls the RSS streaming a "bleeding edge" release, meaning that it's not thoroughly tested and potentially buggy. A more stable version of the alpha is coming March 24. More plans for Boxee's beta release will also be revealed at that time. Another new perk of the latest alpha is an automatic updater, so users should be able to get the latest version without checking in on Boxee's blog or Twitter feed.
