Good Read: Paging Apple: Google, Microsoft And Hulu Have All Just Launched 4K Movie Services
John Archer , CONTRIBUTOR
I write about TVs, projectors and other home entertainment technology.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Over the past few days no less than three of the world’s biggest providers of streamed video content, Google, Hulu and Microsoft, have moved into the 4K streaming space.
First up, Google made good on the promise it gave at the launch of its new Chromecast Ultra in October and delivered the first 4K/UHD movie titles to its Google Play store. In fact, it’s leapt in with both feet, serving up 125 films right off the bat. These titles include recent hits like Star Trek: Beyond and the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot.
Google now offers 125 4K movies for Chromecast Ultra owners. (Pic: Google)
Google now offers 125 4K movies for Chromecast Ultra owners. (Pic: Google)
As with most good 4K news there’s a short-term downside in that at the time of writing the 4K titles are only available in the US and Canada. Also problematic is the cost of Google’s first Ultra HD content. Currently there’s no option to rent UHD titles; you can only buy them. And buying them will set you back at least $29.99 per movie - not exactly the big saving over the cost of Ultra HD Blu-rays that we might have hoped for.
Nonetheless, Google’s move into 4K is still highly significant for both 4K TV owners always keen to find more native UHD content and the video streaming marketplace.
Hulu’s newly launched 4K service, meanwhile, scores better on the value front than Google’s, as it’s available to Hulu subscribers at no extra cost. However, it offers a far less impressive line up of 4K titles. Aside from a few pretty uninspiring Hulu Original TV shows, such as 11.22.63, The Path and Chance, the only UHD movies on offer are 20 James Bond titles.
It’s also important to note that at the time of writing you can only watch Hulu in 4K on the Xbox One S and PS4 Pro games consoles.
Presumably Hulu will be working to add more Ultra HD content and compatible playback devices sooner rather than later, but it hasn’t got any more news to report on this front right now.
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If you want to watch Hulu's 4K content you'll need a PS4 Pro or Xbox One S. (Pic: Sony PlayStation)
If you want to watch Hulu's 4K content you'll need a PS4 Pro or Xbox One S. (Pic: Sony PlayStation)
As for Microsoft, it revealed last week that it is going to update the Windows 10 Movies and TV app to enable it to deliver Ultra HD content via the Windows store. No details are available yet on the number of titles that will be available at launch, or on Microsoft’s Ultra HD pricing structure. But more information should emerge soon once the platform has been rolled out to people enrolled with the Windows Insiders program.
As well as it being a curious coincidence that three major online video suppliers should choose the same week to join Amazon, Netflix and Vudu in supporting 4K, the latest UHD developments are notable for the way they leave another rather important video streaming service provider looking increasingly left out in the HD cold.
I’m talking here, of course, about Apple. I’ve written before about my frustration at Apple failing to incorporate 4K support into its most recent Apple TV box when pretty much all of its hardware rivals offer it. But it’s now clear that Apple is also getting left behind in resolution terms on the content side too.
Apple TV is looking increasingly isolated in its lack of 4K support. (Pic: Apple)
Apple TV is looking increasingly isolated in its lack of 4K support. (Pic: Apple)
As well as being a big problem on a sheer ‘keeping up with the competition’ basis, Apple’s 4K tardiness is also damaging to the image of a brand that works so hard to be associated with the cutting edge of technology across so many of its other business areas.
Worst of all, failing to embrace 4K yet leaves Apple’s entire video ecosystem - software and hardware - sitting millions of pixels out of kilter with the 4K TVs now enjoying pride of place in tens of millions of living rooms across the globe.
Apple has previously defended its HD-only position on the grounds that it doesn’t believe 4K is a mass market proposition, and it is only interested in making platforms and experiences for the masses. But as I predicted when the latest HD-only Apple TV box launched back in 2015, as 4K becomes less and less the niche and more and more the norm with every passing day, Apple’s HD-only policy is increasingly starting to look more exclusive than inclusive.
Here’s hoping, then, that someone high up at Apple has noticed the past week’s significant 4K moves by its rivals and has decided to make 4K support a matter of priority. For when it comes to the world of television, delivering an innovative user system is no longer enough.
John Archer , CONTRIBUTOR
I write about TVs, projectors and other home entertainment technology.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Over the past few days no less than three of the world’s biggest providers of streamed video content, Google, Hulu and Microsoft, have moved into the 4K streaming space.
First up, Google made good on the promise it gave at the launch of its new Chromecast Ultra in October and delivered the first 4K/UHD movie titles to its Google Play store. In fact, it’s leapt in with both feet, serving up 125 films right off the bat. These titles include recent hits like Star Trek: Beyond and the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot.
Google now offers 125 4K movies for Chromecast Ultra owners. (Pic: Google)
Google now offers 125 4K movies for Chromecast Ultra owners. (Pic: Google)
As with most good 4K news there’s a short-term downside in that at the time of writing the 4K titles are only available in the US and Canada. Also problematic is the cost of Google’s first Ultra HD content. Currently there’s no option to rent UHD titles; you can only buy them. And buying them will set you back at least $29.99 per movie - not exactly the big saving over the cost of Ultra HD Blu-rays that we might have hoped for.
Nonetheless, Google’s move into 4K is still highly significant for both 4K TV owners always keen to find more native UHD content and the video streaming marketplace.
Hulu’s newly launched 4K service, meanwhile, scores better on the value front than Google’s, as it’s available to Hulu subscribers at no extra cost. However, it offers a far less impressive line up of 4K titles. Aside from a few pretty uninspiring Hulu Original TV shows, such as 11.22.63, The Path and Chance, the only UHD movies on offer are 20 James Bond titles.
It’s also important to note that at the time of writing you can only watch Hulu in 4K on the Xbox One S and PS4 Pro games consoles.
Presumably Hulu will be working to add more Ultra HD content and compatible playback devices sooner rather than later, but it hasn’t got any more news to report on this front right now.
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If you want to watch Hulu's 4K content you'll need a PS4 Pro or Xbox One S. (Pic: Sony PlayStation)
If you want to watch Hulu's 4K content you'll need a PS4 Pro or Xbox One S. (Pic: Sony PlayStation)
As for Microsoft, it revealed last week that it is going to update the Windows 10 Movies and TV app to enable it to deliver Ultra HD content via the Windows store. No details are available yet on the number of titles that will be available at launch, or on Microsoft’s Ultra HD pricing structure. But more information should emerge soon once the platform has been rolled out to people enrolled with the Windows Insiders program.
As well as it being a curious coincidence that three major online video suppliers should choose the same week to join Amazon, Netflix and Vudu in supporting 4K, the latest UHD developments are notable for the way they leave another rather important video streaming service provider looking increasingly left out in the HD cold.
I’m talking here, of course, about Apple. I’ve written before about my frustration at Apple failing to incorporate 4K support into its most recent Apple TV box when pretty much all of its hardware rivals offer it. But it’s now clear that Apple is also getting left behind in resolution terms on the content side too.
Apple TV is looking increasingly isolated in its lack of 4K support. (Pic: Apple)
Apple TV is looking increasingly isolated in its lack of 4K support. (Pic: Apple)
As well as being a big problem on a sheer ‘keeping up with the competition’ basis, Apple’s 4K tardiness is also damaging to the image of a brand that works so hard to be associated with the cutting edge of technology across so many of its other business areas.
Worst of all, failing to embrace 4K yet leaves Apple’s entire video ecosystem - software and hardware - sitting millions of pixels out of kilter with the 4K TVs now enjoying pride of place in tens of millions of living rooms across the globe.
Apple has previously defended its HD-only position on the grounds that it doesn’t believe 4K is a mass market proposition, and it is only interested in making platforms and experiences for the masses. But as I predicted when the latest HD-only Apple TV box launched back in 2015, as 4K becomes less and less the niche and more and more the norm with every passing day, Apple’s HD-only policy is increasingly starting to look more exclusive than inclusive.
Here’s hoping, then, that someone high up at Apple has noticed the past week’s significant 4K moves by its rivals and has decided to make 4K support a matter of priority. For when it comes to the world of television, delivering an innovative user system is no longer enough.
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