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In a recent interview, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar told technology reporter Om Malik that his company was “very bullish” on mobile, even going so far as to say “we will embrace every device.” That’s a funny statement, considering that the company has been touting that same sentiment for years but has yet to launch anything for mobile, be it an app or simply a mobile-ready streaming site. Now, with the launch of the iPad just around the corner, the rumors of an iPhone/iPad Hulu app are rising up again. But there’s a bigger mobile web than just the one accessible via Apple products, and that may be what Hulu has its eye on now. “We don’t think about one device only,” Kilar said. However, going mobile is going to be a challenge for Hulu. And it’s not as simple as re-encoding a few videos, no matter what you may have heard. Sponsor Problem A: Hulu’s Business Model Needs Work The fact that Hulu exists at all is somewhat of an amazement. Through tenuous connections with major studios, the collaborative, experimental effort to bring streaming TV to web (and make it profitable) has managed to attract a number of users in the U.S. Although the audience size varies widely depending on who’s counting, the company has managed to become a household name thanks to eye-catching commercials on NBC featuring actors from the network’s top shows. But there’s a problem facing Hulu: in-video advertising is, apparently, not as profitable as once hoped. In fact, it’s just too expensive , says Marc Ruxin, the Chief Innovation Officer for ad agency network McCann Worldgroup. Hulu has been aware of this problem, though, and has been hinting towards the launch of a subscription service , with News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch telling an investor conference last fall that the company, was looking at “adding subscription services and pay per view” options. Through the subscription model, Hulu could potentially generate enough revenue to keep the studios happy and maybe even encourage them to offer up more programming. Unfortunately, the subscription model has yet to launch and the profits from video ads have been far too lean for some Hulu participants. Recently, for example, Viacom pulled two of the top shows – The Daily Show and the Colbert Report – from the site, claiming that they simply weren’t earning enough money via the advertising model currently in place. Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman said that “on the current economic model for Hulu, there’s just not much in it for us to continue at this time.” And so the situation degrades. So what is Hulu doing now? It’s trying to attract more viewers to its site with the launch of ” If I Can Dream ,” an original series that premiered earlier this month. The fact that they’re now making the foray into this sort of online programming is somewhat worrying. After all, if hit video webisodes alone made for a profitable service, then YouTube would have achieved profitability ages ago, instead of (maybe) getting there this year , five years post-launch. Let’s face it, original programming is a bonus for Hulu users, but it’s not going to take the place of hot shows like the now-departed Comedy Central fare. Problem B: Will Apple Allow a Hulu App on the iPhone/iPad? Another problem? Hulu has been planning to delay its iPhone app launch until a subscription model was in place, according to earlier reports . But with the biggest names pulling out, subscriptions could be a harder sell. Still, even if Hulu was able to make subscriptions happen, there are no guarantees that Apple would ever allow them into the iTunes store, especially considering they’re offering a competing product. (See: Google Voice banishment from the iPhone , for example). Meanwhile, Hulu’s online site doesn’t work in the iPhone’s web browser because it was built in Flash. If Apple rejects the Hulu app from iTunes, the company’s other option is encoding all their site’s content in H.264 and make that available via HTML5, the new web language that offers streaming video sans plugin. Since this has already been done, a Hulu app could launch a player on the iPhone or iPad, if, of course, Apple allowed them to do so. If not, then a mobile site would have to be built in HTML5 – video controls, overall UI, advertisements and all. That’s no simple process. What’s Hulu Doing Now? So is this the plan Hulu has decided on now? It’s hard to know for sure. Like Apple, the company is incredibly secretive about their plans and product roadmap, often refusing to respond to calls and emails entirely, even to say “no comment.” And yet, the Hulu iPhone app exists. We’ve spoken to someone who’s seen it…but that was ages ago. For all we know, iPhone/iPad app plans have since been scrapped to work on a new solution that works around any potential Apple restrictions. But sources inside Hulu have clammed up lately, meaning they’re either building something top, top secret…or perhaps nothing at all. We hope it’s the former, because frankly, an iPad without Hulu is a sad, sad affair. But will we ever see a real app? At this point, we’re not holding our breath. Discuss

The Blackberry just doesn’t seem to have the luster it once did. Today, it had another nationwide outage. According to Data Outage News: “A number of users are reporting and an escalated RIM tech support call has confirmed data issues affecting WiFi devices NOT connected to a WiFi network. The outage is sporadic and issues are confirmed on at least on Verizon and T-Mobile on both US east and west coasts. Again, if you are connected to WiFi, you likely won’t notice any problems until you are out of WiFi range. This is not affecting ALL WiFi users, the reports are sporadic, but across all carriers, BIS and BES included.” Sponsor What’s going in with the Blackberry? Once the enterprise stalwart, it is now looking like a struggling behemoth. Its interface almost seems antiquated. An analyst group is now saying the iPhone is expected to beat out the Blackberry in 2011 for the number one spot. And now we have another outage. Twitter users are all over today’s outage. Some people are saying their service has been out since the morning. There have been some reports that the outage is international in scope. The last Blackberry outage came in December . Reported outages also came in 2007 and 2008. Blackberry has been facing a lot of of market pressure. The iPhone, the Android and the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series all present challenges to the Blackberry. A report by Trefis shows the iPhone beating out the Blackberry by 2011. The iPhone’s surge into the business community is a major reason for it overtaking the Blackberry. A Trefi analyst write in Forbes : We expect Apple’s market share to overtake that of RIM by 2011, and for Apple and RIM to have 11% and 8% market share, respectively, by the end of Trefis forecast period. We believe sales of the iPhone will eventually outpace BlackBerry sales for the following reasons: 1. Apple’s ecosystem of consumer products (Macs, iPad, Apple TV) and services (iTunes, iPhone apps) make the iPhone a more attractive phone for many consumers compared to the BlackBerry 2. End of AT&T exclusivity will give Apple’s iPhone wider distribution in the US (comparable to BlackBerry distribution) 3. iPhone is making inroads with business customers that have traditionally preferred the BlackBerry Discuss

After recent announcements by Foursquare of partnerships with big time players like Zagat, the New York Times and Bravo , Gowalla is fighting back with its own major media partnership. Gowalla and the Travel Channel announced today that the two companies will be working together to offer “the integration of proprietary Travel Channel content into Gowalla’s social networking service.” Along with another deal, Gowalla has started to connect the virtual with the real, a direction we think will be key in succeeding in the location-based app arena. Sponsor According to a press release , the agreement will begin with tomorrow’s premiere of “Food Wars” on the Travel Channel. In much the same way that Foursquare began offering special badges and information on venues featured in Bravo’s television shows, Gowalla will begin adding new features based on the locations in the show. Here’s the company’s explanation: The first content integration will focus on the new series, Food Wars, a new Travel Channel offering where blindfolded participants choose sides to determine “Who Makes The Best Dish In Town.” Food Wars pits the nation’s most famous culinary rivals against one another for a final showdown, where a blind taste test will settle the debate. Locations used in the series will be integrated into the Gowalla platform and Gowalla users will be able to check in and find specific show information, along with the details of the culinary showdown that was filmed there, pick up Items specific to the show, and be awarded specially created passport stamps. Gowalla also quietly released an Android version of its app this weekend, which is currently available for download in the Android Marketplace. This comes just in time for SXSW Interactive, which is bound to have thousands of techies roaming Gowalla’s hometown of Austin. As the CNET article on the deal points out, Gowalla has led rival Foursquare in the funding realm, with $8.4 million in Series B funding last year. And while we do like the look of Gowalla, Foursquare offers real-life incentives, such as discounts at certain locations for becoming mayor. Well, just in time for the aforementioned SXSW, Gowalla will have some real-life incentives too – Austin’s homegrown Sweet Leaf Tea . Now, the Sweet Leaf deal isn’t quite up to par with a Zagat partnership, but it’s one to keep in mind over the next couple of weeks nonetheless, as you’re wandering Austin’s streets and growing more dehydrated by the moment. (Yes, we know how much beer you really drink.) According to Gowalla’s blog , there will be virtual Sweet Leaf Tea cans around town that will be redeemable for the real thing, so keep an eye out. Gowalla’s first foray into integrating its virtual collectibles with real-life goods came in early January, with its partnership with InCase , a maker of iPhone cases, among other things. As part of that deal, users could collect different InCase-branded virtual items and when they checked in at Apple stores, they had a chance of winning an iPhone case upon checking in. So just by going to a location, you were entering a contest for a real-world prize. And really, it’s this sort of thing that we think will keep apps like Gowalla afloat. Long after the shininess of “checking in” and collecting “virtual goods” for their own sake wears off, real-life incentives will be there. Whether they come in the form of information, as is the case with the Travel Channel deal, or in the form of tasty sweet goodness, as with a can of Sweet Leaf Tea, we’re going to need something more than a virtual beatnik to keep us checking in everywhere we go. And of course, letting our friends know where we are, and vice-versa, is great, but if one company gets into the real-life game and another doesn’t, guess which one we’ll probably be playing. Discuss

In December of last year, augmented reality (AR) browser makers Layar chose to pull its iPhone app from the App Store due to frequent crashes reported by users. They thought it was better for their brand to remove the application than to promote a faulty product. As we’ve mentioned in the past , Layar had hinted that a revamped iPhone app would be out near the end of February, and earlier this week they released just that. Sponsor With the relaunch of their iPhone app, Layar rejoins acrossair , Wikitude and others now vying for elbow room in the mobile AR space. Layar boasts one of the largest collections of points-of-interest (POI) data sets and now that library is available again on the iPhone. The usual suspects can be found on Layar, such as Flickr photos, Google search, YouTube videos and Wikipedia articles, but one of the more unique layers on the app is Foursquare integration. Users can use the Layar AR viewfinder to find nearby Foursquare locations and by linking the app to their account can check in without leaving Layar. There is also a feature in each layer to view entries on a map, or in list view. The map is especially handy for Foursquare integration because Foursquare’s own app disappointingly doesn’t support a map view. An equally interesting layer to investigate is the Recovery.org layer which shows you which U.S. organizations in your area received funding (and the amount they received) from the Recovery Act. “The new Layar Reality Browser has a re-engineered engine under the hood. This new engine makes the application light, stable and very quick,” the company said on its blog. “It is ready to handle all the current layers and it is a good base to realize all of our exciting future plans.” Layar’s return to the iPhone platform comes just in time for the company’s new layer marketplace which will allow developers to charge users for their content; in other words, an App Store for mobile AR. If Subway wants to create a layer with all of their locations and charge $.99 for it’s use, they or any other company will easily be able to do that. One could assume that Layar will make use of Apple’s in-app purchase functionality on the iPhone, but it would be sad to see Layar lose a percentage of their cut on the purchases to Apple. If anything, that could raise prices on the layers themselves, but that’s a whole other argument. This could be a huge step forward for the mobile AR space. As these applications become more useful, more refined and more popular, companies will be excited to participate in providing branded content in an AR experience. Expect an announcement from Layar in the next few weeks about the launch of this exciting new platform, but in the meantime, iPhone users (3GS only) can go snag Layar’s free app (iTunes link) in the App Store. Discuss

A ReadWriteWeb Guide South by Southwest Interactive is a favorite conference for many a geeky programmer, and its no wonder why. The talent, learning opportunities and free booze run deep and wide at this show. We’ve compiled a list of ten must-see, must-do panels, parties and events – and don’t worry, we won’t be sending you to three identical core conversations on JavaScript. From Google’s Hackathon to Facebook’s Developer Garage and beyond, you’ll get to learn from (and drink with) some of the greatest minds behind the greatest companies of the Web. Sponsor This is part of a series of ReadWriteWeb guides to SXSW Interactive 2010. If this guide isn’t your cup of tea, be sure to check back for more information soon! Revenge Of Kick-Ass Mash-Ups with Punk Rock APIs “Last time we wrote an API layer for a dozen different sites and services, using nothing but free online tools and client-side JavaScript. This time we’ll crack into client-side OAuth. This time actual working code WILL BE WRITTEN BY YOU. This time … it’s personal.” With Kent Brewster of Netflix. Coding for Pleasure: Developing Killer Spare-Time Apps “Every startup origin story is about a couple of developers who abscond to a garage and end up building the Next Big Thing. But money and fame don’t need to be your end goal. You can significantly improve your life–and impact others’ lives–by coding for pleasure in your spare time.” With Gina Trapani, Adam Pash of Lifehacker and Matt Haughey of MetaFilter. Mozilla SXSW Happy Hour “Join us for happy hour drinks and appetizers at Cedar Door and learn what we are working on at Mozilla. Party is limited to the first 250 guests who arrive – please RSVP on Facebook: http://bit.ly/mozsxswparty !” Web Framework Battle Royale “Which web framework will rule them all? As an audience member you pick the winner! We will present an introduction to a variety of web frameworks including Rails, Django, Catalyst, and Sinatra. You can vote for the best web framework in categories such as URL handling, database integration, forms, HTML templating, documentation, testing and deployment.” With Yehuda Katz of Engine Yard, Leah Culver of Six Apart, Elizabeth Leddy of Janus Health, Blake Mizerany of Heroku, Avi Bryant of Dabble DB and Dustin Whittle of Yahoo. The Hive Awards “The Hive Awards honor the Unsung Heroes of the Internet. The people who do the heavy lifting but rarely get any credit. Drinks, hors d’oeuvres, free admission.” Sponsored by KickApps. Facebook Developer Garage Austin – SXSW Edition “Join the Facebook team and local developers for a deep dive into the latest and most exciting ways developers are building with Facebook technologies. Come to learn, stay to make friends! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=331218348435 ” Beyond LAMP: Scaling Websites Past MySQL “Most startups begin with a basic LAMP stack (on PHP or Python) and then add database replication and memcache as they grow. But then what? There’s a big gap between these out-of-the-box solutions and what it takes to run something bigger.” With Serkan Piantino of Facebook, Alan Schaaf of Imgur, Kevin Weil of Twitter, Christopher Slowe of Reddit and Jason Kincaid of TechCrunch. Objective C Crash Course for Web Developers “Build your first iPhone app in 60 minutes flat. Along the way, you’ll tour Apple’s developer tools and learn the basics of the Cocoa Touch framework. Discover how to use your PHP and JavaScript experience for an informed approach to coding iPhone apps. Apply familiar JavaScript design patterns, for example, to handle interface programming in Objective-C.” With Joris Verbogt of Mangrove. If Objective-C isn’t your bag, why not try Hold the Cocoa: Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and learn how to build iPhone apps “without ever touching Objective-C.” Wow, That’s Cool… Fun With HTML5 Video “Using the video tag in HTML5, developers can do all sorts of things that are hard or impossible with plugins. In this presentation, Mozilla will show the best and most interesting hacks entered into OVA’s Open Video Contest – because when the webmonkeys unleash their creativity, things get interesting.” With Michael Dale of Kaltura Wikimedia and Christopher Blizzard of Mozilla. Google Hackathon “The Google Hackathon hosted by Google will provide a hands-on workshop throughout the day where attendees will be able to build apps using a variety of Google technologies including App Engine, HTML5, Android, Chrome, and Maps/Geo technologies. Although the hackathon will run all day long (from 9:30-7:00pm), we’ll be providing short 20 minute “deep dive” presentations on specific topics covered in the hands-on exercises. This panel is sponsored by Google.” Those are our SXSW Interaction recommendations for hackers of all stripes. If you’ve got suggestions or feedback, let us know in the comments! See you in Austin, folks! Discuss