Nobody is sure about what changes are going to happen to Hulu in the future, since News Corp. and Disney are still making decisions. But we have got confirmation about one thing. When CEO Jason Kilar steps down Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content, will take over as acting CEO.

Kilar wrote on the Hulu blog, “Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu’s journey, helping to grow this company from two content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012“.

About the Hulu part-owners Disney and News Corporation, Kilar is saying that they are finalizing “forward-looking plans” with the website. As you might know, the two companies have disagreements about Hulu’s direction. While Disney is planning for an ad-supported future, News Corp. wants to increase Hulu’s paid subscribers.

Kilar announced back in January that he will be leaving the company, and he has announced that he will depart “at the end of this quarter”. There hasn’t been any announcement about whether Forssell will get the job permanently. According to Kilar, the matter will only be discussed after Hulu’s future is decided.

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Hulu is already not as popular as rival Netflix and there will be more competition from Amazon and the Redbox Instant service, and now the future of the service itself has become uncertain due to problems from the inside.

According to available info, News Corp. and Disney, the two companies which each own roughly a third of Hulu, have started discussing the future of the service and their own stakes in the company. The two companies have plans to purchase the other’s stake or sell it to an outside company. Apparently, they have disagreements regarding the direction in which Hulu should go.

Currently, Hulu offers a free version and also a Hulu Plus subscription service and both the offerings include ads. The disagreement between the two companies is that Disney prefers an ad-supported strategy, while News Corp. feels that the focus should be on subscriptions. In the case of subscriptions, Hulu with just 3 million subscribers is nowhere near Netflix’s 27 million.

Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Tom Rich earlier announced their plans to step down from the company. So the future of the service might only be decided after its new CEO and CTO are announced, possibly along with new owners as well. Till then uncertainty surrounds Hulu.

Do you use Hulu regularly? Do you subscribe to Hulu Plus?

[Source]

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Disney is celebrating this year’s Valentines by giving their Where’s My Holiday game from the popular Where’s My? series a loved-up revamp, offering players new levels and scenery. The Where’s My Valentine update adds twelve new playful love-themed levels to the game, adding to the already over 250 levels. For those that didn’t give the Christmas version a try, it is essentially a holiday-themed version of the series with levels for both the alligator and Perry.

The game can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for free right now. Have you played Where’s My Valentine yet? Tell us what you think about it in the comments section.

[Source]

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Kids these days don’t know what they’re missing. Instead of playing Scrabble on a physical board, they’re playing Words with Friends on their smartphones. Instead of emptying out a bucket of Lego bricks, they’re constructing new worlds in Minecraft. That’s just not the same, so Disney is working to marry the app the physical worlds with a new series of iPad games and accessories. They’re called Appmates and they’re real toys that work in tandem with the iPad’s touchscreen.

The first in this new series ties in with Pixar’s Cars. The iPad app itself is free and kids (or their parents) can buy the Appmates toy cars through Disney Stores and Apple Stores, both brick-and-mortar and online. One car is £12.99 and a pack of two sells for £19.99. They hit shelves later this month.

The idea is the kid loads the app, places the toy on the screen, and plays the game. They have to pinch the car with their index finger and thumb to complete the capacitive circuit; alternatively, there is a game mode where they can just use their fingers, but then it’d be like any other iPad game for kids. Remember that this is the first in the series and there will likely be other Appmates toys and games for other Disney franchises.

Yes, iPad apps will take away from the usual imagination that the kids would need if they were to play with the toys on their own, but at least they’re exploring new ways to play. [Disney]

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