PlayOn PS3 Media Server: Stream Netflix, Hulu & YouTube to PS3

72w ago - Today trevorx7 at PS3iSO has posted news of PlayOn PS3 Media Server, which can stream Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon VOD and more directly to your PlayStation 3 console from a Windows PC giving you access to a wide range of Internet content on your TV... and while it may not be new for everyone it is a first for me so I am sharing it here.

Download: PlayOn PS3 Media Server for PC (14 Day Free Trial)

That is a link to the latest trial version, as the patched older version does not work so simply reinstall it later to use it again or just change the date on your PC if you wish to use it longer, etc.

To quote: "To enjoy PlayOn, you just need a PC, a home network, and a Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Moxi HD DVR, NETGEAR Digital Entertainer Live, Roku (just added!) or another supported device. That's it. No extra cables or hardware to buy

PlayOn also enables you to stream your personal videos, photos and music from your PC to your home entertainment center. It takes less than 3 minutes to set up – download it and see for yourself.

Because of the increased popularity of online gaming, the PS3 has built-in WiFi that allows you to directly log on to Hulu with the game system’s Web browser. (The PS3 is already a great device for watching movies because it has a player for DVD and Blu-ray discs.)

You can then watch shows as you would on your computer, but there is a major problem: to get video to fit on a large screen requires you to zoom in, resulting in oversized pixels on the screen. To watch Netflix and Amazon VOD content, which both use plug-ins the PS3 can’t handle, you need to turn one of your home computers into a media server.

Don’t panic. One of the easiest ways to do this is with a program called PlayOn from Media Mall. The $40 app Hacked And Cracked For Free JUST FOR YOU !! turns your Windows XP or Vista computer into a streaming media server that grants your PS3 access to Netflix Watch Instantly video, Amazon VOD, as well as Hulu, YouTube, CBS, CNN and ESPN videos.

Sidenote: PlayOn works much the same way with the Xbox 360.

Once the PlayOn software is downloaded to your PC, head over to the app’s settings window to plug in your username and passwords for Netflix and Amazon VOD (you can also add your Hulu and YouTube login info to gain access to your queues on either site, but it’s not necessary).

Now move onto the PS3. From your PS3’s video menu, click “Search for Media Servers,” and as long as your PC is on, your PS3 should recognize your computer as a new media server. From the PS3’s PlayOn menu you can access Netflix or Amazon VOD queues and watch instantly, but if you suddenly have the urge for a movie not already in queue you’ll have to head over to your PC to add it, rather than choosing it on the fly from your PS3. This is a lazy man’s complaint, but a complaint nonetheless.

One of the features that always impressed me with Netflix’s video viewer is the ability to move the cursor on the progress bar and see screen grabs illustrating how far you’ve either rewound or fast-forwarded the video being watched. It’s incredibly useful when screening a show like Law & Order, with a title sequence you can listen to only so many times.

I bring this up, because PlayOn’s skimming features are terrible. There’s no easy way to move to specific chapters in a movie, and while there is a scene search feature, similar to the Netflix progress bar mentioned above, it’s not as intuitive and often doesn’t give you the info you need to know how far to move forward. Also, fast-forwarding at speeds higher than 10x creates a buffering nightmare, so that it’s almost impossible to know if you’ve fast forwarded too far or not enough.

While you have to add movies to your Netflix or Amazon queue before you sit yourself down in front of your PS3, watching Hulu through PlayOn doesn’t require any forethought. Instead, you can search through TV episodes, clips, feature films and everything else Hulu has to offer and watch it at a moment’s notice. Same goes with the other sites offered through PlayOn, like CBS and CNN, through their video is a bit hit and miss as many zoom in on low-res video to create pixilated content, much like PS3’s browser does.

I have a few gripes with PlayOn, my biggest being that there is no Apple option. But it’s still a great choice for watching online content on your TV using the components you may already have at home."