This could be interesting. US video services Hulu and Vdio have lodged local trade marks in Australia, which strongly suggests new streaming services could soon be appearing on our shores…
According to the trademark sentinels over at TM Watch, both Hulu and Vdio (the video streaming offshoot of Rdio) snapped up Australian trade mark applications last week.
Intriguingly, the trade mark lodged by Hulu encompasses a range of specific classes including Class 9 (“Recordable and pre-recorded media; digital media, namely, streaming or downloadable audio-visual content in the fields of news, entertainment, sports, comedy, drama, music, and music videos; computer software, namely, downloadable players for audio-visual content”), Class 28 (“Action skill games; arcade games; board games; card games; balls; balloons; video games”) and Class 42 (“Computer services, namely, hosting a website featuring audio-visual content in the fields of news, entertainment, sports, comedy, drama, music, and music videos”).
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be getting either service any time soon. Netflix has been making noises about launching in Australian for years, and it too holds an Australian trade mark, which was registered back in 2012. And yet, we still haven’t received an official local version of the service.
I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s about time Australia got some decent streaming services that don’t cost an arm and a leg. While we continue to twiddle our thumbs, here’s a guide to the best legal video services that are currently available in our country.
[Via tmwatch.net]