Splashtop Remote lets you watch Hulu and Netflix on HTC EVO
Sure, there are ways to get Hulu working somewhat acceptably on your rooted HTC EVO, but why settle for good enough when there's a way to get the same high quality, fast, and smooth experience you get on your home computer without needing root?
It's possible with the newly released Splashtop Remote for Android ($4.99), which lets you access and control your computer from anywhere.
Being able to remotely access a PC or Mac from your EVO isn't anything new, as there are several different VNC and RDP clients out there (e.g., TeamViewer, AndroidVNC), but Splashtop Remote is a little different because it prioritizes multimedia playback over troubleshooting and offers stellar video and audio streaming quality.
My primary computers are a MacBook Air and Sony Vaio Z520, which are both equipped with dual-core CPUs (recommended specification), and I've really been enjoying Splashtop Remote on my EVO and other Android devices.
When I run the barebones server software on one of the laptops, my EVO automatically finds them when it's connected to the same WiFi network (my home one) and lets me choose which computer I want to access. There are settings like password protection, resolution options (800 x 600 or 1024 x 768), and the ability to mute the remote computer and redirect all of the audio to the EVO for each computer.
And it's been working flawlessly for me.
The available resolutions aren't native to the EVO, which means that your computer desktop doesn't fit perfectly on the phone's screen, but panning and zooming are very fast and smooth so it's a non-issue for me.
Your current active keyboard is available for use, as is a small strip of "special" computer keyboard keys. On-screen gestures stand in for the computer's mouse for doing things like clicking, scrolling, and dragging.
The app works in both landscape and portrait mode and can obviously do a lot more than just let you watch Hulu and Netflix in the web browser of your choice. But video sites like that just work so well when viewed on the EVO that they're all I've really been using it for. Videos play on the EVO exactly as they play on the computer, smoothly and perfectly in sync with the audio.
You can access all of your files and programs too, but I haven't had to do that since I've only used Splash Remote while at home. The EVO and remote computer don't have to be connected to the same WiFi network, but you need to go through a few extra steps to get it working over different wireless networks, 3G, and I assume 4G.
Splashtop Remote isn't the only Android app that lets you do this kind of thing, but its ease of use, high quality, and PC/Mac compatibility (the Mac software is still in beta but it works fine) make it one of my new favorites for the EVO.
