Roku has released an Alexa skill that allows customers to control Roku media players and Roku TVs with their voice through an Alexa device, like an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot. The skill allows you to control media playback, launch channels, and search. Roku TV owners will additionally be able to use the skill to power on/off the TV, change the volume, change channels, and switch inputs. Read more ›
If you’re looking for media player alternatives to the Fire TV line up, a few of the top choices have just gone on sale. First is the NVIDIA Shield TV Gaming Edition, which is on sale for $168. This is the bundle that comes with both the remote control and game controller. This price is about $10 more than the lowest price it has ever been, but its a good deal since the regular price is $200. If you don’t need a game controller, the remote only bundle is on sale for $149 as well. If you’ve been curious to try a Roku device, the Roku Premiere is on sale for $29.99, which is $10 off its regular price of $39.99. This is the first time the Roku Premiere, which was released just a few months ago, has ever been on sale. Remember that the Roku Premiere comes with a line-of-sight remote that requires being pointed at the player. The Roku Premiere+, which is a Walmart exclusive, is the better device due to its better remote, but it’s not on sale and is still priced at $49.99.
Later this month, Roku will begin selling premium subscriptions to streaming services directly through The Roku Channel. Roku executives have indicated that The Roku Channel is the future of the platform and will probably become the actual home screen of Roku devices, so it’s no surprise to see paid content make its way to the channel. Customers will be able to subscribe to Showtime, Starz, Epix, and other services in a manner that is very similar to Amazon Prime Video Channels. Read more ›
Roku is having a couple good Black Friday deals right now. First is the Roku Ultra for $49.99. This is for the new 2018 package that now comes with premium JBL headphones that you can use for private listening through the headphone jack on the remote. This is the lowest price I’ve ever seen for any Roku Ultra, which is their flagship device. Also on sale is the Roku Streaming Stick for $29.00. This is also the lowest price it has ever been. You might want to seriously consider going with the Roku Ultra instead, because the Stick is not a 4K device and is overdue for an update.
Roku has permanently lowered the retail price of their Streaming Stick+ media player from $69.99 to $59.99. This is undoubtedly to better compete with the soon to be released Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, which matches all of the Roku Streaming Stick+’s capabilities, and then some, at only $49.99. Roku is also competing with themselves, since their new Roku Premiere+ is a 4K streamer that is priced the same as the Fire TV Stick 4K, but lacks advanced 802.11ac WiFi that the new Fire TV Stick 4K and Roku Stick+ share.
Roku has announced a pair of new streaming media players that make 4K streaming more affordable than ever. The new Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+, which differ only by their remotes, offer 4K streaming and HDR for the staggeringly low price of $39.99 and $49.99, respectively. Roku has also announced that their Roku Ultra will now come with headphones in the box and that they’re adding support for the Google Assistant. Read more ›
About a year ago, Roku launched The Roku Channel, which is an ad-support collection of movies, TV shows, and live news that is available for free on Roku devices. The channel has been quite popular, so Roku made it available on the web a month ago. In doing so, they’ve inadvertently also made it available to all Amazon Fire TV devices thanks to the Silk Browser. The web interface for The Roku Channel works so well through the Silk Browser that I’ve released a Bookmarker app for The Roku Channel, to make accessing it through Fire TV devices that much easier. Read more ›
When Best Buy and Amazon announced their partnership this morning to make and sell new Fire TV Edition televisions running Amazon’s Fire TV operation system, it was great news for Fire TV fans because it will bring new hardware options to the Fire TV line. It turns out that the multi-year deal between the two companies goes a bit deeper because, not only is Best Buy going to start making Fire TV Edition televisions under their Insignia brand, they’re also going to be dropping Roku TV televisions. Read more ›
Roku streaming devices and smart TVs running Roku’s OS have come under fire due to an article by Consumer Reports that says the devices are vulnerable to hacking. Under scrutiny is Roku’s decision to provide a remote control API that does not require any kind of authentication before it can be used to control the streaming devices and TVs. Read more ›
Roku has announced that they’re developing their own voice assistant to compete with Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google’s voice assistant. Roku players and Roku TVs will receive the “Roku Entertainment Assistant” by the fall of 2018. Roku says customers will be able to use the assistant to control entertainment devices even if their TV is off. Roku will also be licensing their operating system, along with the new voice assistant, to OEM speaker manufactures, much like they already do with TV makers. You can expect to see soundbars, smart speakers, surround sound, and multi-room audio systems powered by Roku OS released in the near future. TCL, Roku’s lead OEM partner, will announce the first device under the new program at its press conference at CES on Jan. 8.
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