As with CES 2014, Roku’s 2015 Vegas outreach will skew heavily towards their TV partnerships. Last year, Roku introduced TCL and Hisense televisions with the Roku experience built right in (versus questionably successful “Roku Ready” MHL-like stick accessorizing). Indeed, I found the end product so compelling that I ordered two 40″ sets for Mom (review to come). And, apparently, I’m not the only one enamored with Roku’s boxless design as two new manufacturers have joined the fray. While Haier televisions aren’t so interesting, Best Buy is also unveiling a line of Insignia Roku TV models… which we fully expect will outsell and outperform the largely forgotten TiVo TV.
As so many televisions incorporate “Smart TV” capabilities these days, you may as well choose a decent one (to use until feature obsolescence, anyway). And the Roku platform certainly exceeds all others in app selection, even if it may lag the Samsung Smart Hub in regards to advanced functionality like DLNA. As to me, my new (but maybe soon-to-be-former) Vizio television runs the Yahoo TV platform… with not enough apps and limited smartphone interface. Fortunately, Roku 3 remains our go-to streamer, perhaps emphasizing the benefit of dedicated hardware.
Does it have Chumby apps? Cuz if it does, I’m in.
I need help fixing my nexflix on my PS3 I got hacked someone please help me get it back up working…
I’ve been a Roku junkie for about 5 years now thanks to refurbished deals on Woot. I Love ROKU so much that introduced all of my family and most of my friends and convinced them to cut their cable cords in the process. Santa got me a TCL 40 inch Roku TV. I didn’t think that ROKU could get better, but when it is integrated into the tv as it is in my TCL it hits a new level of ease of use, efficiency, and compatibility. I don’t know how i’ve ever lived with my ROKU as just a component. I recommend a ROKU TV to everyone – especially those of us who are have cut their cable wires.
Chucky, Chumby + WebOS would be GOLDEN. Who’s gonna take that on for us?
“Chucky, Chumby + WebOS would be GOLDEN. Who’s gonna take that on for us?”
In case you were wondering what happened to Chumby, funny story. I sent a cease and desist letter to Chumby saying they were infringing on my worldwide Chucky™ trademark for video related topics, and they just laughed off the letter. But after protracted court proceedings, the judge agreed with me, and I licensed the “Chumby” name to them in exchange for all their money.
So now, they’re essentially out of business, and I own an Aegean island…