Based on a variety of reddit threads, Roku has been testing a number of interface updates these last few months… potentially culminating in a big fall reveal, to include an overdue Roku Ultra refresh. The most notable home screen change appears to be expanding the long-standing 3×3 icon grid to a 4×4 display of streaming … Read more
It turns out Netflix isn’t solely interested in recouping lost revenue due to password sharing as both our Roku and Fire TV streaming devices spammed prompted us to upgrade the Ultra HD (UHD) tier earlier today. Upon selecting the account holder’s profile, the above interstitial appeared, before my daughter could pull up Captain Underpants. The … Read more
Roku has expanded its growing list of sidebar offerings with a new sports hub… that is surprisingly devoid of value. There are no scores, no highlights, no way to favorite teams or trigger corresponding alerts. Sporting event streaming providers are not disclosed until clicking through (where, presumably, Roku hopes you’ll pick up services you don’t … Read more
In conjunction with Roku launching their line of white-labeled Wyze smart home paraphernalia, the streaming pioneer also released the requisite corresponding set-top “channel” — while it’s not the more holistic approach we were anticipating, the Roku Smart Home Cameras app is certainly good enough as an initial attempt moving in the direction of Apple TV … Read more
Last week, Roku boldly entered the Smart Home space with an initial product offering “developed in partnership with Wyze.” And, boy, do the business considerations and implications fascinate me. We’ll never have a full accounting of the relationship (although I’m quite looking forward to Roku’s quarterly securities call), so I’ll just go ahead and assume both … Read more
By way of Reddit, Walmart, a pair of shipping manifests (1, 2), and some noodling around we learn that Roku is imminently expanding beyond streaming media and into the smart home… with more than a half dozen white-labeled Wyze products, a seemingly confirmed ‘Roku Smart Home’ Channel, and likely a new dedicated mobile app. Thus … Read more
In the best “bang for the buck” category, we’ve got a few solid streaming deals ahead of everyone’s second favorite shopping holiday. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max – $35 A good buy at full price, the Max is a great value at 36% off and will see years of updates given its a power. … Read more
One redditor wonders why Roku doesn’t offer a web browser. Only Roku employees know for sure, but we can make some educated guesses. First, and most likely, is that web browsing just isn’t what Roku’s designed to do and therefore not something they’d prioritize development or support of (despite the many web technologies brought to … Read more