With streaming Netflix movies now available on TV screens through the Xbox, PlayStation 3, Tivo, several Blu-ray players and LG HDTVs, the little Roku set-top box, which became one of the first Netflix streamers 18 months ago, is in need of some differentiation.
That came today with the launch of 10 free channels on the box, which sells for as little as $80.
Pandora radio, Facebook and Flickr photos, FrameChannel feeds, MobileTribe social networking and video from Blip.TV, Mediafly, Motionbox, Revision 3 and TWiT make up the lineup.
(This review was first published on November 23 2009)
They join Netflix and the Amazon video-on-demand and MLB.TV baseball channels that Roku had already added.
The Roku box could not be a simpler device and is easily copied. The Silicon Valley company is therefore making the product distinct by becoming a platform for content developers and introducing the familiar paradigm of the application store.
“The Roku Channel Store turns the Roku player into the world’s first open platform designed specifically for the TV,” said Anthony Wood, Roku chief executive, in a statement.
“Now content producers and distributors – from single person shops to billion dollar corporations – can deliver their content directly to consumers without having to go exclusively through cable operators, satellite networks or TV affiliates.”
Roku is far from alone though as an “over-the-top” player – for example, television makers are integrating content into internet-capable sets with services such as Yahoo’s widgets (Rovi announced its new TV Guide widget today) Boxee, a software interface for internet TV content, is expected to launch its own set-top box hardware next year.
Roku says many other developers are working on channels for its platform and these will appear in the on-screen store in due course.
The Roku boxes, which are reported to have sold in the hundreds of thousands, connect to the net through their built-in Wi-Fi or an ethernet connection. The SD version at $80 has composite video connections, the HD at $100 has an HDMI connection and the $130 HD XR features extended-range Wireless N networking.
