Roku

Smart TVs and set-top boxes are great...until guests come over, use the system, and mess up your personalization. Depending on the platform and whether parental controls are enabled, guests could potentially purchase and rent content from apps linked to the user's card, mess up the content recommendations on their favorite services, and more. Roku is here with a solution to this problem, and it is called Auto Sign Out Mode.

Continue Reading

Livestreaming TV service Sling TV has launched a free viewing experience for Roku users, enabling them to browse the service as a guest and watch content without paying. The free access is offered to new Sling TV customers who can access the content without creating an account or signing in. In addition to watching content, guests will be able to buy pay-per-view events without subscribing.

Continue Reading

TCL will launch 8K Roku Smart TVs later this year, the two companies have announced. TCL will be the first to license an 8K hardware reference design currently in development at Roku, which already offers a number of smart TVs via TCL. Joining the future 8K TV models will be new 4K and HDR smart TVs that feature voice search/control and far-field microphones.

Continue Reading

Roku is about to launch premium subscriptions through The Roku Channel, the company has announced. The subscriptions will be supported starting later this month -- an exact date wasn't provided -- at which time users will be able to add premium video services like Showtime, Epix, and more. The new support will cover free trials, one-click signup, and other service features.

Continue Reading

Home movie night is about to get louder, with Roku's TV Wireless Speakers set to begin shipping at the end of the week. The company announced its speaker bundle all the way back in July, promising not only better audio quality for your streaming media, but more convenience than rival speakers, too.

Continue Reading

Roku devices got support for Spotify years ago, but lost it in 2017 due to technical issues. That's about to change, though, as Roku pushes out Roku OS 9, which will include Spotify support, according to the release notes. Not all Roku devices will get the support, but the ones that do will be able to access both the free service and Spotify Premium.

Continue Reading

Slowly but surely, Sonos has been attempting to turn its home speaker offerings into attractive buys for IoT enthusiasts. Earlier this year, we saw the launch of the Sonos ONE, a smart speaker capable of working with both Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant. Not too long ago, Sonos rolled IFTTT support for its smart speakers into beta too. Sonos isn't stopping there, and the next name on its IoT checklist could be a big one indeed: Roku.

Continue Reading

Roku's video streamers are about to get a whole lot smarter, with Roku OS 9 previewed along with Google Assistant integration and new support for streaming music services. The big update isn't quite ready for release - instead, Roku is pushing out Roku OS 8.2 for Roku TVs, complete with support for the recently-announced Roku TV Wireless Speakers, among other things - but it already sounds like it's worth waiting for.

Continue Reading

Roku has added two new 4K streaming boxes, the Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+, to its line-up, as well as updating its flagship Roku Ultra player. While rival set-top boxes may be looking to complex features and TV gaming, Roku's new models focus on price for those new to a 4K ecosystem.

Continue Reading

Roku has announced a major expansion of its free movie service, making it available to anyone -- even people who don't own a Roku device. You no longer need a Roku set-top box or smart TV to view The Roku Channel thanks to a web and mobile launch. Any smartphone, tablet, or PC can be used to access the channel's new online destination,

Continue Reading

Back at CES 2018, Roku announced a new wireless audio platform called Roku Connect. At the time, Roku said it would license this technology to its manufacturing partners like TCL and Element, which make Roku TVs. The company also has some first party plans for Roku Connect, announcing a pair of wireless speakers compatible with Roku TVs today.

Continue Reading

With the World Cup in full swing, there's still time to upgrade your TV and get some 4K Ultra HD soccer action going on. There may well be the deal to do just that this weekend, with TCL's 2018 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Roku TV getting a more than tempting cut that brings it down by over a quarter of the usual price.

Continue Reading