Hisense has announced its new R6 4K lineup of Roku smart TVs, offering Roku fans an option for playing Ultra HD HDR content sans an external streaming device. The new lineup features television sizes from 50-inches to 65-inches, and it has a bunch of functions including an upscaler to boost the resolution of non-4K content for the higher resolution.
Subscribers have been impatiently waiting for it, and now it is finally here: the new Hulu TV experience has arrived on Roku media devices. Though Amazon Fire TV is increasingly wooing consumers, Roku is arguably the most popular media streaming devices in homes, and so it made Hulu TV's lack of support for them a major sticking point.
You're nobody in tech if you don't have a smart speaker, and it seems Roku may be planning to enter the fray with a home companion of its own. The company is best known for its streaming media sticks and set-top boxes, easy ways to add services like Netflix, Amazon, and Showtime straight to your dumb TV. Now, though, it's looking like Roku wants to take on Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and the upcoming Apple HomePod.
Roku has announced the launch of its own channel, one that is, appropriately, called 'The Roku Channel.' This channel provides free movies for all Roku users located in the US, though it is supported by advertisements. The channel is available on both Roku smart TVs and on Roku streaming boxes and sticks, and it doesn't require any logins.
Roku, a significant player in the streaming media market, has revealed that it has filed papers with the SEC for an IPO, and is looking to raise as much as $100 million. While the company originally began with a simple set-top box that focused solely on Netflix, it now produces a number of streaming media devices and smart TVs, each with support for a wide range of services.
Chinese company TCL introduced a bunch of TVs in May including the 4K-toting P-Series lineup. That product line was supposed to launch in the near future in 50-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch sizes, but the company has changed its plans. If you were hoping to get a relatively cheap 4K Roku smart TV, you still can, but only in one size due to TCL's recent decision to cancel a couple models.
It's been a little while since we've heard from RCA, but the company is back today with a line of three new TVs running Roku OS. The televisions are surprisingly affordable as well, with the largest 50-inch set only coming in at $499 MSRP. Why, in an era for $20,000 88-inch televisions, are RCA's new sets so inexpensive?
AT&T has announced the arrival of DirecTV NOW on Roku set-top boxes and streaming sticks, bringing the relatively new service to one of the most popular cord-cutting devices on the market. The service is available via the newly launched DirecTV NOW Roku app, which is available for download in the U.S. now in the Roku channel store. In addition to launching the app, AT&T is offering Roku owners a long trial period to give them a taste of the service.
TCL has unveiled its latest lineup of Roku smart TVs, the C and P Series. Both the C-Series and the P-Series bring with them technologies like Dolby Vision HDR and a 4K Ultra HD resolution. The C-Series tops out at a 75-inch size while the P-Series is 65-inches on the largest end of the spectrum. Preorders will start on May 26 through Amazon, where the 55-inch P-Series model in particular will be offered at a special lower launch price.
Roku has announced the launch of the Twitter live streaming video channel, enabling users to watch videos hosted on the service. The Twitter channel, as with its video app for other platforms, presents both the video and a relevant tweet stream, giving viewers the best of both worlds. This represents a big launch for Roku, bringing an often requested video service to the popular streaming set top boxes and sticks. This video app has already been available on Apple TV and Android TV, among others.
Roku has announced an update to Roku OS, the company's smart TV platform. With this latest update, Roku now sits at version 7.6; users can expect this update to arrive over the air sometime in the next handful of weeks. Once it arrives, Roku smart TV owners will have access to a new feature called 'More Ways to Watch,' which determines the cable show you're watching and then scours online streaming services to discover if there's an on-demand alternative available.
Makers of Roku apps of the past get a wake-up call thanks to the company's newest "sunset" announcement. As of February 1st, 2017, Roku has made clear that they'll be ending the use of legacy Roku Software Developer Kit visual screens. App makers for the Roku universe have been working with the same setup here since October of 2015 - now they'll have a short while before they need to move forward to the new style.
