Roku

In August 2014, news surfaced that Roku's TV platform would be finding a home on TCL and Hisense televisions, and this morning Roku announced the second-generation version of those TCL Roku TVs. There are a total of eleven new TVs spanning three new series, each of them tailored toward a specific kind of user and bringing with them the same general functionality. The 3700 Series in particular, composed of three relatively budget offerings, will be launching later on this month, while the other two series (3800 and 3850) will be arriving some time in the second quarter of this year.

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Regardless of whether you're a cord cutter, you probably watch your own locally-stored content, and you probably do so on multiple devices. Media software that manages it all while making content available in a convenient and easy-to-use way is the most common way to access and watch locally-stored shows, and while XBMC is a long-standing favorite for this, Plex remains the top option, and for good reason: it is sleek and easy to use, and available for many devices. Roku, of course, is one of the most popular devices.

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That Roku attached to your TV might be a lot more exciting very soon. GoPro, who have their cameras attached to people not watching a lot of TV, are creating a Roku channel. This “custom designed” channel is billed as a “one-stop video destination that delivers on-demand GoPro content to millions of Roku customers.” The channel will have the normal complement of high-wire antics and free-falling stunts, but also give people watching an idea of how it was done.

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AllCast, the storied casting app for Android, is finally making its way to iOS. After a healthy run on Android, the casting app has finally landed on iOS, letting users toss their videos and pictures onto the big(ger) screen. The app works with locally stored content as well as files you have in more popular cloud storage solutions like Dropbox or iCloud. You can also stream from your Instagram or Google+ account onto your TV, too. AllCast supports Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, and Apple TV.

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CES 2015 kicks off this week and ahead of the show some announcements of new products are already coming. One of the brands that has announced new plans already is Roku, the company behind all sorts of streaming set top boxes and TVs. Roku has announced that it plans to support 4K video streaming for future Roku TV models.

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Students and lots of other people have time off for the holidays. That means that many people will be sitting on the couch looking to catch up on some of their favorite shows or looking for new favorites. In celebration of time off, Roku has added some new streaming content to its lineup. The US Roku Channel Store has surpassed 2,000 channels.

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If you’ve got Comcast and a Roku, you might know the pain I’m about to describe. You find HBO GO via the Roku channel list, start to set it up, and suddenly — bam! If Comcast is your cable provider, that’s where it ended. You could find HBO programs via On Demand or the app, but that wasn’t quite as handy as your Roku. Those days are over. Comcast has announced they will be supporting Roku for HBO GO and SHOWTIME ANYTIME.

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If you’ve not yet bought a Chromecast, what’s stopping you? Google’s tiny streaming stick gets better all the time, and works pretty seamlessly with your existing apps (at least those supporting it). Not having a Chromecast seems silly, and you might soon be in the streaming minority if you’ve not yet snapped one up. A new report shows Chromecast as the number two streaming device in the country, behind only Roku’s legacy system. It’s even more popular than Apple TV.

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Amazon’s Fire TV Stick wants to keep pace with the competition, just like big-brother Fire TV. On both fronts, Amazon’s TV ambitions are to keep up with rivals like Roku or Chromecast. All three offer their own take on the plug-and-play TV dongle, and those who purchased an Amazon Fire TV Stick will soon have theirs in-hand and on-TV. After what Amazon describes as their “most successful device launch ever”, the Fire TV Stick is now shipping.

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Roku was on the forefront of making low-cost, reliable streaming devices for your living room, bedroom, or anywhere else you might have a TV and a shelf. They held sway until the Chromecast came in and knocked them off their low-cost pedestal, too. Unrelenting, Roku took steps to make sure we used their service, even letting us stream pics and video from our Android devices. Now they’re taking another step closer to Google, and will start offering up Play Movies & TV via your Roku.

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Mirroring your small screen on the big screen is a neat concept, but still escapes most users. If you’ve got a newer Roku device, you might be able to see your Android or Windows Phone on the TV. A new screen mirroring option has been added to Roku, but it’s only for select phones — and select Rokus.

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Apple TV is a pretty neat concept, and like others in its category, does its job well. Until recently, Apple has left Apple TV as a back-burner technology, which could have to do with the fact they were hard at work on a new iPhone and Apple Watch. Speaking to Charlie Rose, Apple cEO Tim Cook hinted that big things could be on the horizon for their TV division, and consumers who adopt it.

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