What is hot?
- Roku LT Streaming Player
Home Theater (Roku, Inc.)
Price:$49.99$39.99- 600+ channels with movies, TV shows, music, sports & more
- Built-in wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n)
- Free app for iOS and Android
- Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p
Home Theater (Roku, Inc.)
Price:$79.99$64.99- High-definition streaming up to 1080p HD
- Works with virtually any TV
- Free app for iOS and Android
- 3M Streaming Projector Powered by Roku (SPR1000)
CE (3M Office Products)
Price:$299.99$217.27- Audio out for external speakers or headphones
- Portable ultra compact
- Includes Roku Streaming Stick
- Roku 3 Streaming Player
Home Theater (Roku)
Price:$99.99$89.99- Faster and more powerful. With up to 1080p HD video* and extended-range, dual-band wireless performance for increased speed
- Free iOS and Android device app. Use it like a remote. Browse and add new channels. Even stream your music and photos from your phone or tablet to your HDTV
- Amazing remote with headphone jack. Use the included in-ear headphones to crank up that late-night flick while the kids (or parents) sleep
- WD TV Live Streaming Media Player Wi-Fi 1080p
Home Theater (Biostar)
Price:$129.99$99.99- Play your personal media collection
- Image formats Supported: JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG
- Enjoy Internet entertainment on your TV
Quick Take: Hulu Desktop for Windows
This past week, online media service Hulu offered its first public beta version of Hulu Desktop, which allows you to access content from the service via a native Windows application. Since its initial release in 2008, Hulu has offered web-based access to this content. So what benefits does the native Windows app provide? Let's take a look.
Hulu backgrounderHulu is a joint venture of NBC Universal, News Corp., and Providence Equity Partners and is one of the leading web-based sources for legal TV show content. (The service also provides access to some movies and other video content.) The service offers shows from FOX, NBC Universal, Comedy Central, Lionsgate, MGM, MTV Networks, National Geographic, Paramount, PBS, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros. and others. This includes current hit shows like The Simpsons, 30 Rock, and The Office, as well as TV classics (or, at least older shows) like Married .... With Children and Adam-12.
The Hulu web interface is notably good, with different quality levels, full-screen capabilities, and, on some selected new content, closed captioning. Because it's a legal source of content, TV shows are typically offered with limited commercial interruptions. You cannot download content from Hulu; instead it is streamed over the Internet. It requires Adobe Flash.
Roku Wants To Be Part Of Your Next Smart TV, Raises $60 Million To Do It
These days, just about any cheapo Blu-ray player or game console can stream video from Netflix or Hulu, so what’s a company that makes a slew of low-cost video streaming boxes to do to stand out from the pack? Well, if you’re Roku, the answer is you raise a ton of money and set your sights on software too.
AllThingsD reports that Roku has just raised another $60 million in funding in a round led by Fidelity, and ATD’s Peter Kafka goes on to note that Roku is looking to use that infusion of capital to bolster its software partnerships with television manufacturers.
In addition to pushing out cutesy streaming video boxes, Roku wants its software to be baked directly into a new generation of smart televisions — an especially savvy move given just how ferociously players like Microsoft are attempting to take over people’s living rooms. After all, the promise of streaming content from services like Netflix, Hulu, and Crackle is one that’s been fulfilled nearly every major game console, not to mention by number of Roku’s rivals. A cheap streamer box like the ones Roku makes only hold so much appeal when compared to a truly multi-purpose device like the Xbox 360 (to say nothing of the seemingly media-centric Xbox One) or a hot-seller like the Apple TV (which has outsold Roku’s boxes by more than 2 to 1 ), so Roku’s attempt to move up the stack directly into televisions could give the company a leg-up as the amount of hardware competition continues to grow.