Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt is watching the Aereo legal battle with interest. If the upstart prevails, Britt may try a similar tactic himself. Read more »
Roku has sold five million players in the U.S. since unveiling the first Roku streaming player five years ago. A good chunk of its customers use their Roku more than traditional TV. Read more »
The smart TV market will grow from 67 million units shipped in 2012 to 134 million shipped in 2015. As it expands, a simultaneous transition to higher-speed Wi-Fi connections based on a new standard — 802.11ac — will translate to fast growth for the new wireless technology in the TV space. Read more »
A guide for how to watch one of your home movies in the privacy of your own home using the Apple TV, a Mac or an iOS device. Read more »
Roku’s got a new box, with a surprise: The Roku 3 remote control sports a headphone jack. What’s that all about, and what else is new? Check our review for answers. Read more »
Roku is adding wireless mirroring to its hardware: Broadcom’s Miracast technology could be part of Roku’s streaming stick, as well as the next-generation Roku boxes. Read more »
Time Warner Cable is going to stream live television to Roku boxes through a new app that is going to be released some time this quarter. This makes Time Warner Cable the first operator to strike such a deal with Roku. Read more »
Got a new Roku this holiday season? Or maybe you bought one for your parents or in-laws, and now you’re in charge of getting it to work? No worries, we’ve compiled five essential tips to get the most our of your Roku. Read more »
The purpose of the on-screen guide has shifted. By connecting the guide to content-recommendation engines and advertising platforms, service providers and connected-TV device manufacturers are using the EPG as an access point for understanding consumers and reaching out to them to own the living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The third quarter saw many parts of the traditional media business in flux. Other developments included the rollout of new device-based content ecosystems, red flags and red ink for traditional consumer electronics makers, and a resurgence of consumer purchases of movies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
App developers are the cornerstones of the multibillion-dollar app market, but the overall community remains largely unknown. As app downloads increase, organizations that can bring tools, resources, and a collective voice to this group will be an important factor in the evolution of mobile-app development. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Book publisher Simon & Schuster is ramping up video distribution, creating content channels and signing with partners like Roku, Blinkx and Taboola. For now, the videos are intended to promote books and authors, not to drive advertising revenue. Read more at paidContent »
Jon Miller, the well-respected chief digital officer of News Corp, is on the way out after presiding over the company’s sprawling digital properties. The move comes at a time that News Corp is splitting into distinct entertainment and publishing companies. Read more at paidContent »
Roku has raised $45M in additional funding from News Corp., BSkyB and others. The company wants to use the funding for further international expansion, and also hints at additional partnerships with pay TV providers. But who is the mystery “unnamed strategic investor” that joined this round? Read more »
Roku removed about two dozen channels from its channel store this week to give Dish exclusivity for foreign-language content on its platform. The move led to a backlash from developers and could foreshadow the future of online TV. But Roku insists that customers will benefit. Read more »
Roku just started rolling out a firmware update to its media players that includes a translation of its user interface to Spanish and German. This comes just days after we broke the story that Roku is eyeing Germany and Span as its next foreign markets. Read more »
Anecdotal evidence suggests over-the-top video is a booming trend. But it takes technical skill, state-of-the-art broadband connections and the willingness to shell out money for both bandwidth and content subscriptions to fully integrate OTT into a household, much less consider trying to use it to cord cut. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Roku CEO Anthony Wood doesn’t think Blu-ray is going to be around much longer. He predicted At the TV of Tomorrow show in San Francisco that no one would be using Blu-ray players in four years. Instead, consumers would gravitate to streaming boxes and Smart TVs. Read more »
Movie streaming platform Popcornflix announced 400,000 downloads on Roku today, which puts it right behind the big guys, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. Popcornflix may not have the biggest blockbusters in its catalog, but it has something else going for it. The price is right: free. Read more »
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Comcast says it is planning to make sweeping changes to its data usage plans and will start by boosting the data cap from 250 GB/month to 300 GB/month. The change is in response to changing consumer usage behavior and shift to more cloud-oriented computing. Read more »
Roku is officially starting to sell its devices in Canada: The company will initially make two devices available for pre-order through its own site as well as online retailers this week. The boxes will pop up in stores later this month. Read more »
Want to watch YouTube videos on your Roku? Then you might want to check out the new Plex channel for Roku, which brings a whole bunch of online content as well as personal file sharing to the device. Check it out in this week’s Cord Cutters. Read more »
Roku is just about ready to start selling its devices to consumers in Canada, and it looks like the company will concentrate on two models that will sell through Amazon’s local website. We have also heard that Roku’s boxes will be slightly more expensive in Canada. Read more »
Roku has filled a vital gap in its lineup by announcing the addition of a channel for the BBC’s popular iPlayer service, just as it starts shipping its media streaming boxes to Britain for the first time. Read more »
Netflix can now be watched on more than 800 devices, and some of them are starting to gain more traction than others. Apple TV, for instance, has been really successful for the company — and tablets are starting to attract more usage than PCs. Read more »
U.K. Netflix clone Lovefilm just announced an app for LG’s smart TV’s, and the company is also getting ready to launch on Roku’s media streamer once the device becomes available to Britons. Details on the Roku app are scarce, but it could launch in early February. Read more »
Netgear is trying to compete with Roku, Apple TV and Boxee with its own streaming media player. The NeoTV has a few hundred apps, including Vudu, Netflix and YouTube, but lacks local playback capability and Hulu Plus. Should you buy it? Check out our review. Read more »
Roku is starting to sell its Roku LT and Roku 2 XS players in the U.K. and Ireland. The company is hoping to cash in on the launch of Netflix in both countries earlier this week, and possibly make up for weaker-than-expected sales last year. Read more »
Now it’s official: Netflix launched in the U.K. and Ireland Monday morning, promising to bring unlimited streaming of popular movies and TV shows through PCs as well as connected and mobile devices to both countries. But for Brits, Netflix isn’t the only choice. Read more »
Roku is expanding its lineup of devices with a new smart-TV stick that brings the entire functionality of its existing set-top boxes to TVs simply by being plugged into an MHL port. The stick can even be used with your regular TV remote. Read more »
There are two rumors about Roku going around these days: One says that the company is getting ready to be acquired, possibly by Intel. The other one says it’s getting more funding. Which one makes more sense for Roku? The answer may surprise you. Read more »
Got a Roku media streamer as a gift this holiday season? Then check out this guide for some essential tips on how to set it up, what content to watch, how to get additional channels not listed in the Roku store, and what accessories to buy. Read more »
Still looking for the perfect present? Then look no further: We have compiled seven gifts for cord cutters and TV junkies alike, and we are showing off three of them in a special gift guide episode of our Cord Cutters web series. Read more »
The web has been abuzz with speculations about a mystery Spotify event next week, with many arguing the service will launch a download store. But given its recent growth spurred by Facebook, I’d argue a web-based player would make more sense. Read more »
Roku is expanding beyond the U.S. market, with its streaming boxes going on sale in Canada and the U.K. beginning in early 2012. That will add millions of new potential customers for Roku, and could help Netflix gain adoption in those international markets as well. Read more »
Fandor has been called the Netflix for indie movies, providing users access to a number of independent and foreign films they can’t find anywhere else. Now it’s taking another page out of the Netflix playbook, by building apps for connected devices, including Roku set-top boxes. Read more »
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Spotify is close to launching a dedicated Roku channel, we’ve been told by a source familiar with both companies’ plans. The music subscription service could launch on Roku devices as early as next month. First screen shots of the channel’s UI look promising. Read more »
Roku scored a huge coup with its release of the HBO Go app. But not everyone who subscribes to the network will have access to it. In fact, the two biggest pay TV operators in the U.S., Comcast and DirecTV, have decided not to support it. Read more »
