Roku Adopts Open Platform Channel Store

Now might be the time to consider a Roku investment. It now has an open platform Channel Store that allows producers to implement their video services in addition to current providers that includes Netflix Amazon OD, Flickr, Pandora and Motionbox. If you already own one, updating is free and works on all models, including the HD-XR and SD.

Via Roku

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Roku Unveils SD and HD-XR

Roku has released its SD and HD-XR. Both stream movies and TV in HD. The SD plays your Netflix Instant Watch library at no additional cost, streams Amazon OD, sets up in 5 minutes and can be used either wired or wireless.

The top of the line HD-XR loves Amazon OD content in addition to Netflix, has an extended Wi-Fi N dual-band built in and plays both DVD and HD on any TV.

And if you really want to impress the neighbors, the HD-XR comes in a Premium Cable Pack.

Via Roku

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MLB.TV Available on Roku

MLB.TV Premium subscribers will now be able to watch games on their Roku. Included are out-of-market games as well as access to on demand from the week. Of course, your Roku can be used to pause, fast forward, rewind and resume to replay that unassisted triple play endless times for any family member that missed the first 600 viewings on TV. The player should automatically update with the new channel and if you are not yet a MLB.TV subscriber, it will cost you $35.00.

Via Roku

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Amazon Offers HD VOD

Good news for HD TiVo and Roku owners. Amazon is now streaming HD on its VOD service. There are over 500 movies and TV shows. Rent a flick for $3.99 or $4.99 or a TV episode for only $3.00.

Via Amazon HD VOD

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VUDU First to Sell On-Demand Movies in HD

VUDU has become the first on-demand service to offer HD movies for download to own. While users have only been able to rent about 1,400 of them, the company unveiled a collection of 50 independent movies available in both HD and HDX. Included are films from Independent Studios FirstLook, Kino and Magnolia's
"Man on Wire," the recent Academy Award Winner. Those that are purchased can be stored in the VUDU itself or in VUDU's Vault free online storage, which is certainly a plus considering that the company offers over 13,000 total movies and TV episodes. Each film is priced between $13.99 and $23.99. By the way, the company recently lowered the price of its player, no doubt to compete with
Apple TV and the Roku.

via PR Newswire

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Amazon VOD Private Beta Available for Roku

There may now another reason to invest in one of our favorite gadgets, the Roku. According to their forum, Amazon Video On Demandhas entered into private beta. Unfortunately, if you were not one of the initial users to jump on their bandwagon, you cannot participate, but we expect the VOD will open up to us all very soon. And perhaps the next stop is HD.

Via Roku Labs

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Netflix Streamers Comparison

Last week, engadget decided to compare Netflix streaming devices and went into incredible depth in their assessment. They included:
the Roku,
TiVo HD,
Samsung BD-P2500,
Xbox360,
LG BD300. The winner? Although they like the Samsung for picture quality, there were no losers. They suggest newbies start off with the Samsung or LG to play your discs and the Roku for its lower price. You can read the entire review on the link below.

Via engadget

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Roku Netflix Player Firmware Upgrade to 1.5 Now Available

Back in October we told you HD was coming to the Roku Netflix Player. It's now being reported that the new 1.5 firmware update is available and may take up to 10 days to get to every customer.

As of this morning, we still weren't seeing the update here at the NAV headquarters. Luckily we found the trick to force the update at the Roku Forums:

Just go to Settings>Player Info>Check for update. It will say "Your software is up to date" Check again 2 more times. On the 3rd time it should start downloading the software.

Visually the new updates adds a few features like a home screen (supposedly to navigate through the new content that's been promised) and of course the ability to watch HD programs which looks really good. We'll give you more details as we check out the update.

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Netflix Player Hack To Force 2.2 Mbps Streaming

Got a little extra bandwidth just lying around the house? If you do, you might just want to force your Netflix player to use that bandwith with a little hack at the Roku forums that sets your player from automatic to 2.2Mbps. According to Mark12547 at the forums:

Using the remote, hit Home Home Home Home Home Rewind Rewind Rewind FastForward FastForward (that's 5 Homes, 3 Rewinds, 2 FastForwards), keypresses about 1/2 second apart. You may have to try several times and the trick is to make the keypresses spaced out far enough. (Remember, the last two are <<< Rewind and Fast Forward >>>, which are on the bottom row of buttons, not the < and > keys to the side of the select button.)

There's a lot of debate whether ayone even needs to do this since the "automatic" setting keeps everything in line. We here at NAV has used our Netflix Player everyday for months and have almost always had the top stream speed using the automatic setting. So unless you have issues, you may want no want to mess with your settings. Don't you love it when someone gives you a hack and tells you not to do it?

At HackingNetflix.com

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Netflix Hires Video Streaming Pro to Grow it's Streaming Business

We here at NAV are firm believers that with more content and more marketing, Netflix will be the leader of streaming movies and tv. It was evident with the introduction of the Roku Netflix Player, Netflix was serious about being competive in the streaming market. Now there's signs that Netflix is heavily investing in streaming media with it's recent hiring of Bill Holmes, a streaming media professional. According to HDTV.biz-news:

Netflix has hired Bill Holmes, a five-year veteran of digital-media company DivX, to help build its video-streaming business.

Holmes is to head its business-development efforts as it continues to try to boost sales from its video-streaming service.
His appointment is the latest in various moves by the company to build on its 8.4 million subscriber base with it's streaming services.

It has entered onto a partnership with LG to produce a new Blu-ray Disc Player with direct internet access to the Netflix film catalogue.

Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, said that it brought on Holmes to help embed software into more devices that will allow customers to stream content from Netflix

Pretty impressive news! It won't be too long till we have Netflix in our toasters (hey, we can dream can't we?).

At HDTV.biz-news

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Netflix Streaming to Stay Subscription Based

While the news may dissapoint some Netflix streaming users, we like the news that Netflix has no plans to be a pay-per-view model. According to Gizmodo, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings states:

"We don't plan to enter the pay-per-view segment, where Apple, Amazon, Sony and others focus, or the ad-supported segment, where Hulu, YouTube and others compete,"

While Netflix does need to work on more streaming content, we here at NAV like the current concept and simplicity of the Netflix streaming model. We can always get pay-per-view from other sources if we really want it.

At Gizmodo.com

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Roku Neflix Player Believed to be at 100K Units Sold

Over the last few days, there's been a lot of unverified claims that the Neflix Player by Roku has surpassed 100K units sold. According to the WashingPost.com:

The Roku-Netflix ( NSDQ: NFLX) movie delivery box, which went out of stock soon after it was launched, has apparently sold close to 100K units since its launch in May, a seemingly high number considering its limited application and selection of Netflix movies for now..that number comes from Dan Rayburn on his blog. The price point of the box is $99 (and then Netflix movies are free for most of its subscribers), and 100K is only 1 percent of total Netflix user base of 8.2 million customers, so it is possible.

Here at NetworkingAudioVideo we're not surprised and actually believe the number may actually be much higher. The one thing the player always takes a beating on is the lack of content (about 10,000 titles to stream). The key is at a $99 price point if you're already a Netflix subscriber at say $8.99 at month you're only paying .02 cents per show or movie the first year. Even if you only find 1000 shows or movies to watch thats only .20 cents a show or movie.

The whole point is there is no other type of "legal" content out there that is that cheap. As Roku adds more providers and Netflix and more streaming content, we predict that the Netflix Player sales will surpass all the other streaming media devices out there. The biggest issue for Roku right now is there isn't a lot of promotion for the product going on and we only have to assume that's because they've had a tough time fufilling the orders they alreay have. Once they fix their supply issues, Roku will definitely want to look at an all out media blitz.

At WashingtonPost.com

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TiVo to Deliver YouTube Videos To TV Sets

We've known this was coming for awhile but you should see YouTube videos on certain TiVo boxes within the next few weeks. According to NewsFactor.com:

TiVo says it has completed the technology to make YouTube videos available on TV sets connected to its digital video recorder (DVR) boxes. As part of an agreement with YouTube announced in March, TiVo expects to roll out a software upgrade over the next few weeks.

Broadband subscribers with TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs will have access to the YouTube video universe. Viewers will be able to search by keyword or browse for content under categories such as featured, most recent, favorites or most viewed today.

It's amazing how YouTube is becoming available on all types of streaming devices. Hopefully YouTube will be on the Roku Netflix Player soon. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

At NewsFactor.com

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Apple TV vs. Roku Netflix Payer - Can They Really be Compared?

Lately there's been several articles on Apple TV vs. the Roku Netflix Player. The strange thing is that almost all of them come Mac based websites which usually clues you in to which way the article is going to lean. MacNewsWorld has an article that pits the two against each other that actually doesn't slant too far in the Apple TVs favor. The problem is article starts by stating the services can't really be compared by saying:

Comparing the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) TV to the Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) Player by Roku is like comparing two wildly different kinds of automobiles -- like a Chevrolet Camaro vs. a Ford F-150 pickup.

Sure, the Camaro and F-150 are both automobiles, and they can take you places you've never been before, but it's their differences that define them more than their similarities.

Then the article goes on to comparing the two devices and finishes up:

Basically, it comes down to this: If you want fresh HD quality content downloadable for immediate TV viewing, your best choice is the Apple TV, hands down. The only catch is you have to be willing to pay for it each time you rent or buy a movie or TV show.

If you gravitate toward an all-you-can-eat buffet, Netflix, with its mail-order DVDs and bigger streaming library, will at least keep you full.

We'll start by saying that we think both the Apple TV an the Netflix Player are incredibly great products. Our concern is that the last sentence in the quote above is never keyed on enough when you compare the two products. Comparing a service that charges for every download against a service that gives unlimited downloads for as low as $8.99 per month just doesn't work.

Anyway, we still suggest reading the article because it does point out the key features of each device.

At MacworldNews.com

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