Roku Now Licensing Its Media Player Design 53
DeviceGuru writes "Roku has begun licensing its A/V media streaming set-top-box hardware and software technology to third-party device makers. Netgear, Roku's first licensee, will soon offer a Netgear-branded version of the recently size- and cost-reduced Roku XDS box through Best Buy, Fry's, and Radio Shack stores. Although Roku's licensing move follows closely on the heels Google's October rollout of the Google TV platform, the $60 to $100 Roku XD player design's low-cost, low-power, compact design, and sheer ease-of-use make it a compelling alternative to Google TV, assuming Google's platform results in prices like Logitech's $300 Revue. As a small example, the Roku player most likely uses an inexpensive, power-stingy MIPS-based NXP processor in contrast to the Revue's more power-thirsty, expensive, and spacious Atom processor."
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You could always rent a foreign film from amazon on demand.
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I'm foreign (to you) and all our films suck way beyond anything American.
British and German TV may be OK, don't know, got some German news in the morning (DW, no BCC or CNN.)
Top Gear, Scrapheap challenge, (Married with children, How I meet your mother) are all nice.
As far as TV shows goes I suppose the national ones may be very good, especially comedies, but maybe because that's because those are the ones I like to see.
Anyway, low budget, low ideas, low standard, government subsidized socialist movies aren'
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On a side note, he's Canadian, can't we just revoke his papers for being a public nuisance and send him back anywhere other than here?
Content NOT all shitty (Score:4, Informative)
We've got a Roku XDS, and we didn't buy it to watch garden-variety television. It does Internet radio, a large variety of channels, also Pandora, and that alone might get it a place in my media cabinet, but that's not all by any means. There's NASA TV and SpaceVidCast, news sources, iTunes access, flickr, Khan academy (math, science, economics)... all that and I've barely scratched the surface of the non-TV content.
As for "gems", Netflix seems to be ahead on that score. They've really got a decent variety of movies, and they're starting to pick up some of the edgy cable shows like Weeds, too. The Netflix capability of the Roku is excellent.
It's also worth mentioning (especially here on Slashdot) that the Roku's "channel" mechanism is implemented by an open-source kit; anyone can create a channel, and any content that isn't outright illegal is good to go. For example, they've got a porn channel, fairly basic - there's a BDSM component, a gay component, and a hetero component; doesn't show up on the site (these are called "hidden" channels) but getting to it is no problem when you find the offer for the channel (it's called EVTV, that's enough to track it down.)
The fact that there's a lot of crap out there in no way says that you have to watch (or listen) to it. On the other hand, if you're a connoisseur of crap, well, there's no shortage, that's for certain. :)
The XDS has some problems yet, notably a really lame and broken wifi setup (you're MUCH better off to set it up as wired ethernet until they fix that) and a few annoying bugs like the radio app being unable to "favorite" a station that's been found by search, but these are pretty minor compared to the latest AppleTV's inability to support many DVI connections, component systems, or work in anything other than HDMI/720p.
As a user of both, the Roku is the *far* better unit. Hugely better connectivity (component and composite, analog audio, none of which are available on the Apple unit, also properly supports DVI, again, not available from Apple), better compatibility (any HD mode up to 1080p plus SD, the Apple only does 720p), standard USB connection for your media files up front and handy (the AppleTV's USB connection is in the rear and doesn't appear to be supported except for upgrading), the Ethernet connection is better, sporting connect and speed LEDs, even a better remote (Apple's is typically minimalist, and consequently, as usual, functionally retarded. You end up navigating a lot more than with the Roku, for instance.) Both support wifi, ethernet, physical HDMI and TosLink optical audio. the Roku is also far ahead in content at present. Considering they're both the same price, as far as I'm concerned it's a slam-dunk in favor of the Roku XDS,
I have no relationship with either company other than as a customer.
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At first I had the ROKU in my bedroom, using wireless WIFI, and it worked well enough. Since then I moved it to my living room and
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Why? Do you think non-American films are overall better than American ones?
They have a bunch of bad movies too; those ones don't get international attention. So the "foreign films" that get marketed and played in the United States are much better on average than the average American film.
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We watch them so we don't get superiority complexes like SOME people do.
That is all.
Go away, you're not 21 (Score:3, Insightful)
It's so much better to go down to the local jazz bar to hear some live music
Children and college underclassmen aren't allowed into the establishment due to alcohol control statutes. What do you suggest for them?
or to go to the theater and watch a live play.
Ordinarily, these live plays don't end until the city buses have stopped running for the night, and a cab ride home is cost prohibitive.
Wise up (Score:3)
Great....maybe netgear will wise up and put a toslink connector on the back of it so some of us can still use our old avr systems. Stereo doesn't cut it.
Re:Wise up (Score:5, Informative)
HDMI can carry 8 channels of audio and considering that's the direction everyone is heading, I doubt you'll see your fiber optic connection.
But more to the point, most of Netflix's selection is only in stereo. If you're serious about quality, you should be renting Blu-rays and not streaming.
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If you're serious about quality, you should be renting the actual film from the studio!
FTFY.
Being a cinematophile will be so much more expensive than a vinyl head :D
Re:Wise up (Score:4, Informative)
Take a look at the HDFury3. You get hdmi in and component/digital audio out. If also handles the hdcp.
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Or download. :)
Wrong. (Score:2)
Both AppleTv and the Roku XDS include TosLink optical audio; works great on both - I own both and use the TosLink audio connections for audio.
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It seems that there aren't many people who care about analogue audio anymore either. I recently replaced my DVD player, because the drive had worn out. I wanted to replace it with a similar machine, but there don't seem to be any new ones made that can output DTS audio to 6 analogue channels. Few had DTS decoders built in and none that I found had 6-channel analogue output. It was either digital or analogue stereo.
In the end, I bought a second-hand one. I looked at getting an external DTS / DD decod
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What's your point?
Your amplifier can't decode DTS? Or is it stereo? If it's stereo I don't see why the number of channels matters. If it's not stereo I wonder why it doesn't decode DTS itself. Is it some ProLogic equipment? Expensive (but old) gear?
Personally I wouldn't buy a DVD player today in the first place, but regardless I'd rather have my decoders in the receiver (if it's not the very last ones I don't know if it matters that much, don't know how big noticeable gain there is of using any of the newer
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My amplifier is analogue. It takes six analogue inputs. It is just an amplifier, not a digital decoder. The decoder in my old player was built into the DVD player. This made sense at the time, because new audio encoding standards were likely to appear, but not on older media. Newer formats will often have 5.1 channel AAC audio, for example, and having the decoder built into the amplifier would mean that this couldn't be played. It also made sense from a synchronisation perspective - outputting digital
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But if it was all the new formats, would it be possible to solve your issue by using a software player? As in a PC with sound card (with multiple analogue outputs in that case.)
Or are there no such software?
Does any blu-ray players offer all the decoding on board?
No cheap home cinema receivers offer line-outs on all channels I assume?
Suck that a standalone decoder / DA converters will have to cost much more than a integrated device with more functionality.
Maybe you should start making them yourself and sell
analog is all good, though (Score:2)
Roku XDS has analog audio outputs, they work just fine with gear from 1960's Marantz tube classics to whatever else you have. Classic gear owners haven't been completely forgotten. :)
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5.1 optical toslink to analog 5.1 (Score:2)
Sorry, missed the 5.1 thing.
Seems easily dealt with, though. Go to ebay, buy a cheap older receiver (pre-HDMI) that has outputs to drive external amps, and at least one optical audio input with decode support. That'd be most of them from a several year span. Like this one. [ebay.com] It's cheap as I write this, but if it doesn't end that way, there's always something on there. Both my Sony and my Denon have analog outputs that can output the decode from the toslink optical inputs.
Even a parts unit would likely wo
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It was just an example. It's still just $38 as I write this. Your complaint was decoders were as expensive as the XDS. I'm pointing out that EBay (or a good will shop, or a dumpster, or your brother's uncle's sister's aunt) can get you a (very good!) decoder for less from the zillions of used stereos that are out there. It's your job to find one that is in your country and in your price range. I can't do *everything* for you. Isn't it enough that I pointed out that your problem can be solved? Now get to wo
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Get the Roku XD|S (Score:5, Informative)
The XD|S model has optical audio, as well as component video for those of us that bought high quality systems before HDMI was widely available. Unfortunately there aren't enough of us around to justify putting those on the base model where saving cost is high priority, so we have to fork out for the high-end model.
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Yeah... but "forking out for the high-end model" is a majestic $99 -- exactly the same as the AppleTV, which is barely compatible with anything, doesn't do component video or analog audio, can't support a DVI connection properly, doesn't do SD (and so has no composite connection either)... It seems to me that if you're committing to a device that's going to entertain you for years, the difference between $60 (low end Roku) and $99 (XDS, the model with everything) should direct everyone right to the XDS. It
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Knowing Netgear, it'll probably have composite and S-Video out, and locked-down firmware.
Question about roku (Score:1)
For those of you that have one... Can you rewind/ffwd through movies that you rent from Amazon MarketPlace (AMP)? I rented an AMP movie via my pc and streamed through my xbox, and it wouldn't let us rewind or fast forward. I wasn't sure if this was an AMP feature or just because we downloaded the file.
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Yes you can rewind and fast forward. There's a progress bat to show you where you are but the image doesn't change. That makes it harder to find a particular spot. There's also a delay after a ffwd/rewind operation while it buffers the appropriate part of the file. That said, I love the Roku.
A couple of annoyances (Score:1)
Compared to a DVD remote, the Roku's is missing next and previous chapter buttons. When I'm watching a show, I like to jump past the opening credits, thank you.
And why are they still using an old-fashioned AC adapter? They ought to power the box through industry standard USB or PoE.
Re:A couple of annoyances (Score:5, Informative)
Standard USB doesn't provide enough power for a device like this, especially if the device itself is a USB host. And Power over Ethernet is not a standard for consumer electronics.
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Standard USB allows for up to 1A. My Roku uses about 3W, which at 5V is 600 mA. That still leaves the Roku box with 400 mA (4 unit loads) left over to send through its own USB port.
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from Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
Devices like media players should provide the full 500 mA for each port, ideally with two ports, so they will work with bus-powered USB 2.5" hard drives.
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from Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
So if the Roku is given 1.8 A and uses 600 mA for itself and powers two USB ports at 500 mA each, that still leaves 200 mA left over.
Which device has a Dedicated Charging Port? (Score:5, Insightful)
from Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
In order not to have to ship an AC adapter, the manufacturer would have to be certain that a nearby device has a Dedicated Charging Port. Which device might this be?
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One example is a 5V 2.0A USB iPad charger [apple.com].
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Correction: 1.8 A [wikipedia.org].
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Moving Roku ahead by scene (Score:2)
Compared to a DVD remote, the Roku's is missing next and previous chapter buttons. When I'm watching a show, I like to jump past the opening credits, thank you.
It works differently with Netflix than you do with YouTube or Archive.org.
On the Netflix display, if you hit the Pause button, then the Fast Forward button, it'll fan out a series of still images representing scene changes.
I don't get any of that on the free channels. I have not yet tried Amazon. We're busy gorging on the all-you-can-eat Netflix.
I do not know if this is related to a different player, different encoding in the data stream, or both.
(I didn't know about this until my wife showed me. She's the
Not Google (Score:2)
The implication Roku licensing is certainly the inclusion of a media player built into the TV. I can imagine that this wou
Great, where's the ogg, flac codecs? (Score:1)