OS 7 includes a range of new features, such as the option to follow movies, directors, actors and TV shows for updates on streaming availability and pricing. The Roku Home Screen shows you if you have new notifications in the feed, and when you go to Roku Feed, you’ll see which are the actual new updates.
Advertisement
Roku has also revamped its remote control with voice-control capabilities, and overhauled its official mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Current Roku owners will be able to download the new Roku OS starting sometime in mid-October. This will allow you to connect the Roku device to wireless networks that require a sign-in through a web browser.
If you’re looking to stream video from the Internet but don’t have a smart TV, you may want to pick up a streaming stick.
At $129, the Roku 4 will be slightly more expensive than the Roku 3 and Amazon’s Fire TV (both priced at $99), however, it’s less expensive than Apple’s new player that will cost $149 (32GB) or $199 (64GB) that doesn’t support 4k. Ultra HD televisions can’t quite be considered affordable yet, so the wait might not be too irking.
The Roku 4 looks really set to give the Apple TV a good run in the market this holiday season.
Roku has announced the Roku 4, the successor to the more than two year-old Roku 3. The shortcut buttons from the Roku 2 are at the bottom of the remote, providing quick access to services such as Rdio and Netflix and the private listening headphone jack from the Roku 3 remote is included.
An optical output has seen a welcome return and there is Ethernet and 802.11ac Wi-Fi for networking. “It provides an awesome 4K experience with powerful performance and brilliant picture, at up to 60 frames per second on 4K TVs, and access to the most streaming channels with 4K entertainment, plus innovative features like Remote Finder”.
Advertisement
This Roku device incorporates a speedier quad-core processor for 60 fps 4K streaming. There is no industry standard yet for HDR, even from TV manufacturers, and certainly none for streaming.
