

Introducing Roku 3 - rkudeshi
http://blog.roku.com/blog/2013/03/05/introducing-roku-3-video/

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mminer
Adding a headphone jack to the remote is a smart idea. When watching movies
late at night I string a long audio extension cable between my headphones and
the DVD player, but this solution is much more elegant. It's one of those "of
course!" ideas that seems so obvious once you see it.

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erode
Thanks to the Bluetooth remote. So obvious, I'm surprised this hasn't been
done before.

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mkhattab
Actually the remote uses Wifi-Direct. I wonder if this device supports Android
wireless display, which would be cool.

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erode
Thanks for correcting me, that's pretty neat stuff.

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soupboy
Headphones in the remote is such a brilliant idea!

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czervik
Would love this feature on a standard universal remote.

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kbutler
The problem is that the standard universal remote has one-way communication
with the devices it controls. The Roku remote uses bluetooth to control the
Roku, so adding audio was no big deal.

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dubyah
The Roku 3 remote uses Wi-Fi Direct instead of bluetooth.

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daveoh
Would love a smart tv that has the capability to send sound to my phone.

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kurtvarner
Ok, this is something that I _cannot_ seem to understand - why is it
impossible to create a well-designed remote for a TV device? Look at
(seriously, look at them now) your remotes for your TV. What the hell? Compare
this to the design of your actual TV. Or how about your laptop or phone.

I'm blown away that they insist on designing their remotes like kids' toys.

~~~
ROFISH
On top of that why is that silly ABC keyboard used everywhere on TVs? I've
seen it on the 360, Apple TV, and the Roku. I have to actively look for where
the keys are. If it's QWERTY, I may have to push a few extra buttons, but I
know where the keys are.

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mkhattab
I like the Boxee Box remote, which has a QWERTY keyboard on one side of the
remote, which is a better solution than having an on-screen keyboard.

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andybak
It's nice and small but it's almost impossible to read the keys in a dim room.
I think remotes have to be backlit to be usable.

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esonderegger
Has anyone here done any app developing for the Roku? Does this open up new
avenues for that, or is it the same SDK as before?

I remember taking a brief look at the SDK a few years ago and deciding that it
was too much of a mess for me to work with it and keep my sanity.

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nixy
I have built numerous apps for the Roku box. The introduction of the Roku 3
does not bring any SDK updates, the biggest update for developers would be
hardware improvements. SDK updates usually come when Roku do firmware
upgrades, something they usually do mid-product cycles as well.

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MatthewPhillips
I wonder how they built in the universal search without adding any APIs. Were
they already indexing the content (and prices) for all of the channels?

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nixy
Universal search has been available for some time, and it is more of a backend
thing than a client thing.

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jebblue
We just bought 2 XS but hey maybe we will upgrade in 3 or 4 years to what's
out then, we enjoy Roku, with that and free HD over the air we dropped cable.
The channels on Roku are great like NetFlix, CNET and IGN. The big news
outlets are on there but usually just have clips. Still interesting to keep up
to date. If only the History channel was on there, I miss at least two of
their shows.

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obiefernandez
Do you think we'll ever be able to pay HBO directly for an HBO Go
subscription? It's the only reason I still pay for cable -- would jump on this
Roku immediately if it let me cut the cord.

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geetee
If Netflix can keep pumping out quality content like House of Cards, they will
eat HBO's lunch.

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dangrossman
Who's to say? HBO is inking 10-year exclusive content deals just to lock
Netflix out. These are huge deals, like Universal Pictures & Focus, that take
away any chance of Netflix streaming many blockbuster titles all the way
through 2023. At the same time, HBO has its own streaming platform ready to go
head-to-head with Netflix the moment it makes sense to break away from cable
(currently generating billions of their revenue, so not too soon). They have
much more original content than Netflix, and are running trials of streaming-
only subscriptions in other countries.

HBO likely can become Netflix faster than Netflix can become HBO.

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tallanvor
HBO offers a subscription only service here in Norway, but I don't know anyone
who has signed up for it. --Everyone I know (myself included) refuses to sign
up for a service that requires a 1 year commitment and doesn't offer a trial
period. On the other hand, lots of people went ahead and signed up for Netflix
because they were offering a 1 month trial and you can cancel at anytime.

I'm not saying HBO won't succeed in the online space, but at least in Norway
their arrogance has really hurt the perception that people have about them.

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xpose2000
Neat little device. However, if you buy a new tv, they have most of these
built in apps to stream movies already. I'm not sure why they focus on those
features so much?

Depending on how you consume your content, I suggest looking at building your
own HTPC (Home Theater PC) running XBMC. If you want support for DTS-HD and
blu-ray content then an HTPC is the only way to go.

The biggest benefit is that an HTPC + XBMC can play anything you can throw at
it in just about any container. Build it once and it's future proof for quite
awhile.

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dublinben
The built-in streaming apps in televisions are never as quick, featured,
varied, or up to date as what's available on a Roku or similar product.

A DIY HTPC simply cannot compete with a $99 or less Roku.

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hakaaaaak
Since the 3 is coming out, here are some ideas for the 4:

* Voice recognition from a mic on the box and/or in the remote with commands that are natural to speak in each language it supports

* Cheap subscribe per channel model for each channel currently provided via Cable, etc. with month-by-month contracts (for HBO, etc. so you can quit when the season is over)

* More quality control over the channels. Don't shut out the channels that can't hack it, but instead help them not fuck it up so much. Watch their content regularly

* Parental control via something other than having to type in a pin (maybe a "safe word" if doing voice recognition)

* Streaming games, with some free

* More streaming channels that don't require as much interaction but with cloud-powered DVR rewind, etc. and commercial skipping, maybe even as a paid feature per channel

* Optionally completely wireless except for power (the box is so small that it flops around with the HDMI cable)

* Make Pandora stream music videos :)

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dangrossman
This is neat, though I still prefer the Android-based Google TV boxes. It's
had the same ability to search for shows, movies, actors and tell you what app
or site to use to watch it now for years. The _only_ reason I have both that
and a Roku 2 is that someone's still holding a grudge against Google. It's
practically the only STB completely locked out of Hulu Plus.

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FireBeyond
That search functionality is now available on the Roku 2 XS... at lest for a
title - search, and it will show you that it's available on Netflix, not on
Hulu, or for rent on something else.

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codysoyland
The search functionality looks fantastic. Plus, I love that they're updating
Roku 2 with this new interface. I can't wait.

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nchuhoai
I so wish there was a 100$ device like Roku that would have the media
capabilities of Roku or XBMC and airplay mirroring. Rasberry Pi could be that
one, but unfortunately doesn't support mirroring.

If someone can build me a 100$ box with xbmc and airplay, i probably buy 5 of
them

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mynameisvlad
You can jailbreak an Apple TV and load up PLEX Client on it. That's what I do
on the living room aTV.

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nsoun
I have a Roku and like it but really wish it had better support for playing
off of USB and network shares - this is the one reason I still use my WDTV
Live as often as I do. Oh, not to mention the WDTV supports every format under
the sun and streams my 3DTV with zero issues too.

I know there is a USB app for Roku but it sucks and doesn't work consistently.

I know I could use Plex to retrieve files from my shares but I don't care for
navigation in this app much.

Anyway, glad to see Roku continues to make nice updates, I just wish there was
a single solution at this point.

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rogerbinns
On my existing Roku 2 I've found apps misbehave unless I reboot the device.
Even the FAQ for Vudu mentions rebooting due to memory issues. I found similar
problems with a channel I tried the other weekend. Unfortunately the problem
is that the channels misbehave in bizarre ways (eg Vudu will say there are
network problems, the other channel I tried had random video corruption).
Hopefully Roku can fix this and at least make channels crash when running out
of memory.

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geetee
Disappointed it still doesn't seem to have native DLNA support? I'm in the
market for new wireless headphones and this would have solved the problem
nicely.

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darkchasma
Do they have a non-native solution? Because not having DLNA has been the one
thing keeping me from getting one.

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geetee
I have not personally used it, but apparently <http://www.plexapp.com/> uses
DLNA. I imagine you need to run their server application, which defeats the
purpose of it all.

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michaelbuckbee
If it is the same setup as the Roku 2 line, yes you do need to run a Plex
server.

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ajtaylor
I can't find any documentation stating if it plays from network shares? Samba?
NFS? Currently, I have an external USB drive connected to my PlayOn! media
player, but I'd like to move that to a computer so I don't have to swap the
drive back and forth to copy new shows to the drive.

And the headphone jack on the remote is brilliant! I might buy one just for
that feature alone.

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jessedhillon
The Plex app for Roku may be what you're looking for, although you have to run
Plex Media Server somewhere on your network.

<http://plexapp.com/roku/>

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Lewisham
I use this, and it works awesomely on the Roku; much better than the 360 with
the DNLP(?) support.

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buddylw
I like Roku - They have been affordable from the beginning and allowed non-
gamers like me to enjoy Netflix while the company blocks Linux.

The real ultimate feature that's missing here though - the one that no one
else has and would make go out and buy 3-4 of these things is the ability to
sync audio and video playback across multiple devices throughout my house.

~~~
hideo
[http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-
desktop-...](http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-desktop-
app.html)

Just FYI - that should help you with netflix on linux. Worked for me, and I
haven't had to boot to Windows in a week ;)

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erode
Love my Roku 2 XS. It's a little slower than I'd like so I'm jumping on this
immediately.

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ruswick
I'm quite pleased with the device overall, but the interface, although
certainly an improvement, still appears inferior to the Apple TV (which itself
has a large number of intolerable flaws.)

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lukifer
It does seem faster than the response lag on the Apple TV, although I'd
obviously have to use one to be sure.

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steeve
Good, good. Now slap XBMC on this thing and we're done!

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freewizard
compare to the slow progress of Google TV and Apple TV recently, Roku’s
evolution pace and focus on entertainment (rather than crappy "social", or
vague “second screen") is simply amazing.

