Roku Looks Beyond the Set-Top Box with New Cordless Streaming Stick
By Rob Scott
January 5, 2012
January 5, 2012
- Roku has unveiled plans for its new Roku Streaming Stick, a device the size of a mini thumb drive, which will fit into the HDMI jack on the back of TVs to stream online video.
- The dongle would provide video in HD and feature Wi-Fi capabilities and upgradeable software.
- The device will provide the “same access to Roku’s video programming partners that one can get from a Roku box, but without an extra piece of hardware dangling from the set by an umbilicus,” reports The New York Times.
- The article says that Roku intends to make deals with TV makers in an effort to bundle the Streaming Stick with their sets, “which will be updated frequently and can be replaced entirely by a consumer if there’s a compelling reason to do so, without having to junk a television set.”
- “A stick is a better deal for consumers than a box,” says James McQuivey of Forrester Research. “It’s less intimidating, and it’s portable. You can take it with you on vacation, plug it into a hotel TV. People will like the portability.”
- USA Today points out that this part of the market is heating up: “Google TV, which was widely rejected by consumers when first launched in 2010, is looking to make a comeback at CES, and Apple is expected to launch its own Internet-connected TV in late 2012.”
- Expected to ship in the second half of 2012, the stick will cost between $50 and $100 — comparable to the price of the original Roku set-top box. The company will be demonstrating the device at CES next week.
- Where to see it: Las Vegas Hilton Suite 2669
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