Roku goes deeper into television set territory

HARDWARE FIRM Roku, which has already done well in the set top box market, is now working on a device that can plug into TV sets and bring them streaming services.

Streaming television services are becoming increasingly popular, and Roku, which is looking to come into the market at a low price point could do rather well.

Lower prices will open up streaming television to new markets, according to the firm, and will help those consumers that are unsure about the system enter it at a much lower cost. It could also help others, that already have the services but do not use them, become more accustomed to streaming.

"We think there are some fundamental issues that are preventing the current breed of Smart TVs from gaining mass adoption," said Roku CEO Anthony Wood, as he added that low awareness and varying qualities of streamed services are a factor.

"We've found that it just takes a lot of work to keep the experience current and performing at its best," he explained. "We issue software updates almost every month, and add about one new channel per day. It used to be sufficient enough to have a few key channels (remember we launched with just Netflix) but those days are rapidly fading."

The solution is the Roku Streaming Stick, which is about the same size as a USB stick and includes a player, WiFi, processor, memory and software. Wood said that this easy to use stick will have regular updates and, because it is cheap, will be very easily replaced when it does become outdated.

It also means that users might choose not to upgrade their television sets when they become outdated, something that could hold back support for its format.

The Roku stick will plug into mobile high-definition link (MHL) enabled HDMI ports on TVs. Samsung and Toshiba sell these and more are expected to be announced at CES.

The firm estimates that its sticks will cost no more than $100, which is around £100 in hardware price currency conversions.

Industry watchers are tipping Roku as a good buy, and over at Gigaom Intel's name is being loosely tied to the firm. µ