Roku announces new slate of devices and OS update ahead of holiday season

Roku today unveiled new versions of the Roku Express and Roku Ultra -along with five additional streaming players – ahead of the holidays. Roku also announced that Roku OS 9.2., an update to its operating system, will be released in the coming weeks.

“We’re driven by the goal of delivering an exceptional streaming experience to our customers that includes endless entertainment and intuitive ways to find it,” said Mark Ely, Vice President, Players and Whole Home Product Management at Roku. “Our new streaming player lineup continues to offer a device for every type of streamer. Whether you’re streaming to your TV for the first time or are a cord-cutting power-house who wants our ultimate streaming device – we’ve got something for everyone.”

For more on Roku’s updated device lineup

  • Roku Express (MSRP $29.99) – Features an even smaller form factor and offers easy HD streaming
  • Roku Express+ (MSRP $39.99) – Features the new sleek form factor and a Roku Voice remote. Available exclusively at Walmart
  • Roku Premiere (MSRP $39.99) – Delivers easy 4K & HDR streaming with a simple remote
  • Roku Streaming Stick+ (MSRP $59.99) – Offers a powerful, portable HD, 4K and HDR streaming with the long-range wireless and a Roku Voice Remote with TV controls
  • Roku Streaming Stick+ HE (MSRP $59.99) – Available exclusively at Best Buy and includes the Enhanced Roku Voice Remote with a headphone jack and Roku headphones for Private Listening
  • Roku Ultra LT (MSRP $79.99) – A Walmart exclusive featuring HD, 4K and HDR streaming, ethernet, 802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless, an Enhanced Roku Voice remote with TV controls and Roku headphones
  • Roku Ultra (MSRP $99.99) – Delivers brilliant HD, 4K & HDR picture quality and Roku’s best wireless and new features such as fast channel launch, personal shortcut and mute buttons, premium JBL Headphones and more

For more on Roku OS 9.2

  • Roku Zones – Search for a genre or topical subject for a curated selection of relevant content from channels across the Roku platform. Roku Zones are organized into browsable, categorized rows that may include new releases, titles that are free to watch, rentals and more. Examples include the “Drama Movies & TV Zone” or the “Superhero Movies Zone” which will be frequently updated providing users with a refreshed selection of entertainment. Additional genre and topical Zones may be added over time.
  • 4K Spotlight Channel – A content-first, hand-curated selection of brilliant 4K entertainment from channels across the Roku platform now leverages the new Roku Zones architecture. Browse a wide variety of 4K titles across a number of categories such as Most Popular, Action, Drama, TV shows, 4K channels and more.
  • Set Sleep Timers on Roku TVs – Roku TV customers can use their voice remote or Roku mobile app to quickly set a sleep timer on their TV by saying things like “Go to sleep at 11 p.m.”
  • Search by Movie Quotes – Enjoy finding movie results by searching for the top quotes from thousands of popular movies across the Roku platform
  • 4K in Roku Search – Use Roku Voice to say “4K movies” to see results for a variety of popular 4K movies. Entering a text search for “4K” will now return results including the 4K Movies & TV Zone.
  • Support for Roku Media Player – Customers who use the Roku Media Player to play their personal music, movies and photos can now use Roku Voice to find, play and control stored files by using commands such as “Play,” “Skip,” and more
  • Control Multiple Roku Devices with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant –Customers who use Alexa-enabled devices and/or Google Assistant to control their Roku device can now control multiple Roku devices in their home

Adam Flomenbaum

The new Found Remote