You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Say goodbye to the passé virtual aquarium. Animal Planet has launched a collection of 11 HD 24/7 Ustream-powered live streams under the banner Animal Planet L!VE, which feature animals ranging from beluga whales to cockroaches. The free critter footage is already being piped to APL.tv and Samsung Smart TVs Viewers can choose between watching ants, calves, chicks, cockroaches, beluga whales, fish swimming about in a pacific coral reef, kittens, penguins, puppies, sea nettles and wild birds. In case catching them on your smart TV or browser weren’t enough, the cable channel’s creature casts are coming to Roku and Xbox Live “in the coming months.”
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Via: Ubergizmo
Source: Bites @ Animal Planet
Roku’s media streamers have carved out a notable niche for themselves, with what started out as a Netflix box, but quickly grew to include hundreds of other entertainment options. Whatever they’ve lacked in style, they’ve always made up for with an easy-to-navigate menu and remote, not to mention low prices. In fact, they’ve become our default recommendation in the media streamer category, and now the company is back with its third iteration.
Its approach hasn’t changed: the Roku 3 is still a simple $99 box that brings internet content including video, some simple apps and even games to your TV. But this one is touted as the most powerful Roku ever, and the team behind it has even dared to tweak that boring, but simple menu system. There have always been some rough edges that needed polishing, along with holes in its offerings — join us to see if it’s good enough to be the best.
Gallery: Roku 3 review
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Warner Bros. has decided to join in on the saturated video-streaming marketing by offering its own subscription-based video streaming service. Warner Bros. service is extremely distinctive from the likes of Netflix and Hulu Plus however. Its service, called Warner Archive, will allow users to stream classic and hard-to-find movies and TV shows straight to their streaming devices.
The service costs $9.99 a month to use, which is higher than other video-streaming services, but you are given a 2 week free trial to test it out. You are given a selection of classic TV shows and movies like the original Jericho, Bad Day at Black Rock, Superman and more. The selection is quite small right now, however Warner Bros promises to add a lot more content soon, while also switching out some of its current content.
Right now, only some TV shows and movies are available in 1080p streaming, and you will only be able to watch the videos in 1080p if you have a Roku set-top box. PC and Mac users will not be able to watch either 720p or 1080p videos yet, however the features should be added in the future. Warner Bros also says that 1080p streaming should be coming to more connected devices in the future.
If you’re a classic movie buff, this new streaming service will be a Godsend for you. There are movies and TV shows from Warner Bros, MGM, RKO, and Allied Artists, that should bring to you the nostalgia of the old (very old) days. Warner Archive is very unique, but it will most likely have a hard time appealing to the majority of consumers, most of who are fine with Netflix and its modern selection of media.
[via Warner Archives]
Stream classic movies and TV shows from Warner Archives for $9.99 a month is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Winter’s slowly winding down, and no doubt, the warm weather is beginning to beckon, what with the birds and the sunshine and the joyful frolicking and whatnot. And we’d be out there enjoying it, too… if this past month hadn’t given us a whole slew of gadgets to stay inside drooling over. Ah well—the sun looks just as good from a window, anyway. More »
How many Roku models are there? Like, twelve? But it doesn’t matter: the newest one is here, and thankfully (predictably?) it’s the best one yet. So good that you’ll stop using other crap you own. So good you’ll use your cable box less. That good. More »
We’ve talked a lot about the Roku platform over the years. Roku offers a variety of set top boxes and other offerings that bring streaming media and smart TV functionality to standard televisions. Roku streaming media devices have a number of applications that can be downloaded to bring various streaming services to the viewer.
One of those streaming applications that can be downloaded is a free offering called Popcornflix. Many of the streaming offerings that Roku offers require a monthly subscription and rental fees, but Popcornflix offers content for free. Last summer we talked about the service and the fact that it hit 400,000 users via Roku.
Now approximately 9 months later the streaming movie service has announced that it has reached 1 million downloads on the Roku platform in the US. The service is also available in the UK and Canada via Roku devices in those countries. Popcornflix promises access to hundreds of films including theatrically released titles and independent films with top Hollywood actors.
The service has movies available with actors such as Brad Pitt and many others. Users of the service can search for films by title, actor, director, or browse movies in genres. Popcornflix is an ad supported film network so viewers will have to view some ads.
[via Popcornflix]
Popcornflix hits 1 million downloads via Roku platform is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Roku, a name that one should be familiar with when it comes to set top boxes, has just announced their latest version to join the family, the Roku 3. Not exactly the most creative of names when you think about it, but it will suffice for the moment. Roku 3 intends to make it easier and quicker than ever to access over 750 channels of the best movies, TV shows, sports, music and games, and it has even been touted to be the fastest and most powerful Roku streaming player to date, thanks to a speedier processor underneath the hood in addition to an enhanced remote that comes with a headphone jack so that you can listen in private without having to disturb anyone around you. Not only that, Roku 3 would be accompanied by a new user interface that enables a more fluid browsing and navigation experience.
Anthony Wood, founder and CEO, Roku, said, “As Roku continues to build the largest selection of streaming entertainment, we are always exploring ways to improve the TV experience for our customers. Roku 3 introduces thoughtful new features that customers will love. The intuitive new interface makes it easy to find movies and shows quickly while the private listening mode is perfect for late-night streamers who don’t want to wake up the family.”
The remote control of the Roku 3 also doubles up as a motion-sensing game controller, letting you enjoy games such as Angry Birds Space, while you can download Roku’s free app for iOS and Android devices that turns the phone into the ultimate Roku command center, now how about that?
If you are interested in picking up the Roku 3 streaming player, you can now do so (assuming you reside in the US), where it can be purchased over at Roku.com as well as Amazon.com, and Roku has attached a recommended retail price of $99.99. If online shopping is not your cup of tea, you can always choose to bring home a Roku 3 yourself from retail stores around the US from April onwards, which is three weeks away for the more patient ones.
Press Release
[ Roku 3 announced copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Here’s a look back at the set-top boxes that have allowed us to kill time with ever greater efficiency.
Roku intends to up the ante when it comes to streaming boxes in the living room, and their latest effort would involve their new flagship model, which will also be relatively easy on your pockets, considering how it comes with a $99 price point for the Roku 3. The Roku 3 does seem to have the Apple TV, which happens to sell at a similar price, in its sights as well. In order to be the best of the crop, Roku had to weed out earlier issues by overhauling the entire user interface, refresh the aged design, and throw in a speedier processor.
Of course, hardware alone will not be able to deliver victory into the hands of Roku fans, as software plays an equally important role, as Roku managed to ensure that their content selection of more than 700 channels remain unmatched. Not only that, Roku wants to deliver more value for your hard earned money, by offering a new feature which is a private listening mode, letting you plug in a pair of headphones into the remote control itself. This means the Roku 2 XS will no longer be available after a 2 year run in the market, and current generation Rokus like the $50 Roku LT, $60 Roku HD, $80 Roku 2 XD, and $100 Roku Streaming Stick will continue to be sold, sporting the new and improved user interface found on the Roku 3 later this April through a software update.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Taser Sword Adds More Pain To The Injury, Cloudsto Media PC Pro DriveDock Docks A Hard Drive, Too,
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