Hasta La Gadget!

Big Bird (or “Big Yellah,” as we like to call him) and his Sesame Street cohorts are now available for streaming on your Roku box. Not just that, but his non-avian colleagues from PBS and PBS Kids are also making the trip, arriving today in new PBS and PBS Kids Roku channels. The two new channels offer more than the on-demand access to PBS programming you’d expect; PBS Digital Studios’ work is also available to stream (we’re quite fond of it, if you couldn’t tell).

While it’s not 100 percent clear what exactly is available at any given time, PBS’ announcement says “hundreds of videos” can be accessed, which are pulled from the archives, from national and local daily programming, and include biggies like NOVA, Frontline, and American Experience (it stands to reason that heavy hitter Downtown Abbey won’t be available, given its exclusive license with Amazon starting next month). PBS Kids is similarly well-stocked, with “more than 1,000 videos,” which includes everything from Curious George to, yes, Sesame Street. There’s a short teaser video of the service being used just below the break, should you not be able to contain yourself until you get home.

Update: According to Roku, not all Roku players support the new PBS channels. “Both PBS and PBS Kids are available immediately for all Roku 3, Roku 2, Roku LT, new Roku HD players and the Roku Streaming Stick in the US,” the company says. Heads up!

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Science, HD

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Source: Roku

The Roku 3 is the official must-have device for cord-cutters. It’s the one set-top box you need if you’re getting your media from the internet.

Roku, the nifty streaming video device that brings a variety of easily-accessible content to your television, just reached its newest milestone: the shipment of its 5 millionth device in the United States. The massively popular device is used to stream what has amounted to billions of hours of TV shows and movies, among other content. As part of its celebration, the company has released an infograph on the evolution of streamed television.

Roku has bragging rights as having offered the first video streaming device for televisions back in the early summer of 2008, with the device first being called the Netflix Player (due to Netflix being the only content platform available at the time). Following this, it was eventually renamed to Roku, gaining both additional content services and, years later, gaming via the addition of Angry Birds.

In addition to Netflix, users now have access to content from Amazon, VUDU, and others, as well as streaming music via Pandora and more. Several different models are available, with one of the device’s elements helping drive sales (besides being awesome) is its low price, starting at only $49.99 for the purple LT version, with more expensive models offering better and additional features.

All of these things have helped propel the small device, which has a diameter a tad larger than the size of your palm, to 5 million shipments in the US. To mark the occasion, Roku has released an infograph that contains the evolution of streaming television as seen from the perspective of its streaming device, starting in 2008 when it was launched to 2013 and its 5 millionth sale.

[via Roku]

Roku hits 5 million players shipped milestone is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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It was all the way back in May 2008 when Roku launched their maiden player that was capable of streaming entertainment directly to the TV, where some have dubbed it to be “the Netflix player,” as Netflix was the first available channel back then. Roku’s effort enabled consumers to stream thousands of TV and movie titles on their TVs instantly, courtesy of a speedy Internet connection.

Since then, half a decade has passed, and Roku today celebrates the shipment of their five millionth Roku streaming player Stateside. This will definitely have a spot in the pantheon of Roku’s industry, where channels like Amazon Video on Demand were added in 2009, HBO GO in 2011 and TWC TV in 2013. Apart from 5 million Roku players shipped, 8 billion streams of video and music were sent to Roku players since 2008, in addition to having approximately 750 channels for you to fill up your spare time with. Are you rocking to a Roku streaming player, or do you think that you will be able to resist the lure of Roku for the next five years?

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Hisense USA has just announced the immediate availability of its 40-inch and 46-inch K360M Roku Ready TVs, in addition to the larger sized 50-inch and 55-inch K610 Smart TV models, where these can be purchased in all Walmart stores. Sporting an extremely sleek bezel that measures just 13mm, you will also find a plethora of technology underneath the hood, including integrated WiFi connectivity, the most recent Hisense Smart TV interface in select models which enables you to enjoy thousands of Vudu Apps and HD movies, Netflix, YouTube and Pandora on the comfort of your TV, accompanied by a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, a standard MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) port, and of course, Roku Ready certification.

This would also enable Hisense customers to be able to use the Roku Streaming Stick for instant content streaming of over 750 entertainment channels that boast of movies, songs and games from the Roku streaming platform. Well, it is time to break open the piggy bank, and see whether you have the kind of money inside to bring home one of these puppies, no?

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