Hasta La Gadget!

The $99 Roku Player, a tiny box that streams content from Netflix’s on-demand content as well as Amazon Video On Demand, just got two new siblings. Available immediately via Roku’s website and Amazon (and for a limited time, with free shipping), the Roku SD ($79.99) and the Roku HD-XR ($129.99) expand the line in opposite directions. At only $20 cheaper then the original Roku Player, its hard to see the immediate impact or value that the Roku SD will have over its predecessor. The Roku HD-XR, however, offers 802.11n Wi-Fi compatibility, which should translate into better streaming at higher resolutions with less interruption. This, of course, is contingent upon your set-up providing 802.11n Wi-Fi signal to begin with. Streaming HD content has not been gracefully achieved by any media extender as of yet; the best solution is still the iTunes method, which downloads to a hard drive and plays seamlessly once the minimum buffer is met. That, technically, is not streaming, but actual streaming of HD content usually falls apart fairly quickly, so we are eager to check out Roku’s purported solution. Look for reviews at PCMag.com in the coming weeks.