For the last few years, Roku has held the market on the best set-top media streaming box for the living room, but when Apple announced it’s revamped Apple TV priced at $99, many suspected Roku’s lunch had been eaten. Wednesday, however, Roku struck back against the Cupertino company and its fleet of fanboys by unleashing a brand new lineup of devices starting at just $59.
Roku now comes in three flavors: HD, XD and XDS. The HD, at $59, is basically the Roku of old, with built in WiFi and an HDMI port, while the XD, for $20 more, features 1080p video playback and extended range Wireless N capability. For another $20, the XDS gives you dual-band Wireless N, component video and optical audio outputs, as well as a USB port to load local media.
The XD and XDS also include a fun new trick no other streaming device offers: a DVR-esque instant replay button. Now when watching streaming content, users can rewind in 7-second intervals without causing the stream to rebuffer. With the focus of set-top box media shifting from local storage to over-the-air streaming, anything that makes the experience feel more natural is a welcome addition.
Replay button or not, at $99 the Roku XDS is a solid alternative to the new Apple TV (which only features 720p content). One area it comes up short in, however, is file format support. The Roku will only support MPEG-4, MP3, JPG and PNG files, while the Apple TV supports many more audio, video and photo formats. Roku users will miss the easy wireless syncing with iTunes (if that’s your music library manager of choice), but access to Amazon’s Video On Demand, Netflix and MLB.TV help make up for it.
So what’ll it be? Roku? Apple TV? Or Google TV perhaps? Oh, and don’t forget the Boxee Box! Leave us a comment and let us hear it!
(Via Roku)
I have had the original Roku box from the onset and have really enjoyed using it. I am now very interested in getting the latest XDS version due to the inclusion of Dual Band N. The new widgets capability of the latest firmware/software will also give it an environment akin to the Iphone…not from an app viewpoint but from adding features, etc. Can’t wait!!
I’m waiting to see what Google TV does and if hte 8gig memory on the Apple TV leads to apps to get content with. I love the Roku when I had it, but they aren’t offering me enough to choose them over an Apple TV as I want to watch my Video Podcasts and TV Series I purchase from iTunes (since they don’t offer subscriptions on Roku). Plus as time marches on I am slowing down on buying the latest and greatest toy to see how it all shakes out… or seems to be shaking out. I just want something my husband can use easily without me having to be there to set it up uisng my Mac Mini to play on my TV or Front Row.
My new plasma TV set is too thin to put any of these boxes on it.
i’m a user of the old AppleTV and love it. I’ve thought of getting a Roku for Netflix. The new AppleTV however has replaced that need and since I have nearly 400 titles in Itunes i’m ready to roll. I do however see myself recommending the Roku to a number of people. They know I like Netflix and they aren’t iTunes users. the resolution doesn’t matter to me since 720p looks awesome and you have to spend more than I did for a 1080p TV anyway. Seems a lot of sources say that 1080p only matters on BIG TVs anyway.
I’m really annoyed that the new IOS won’t be available on old Apple TVs. suddenly this becomes a lot more interesting.
I’ve been waiting for an alternative to Apple TV, not that I hate the fine Apple product, but I was looking for something with Amazon VOD and Netflix download capability as well as a set top box which will handle the dual-band Wireless N technology and Roku looks as it has most of the features I’m looking for as I have not yet incorporated a set top media distribution platform within my A/V system. I already subscribe to Amazon VOD, so set up should be easy.
Thanks guys for showing us this new method… “B”