Roku on Tuesday announced a new $50 Roku LT player, the latest member of the company’s family of streaming media devices. The Roku LT supports 720p HD video, has built-in Wi-Fi, and provides access to 300 channels including Amazon Instant Video, Pandora, EPIX, Disney, Crackle, Hulu Plus and Netflix. ”Our goal is a Roku in every home,” Roku CEO Anthony Wood said. “The Roku LT opens up streaming to more people by lowering the cost of entry in these difficult economic times. With a $49 price and selection of more than 300 channels we expect the Roku LT will be everyone’s favorite Holiday device.” Additionally, Roku announced a new HBO GO partnership that provides on-demand access to 1,400 HBO movies and TV shows. Users must already subscribe to HBO through their cable provider in order to take advantage of this feature, however. The Roku LT will be available in early November from Roku’s website, Amazon and retail stores. Read on for the full press release.

New Roku LT Streams Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, Pandora and 300 More Channels

Saratoga, Calif. – Oct. 11, 2011 – Roku, the leading streaming platform today announced a new affordable streaming player with the market’s lowest price of just $49.99. Called the Roku LT, this new player works with virtually any TV and delivers the full award-winning Roku streaming experience with more than 300 channels including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Pandora, EPIX, Crackle,
Disney, and the newest premier addition to our channel line-up — HBO GO. More details on the HBO GO announcement appears in a separate press release also issued today.

“Our goal is a Roku in every home,” said Roku Founder and CEO Anthony Wood. “The Roku LT opens up streaming to more people by lowering the cost of entry in these difficult economic times. With a $49 price and selection of more than 300 channels we expect the Roku LT will be everyone’s favorite Holiday device.”

The Roku LT streams 720p high-definition video and features built-in wireless. It will be available from Roku.com, Amazon.com and in retail stores nationwide beginning in early November.

The Roku LT complements the Roku 2 family of streaming players which was introduced in late July. The Roku 2 family is unique in that it features casual gaming as well as streaming video and music. Roku 2 is available in three models – Roku 2 HD ($59.99), Roku 2 XD ($79.99) and Roku 2 XS ($99.99)- all feature Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. The flagship Roku 2 XS model comes standard with the Bluetooth-
enabled Roku Game Remote with motion control for games like Angry Birds.

Up until now, Roku devices have only been available online, but that changes today. Roku has just announced nationwide availability of their Roku XD model at all Best Buy locations. This is a pretty large move for the company, and with the success Roku has had online, there’s no question it will translate into retail sales. Press release after the break.

Roku Enters Retail with Nationwide Availability at Best Buy

Roku XD model featuring 1080p playback and 802.11n WiFi now available for purchase at your local Best Buy Store.

Saratoga, Calif. – March 30, 2011 – Roku, Inc., maker of the best-selling and award-winning Roku streaming player, announced today that its Roku XD player is available for purchase at Best Buy stores nationwide and at BestBuy.com. With up to 1080p HD streaming support, integrated 802.11n WiFi and Instant Replay the Roku XD offers unlimited entertainment choices and incredible value to customers. The Roku XD has a list price of $79.99 and is available at Best Buy stores and at BestBuy.com for purchase today. Roku players can also be found at other leading retail stores including BJ’s Wholesale Club, Fry’s Electronics and RadioShack.

“Having sold over 1 million Roku players through online sales only up until now, we are incredibly excited to announce our entrance into brick and mortar retail with nationwide availability from the preeminent consumer electronics retailer,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. “Customers can now grab a Roku off the shelf at Best Buy, take it home and be up and running, enjoying their favorite TV show, movie, music or sports team in just a matter of minutes.”

All Roku players continue to deliver the largest collection of streaming entertainment available for the TV, including over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, (NASDAQ: NFLX) Amazon Instant Video (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Hulu Plus; live and on-demand sports from NBA Game Time and NHL GameCenter Live; music from Pandora, MP3tunes, MOG and Rdio; photo and video sharing from Flickr and Facebook; plus news and entertainment from thousands of sources around the world.

First introduced in May 2008, the Roku player provides an easy, affordable, and reliable way for over 1 million customers to watch movies and TV shows instantly on their TV. Since the launch of the Roku Channel Store, all Roku customers now have access to over 150 channels from 85 unique content services, with more added all the time.

Pricing and Availability

The Roku XD is available for $79.99 and can be purchased at any Best Buy in the United States and at BestBuy.com. In addition to being available at Best Buy, select Roku players are available at BJ’s Wholesale Club, Fry’s Electronics and RadioShack. A full list of retailers and which Roku models are available at each one can be found at

According to an unconfirmed report in The Seattle Times, Microsoft is preparing to demonstrate a new home entertainment product set to combat Apple TV and Google TV. The rumored service will supposedly be demonstrated this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Said to be powered by a “stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs,” a customized version of Windows Embedded is the likely candidate for this type of product. The devices are also said to feature a UI similar to the Windows Media Center interface, and will include a “polished and familiar TV-program guide that makes it easy to blend and navigate both online and broadcast content.” While no manufacturing partners were revealed in the report, an initial round of Windows TV boxes will apparently go on sale later this year for around $200.

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Both Zach and I have bought no fewer than five Roku XDS units as holiday gifts this season. So it comes as no surprise to us that Amazon has slashed $20 off of the device’s price now that our Rokus are all wrapped, mailed, and committed. The online retail giant has quietly reduced the price of the 1080p streaming media player from $99.99 down to $79.99. The Roku XDS offers full Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu Plus compatibility, as well as a host of other streaming options thanks to an online channel-store available to all users. Procrastination literally just paid you $20. The XDS is currently listed as “temporarily out of stock,” but if time is not of the essence, you can still go ahead and order yourself Roku’s high-end offering at the new, low price.

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When Apple first announced that it would be issuing a refreshed version of Apple TV, several analysts and bloggers assumed set top boxes like Roku’s offering would be in trouble. According to Roku CEO Anthony Wood, however, the reality is just the opposite. The new Apple TV received a warm reception at launch, having sold 250,000 units during its first six weeks of availability. But Apple has been quiet about the product since its earnings call, and talk of the device has all but disappeared from the mainstream media. On the other hand, Roku’s sales doubled when the new Apple TV launched, Wood told Business Insider. Sales have also doubled year-over-year for the company, and Roku will sell its millionth box before the end of this month. Roku currently holds the No. 11 and No. 12 spots on Amazon’s list of best-selling electronics, and Amazon accounts for just 25% of Roku’s sales according to Wood. The company is also working on licensing deals that will bring in revenue from new channels as partner manufacturers build boxes based on the Roku platofrm. Roku projects $100 million in revenue in 2011, following over $50 million in sales this year.

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Roku has just announced a firmware update — version 2.9 b1509 — for its popular line of streaming media players. The new code packs various bug fixes, playback optimizations, and, most notably, 1080p video playback for the Roku XR player. If your device hasn’t yet automatically retrieved the update, you can manually grab the firmware by navigating to: Settings > Player Info > Check For Updates.

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If you’re looking to jump into the connected TV market, and aren’t quiet ready to go with Google TV, Roku is a great option. The company has just pinged us to let us know it is offering a sale on its widely popular Roku XD player starting tonight at 12:00PM PT. Roku will be offering its XD model player — which is capable of 1080p playback — at an additional 20% off. That brings the price of the already affordable box down to $64. The sale runs through Monday, November 29th. Happy shopping.

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Here’s a bit of good news: Hulu has just announced that its Hulu Plus premium subscription service will shed $2 from its monthly price tag. As the press release reads: “The monthly price for Hulu Plus moving forward is just $7.99. Any current subscribers who joined during our preview period will receive a credit for the difference from the $9.99 preview price. This credit will automatically be applied to their next billing cycle.”

But the juice doesn’t stop there.  Hulu has also announced the following promotions:

• One free week trials for all new subscribers. In addition, current subscribers who joined during the preview period will receive a credit for one week of Hulu Plus toward their next month’s subscription.
• Two free weeks of Hulu Plus for both current subscribers and friends they invite through our referral program. Subscribers can learn more by clicking on the “Referrals” tab on their Hulu profile page.
• 11 weeks ($20 worth) of free Hulu Plus with the purchase of a Sony BRAVIA connected TV or Blu-ray player through January 31, 2011. (See sony.com/huluplus.)
• One free month of Hulu Plus with the purchase of a Roku device through December 15, 2010. (See roku.com/hulu.)

The release also notes that the service is launching on Roku today and will be coming to “Internet-connected Vizio, LG Electronics, and Panasonic Blu-ray players and HDTVs; TiVo Premiere DVRs; the Xbox 360; and Western Digital’s WD TV Live Hub Media Center and WD TV Live Plus Network Media Player,” in the coming months. Updates to the Hulu Plus iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Samsung, and PlayStation 3 players will be made available this week.

Anyone reconsidering Hulu Plus after the price drop?

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Following Netgear’s announcement Tuesday that it would offer a $90 set top box powered by Roku’s software, it looks as though Roku is playing with alternative models in an effort to stay competitive. Roku gained notoriety in 2008 by providing an easy solution for streaming Netflix Watch Instantly video content to television sets. The company has since expended its product through partnerships that brought additional content from the likes of Amazon Video On Demand, MLB.TV and Hulu. With a growing content library and three new hardware products starting at just $59.99, Roku still finds in the precarious position of having to compete with the likes of Google, which recently launched Google TV, and Apple, which refreshed its Apple TV offering last month.

In an effort to combat the aforementioned giants, Roku is licensing out its software. The first taker, Netgear, announced the Netgear Roku Player NTV250 earlier this week, which is already available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Fry’s, Amazon.com and Buy.com. Roku hopes that by letting larger hardware partners do the heavy lifting, it can spread its net as wide as possible and let the simplicity of its software carry partner offerings. There’s no question Roku has a great product, but Google has shown that it plans to be very aggressive with Google TV and Apple sold a quarter-million Apple TVs in just six weeks. Roku tells BGR that its business couldn’t be better right now but with competition like Apple and Google, Roku has its work cut out for it.

Read (Roku licensing software) Read (Netgear Roku Player)

Roku has just announced that they will be adding a Hulu Plus channel to their lineup “later this fall.” As the press release reads: “Hulu Plus offers one of the deepest offerings of TV shows, both current and classic, on a streaming platform to subscribers in the U.S. Through Hulu Plus on Roku, TV lovers can watch every episode of more than 45 current hit programs from ABC, FOX and NBC.” A Hulu Plus subscription, which will still be required, retails for $9.99 per month. We’ve got the full press release after the break.

Roku Announces Content Partnership with Hulu

Hulu Plus Coming this Fall on All Roku Streaming Players

Saratoga, Calif. (September 28, 2010) Roku, Inc., maker of the best-selling and award-winning Roku streaming player, and Hulu™, the leading online TV service, today announced a partnership to offer the Hulu Plus™ service on all Roku players. The Hulu Plus channel will be available via subscription to all Roku customers later this fall.

Hulu Plus offers one of the deepest offerings of TV shows, both current and classic, on a streaming platform to subscribers in the U.S. Through Hulu Plus on Roku, TV lovers can watch every episode of more than 45 current hit programs from ABC, FOX and NBC like Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee, Family Guy, The Office and 30 Rock. In addition, TV lovers will be able to enjoy full series runs and numerous back seasons of dozens of classic shows like The X-Files, Law and Order: SVU, Arrested Development, Saturday Night Live, Miami Vice, Ugly Betty, Quantum Leap, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Roswell and Ally McBeal. The Hulu Plus channel will be available via subscription to all Roku customers later this fall.

“We are excited to bring Hulu Plus to all Roku users,” said Pete Distad, VP of Content Distribution for Hulu. “With Hulu Plus on Roku, TV fans will have an easy way to stream to their TVs the shows they love, whenever they want.”

Roku pioneered the streaming player category in 2008, and recently launched its new line of HD streaming players starting at $59.99, featuring the largest collection of streaming entertainment available for the TV, and the lowest prices in the industry.

“We’re thrilled to be able to provide Hulu Plus subscribers with the most inexpensive device to stream Hulu content to their TVs,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. “Hulu continues to be an amazing innovator in online entertainment, and Roku is an ideal platform to bring their content back to the living room and high definition televisions where it is best viewed.”

The Roku HD streaming player ($59.99) delivers video in high-definition and features built-in wireless and Ethernet for easy broadband connectivity anywhere in the home. The new Roku XD ($79.99) and XDS ($99.99) models add 1080p HD support (delivered over HDMI) and extended-range Wireless-N. In addition, the XDS model features dual-band Wireless-N technology and USB playback.

In partnering with Roku, Hulu joins major entertainment partners including Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon Video On Demand (NASDAQ: AMZN), Pandora, MLB.TV, and Ultimate Fighting Championship®.

Today, Roku announced a new line of HD streaming video players, the Roku XD and the Roku XDS. To get your initial question out of the way: Yes, both new players can stream video in a full 1080p. The Roku XD, which will retail for $79.99, and the Roku XDS, which will retail for $99.99, both feature an HDMI-out port, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and an “instant replay” function (allowing you to skip back 7-seconds on streaming content without re-buffering). The XDS model will have dual-band Wireless-N technology, component video out, optical audio out, and USB port. The USB port will allow you to “play stored music, photos, and up to 1080p video using a USB playback channel, available as a free upgrade.” The original Roku HD player, which can stream in a maximum of 720p, is now available for a measly $59.99. All three players — the HD, XD, and XDS — are available at Amazon or Roku.com starting today.

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Today, Roku announced a partnership with consumer movie company Flixster that will bring HD movie trailers right to your television. The new service will allow Roku owners to “search Flixster’s entire database of movie trailers and then search for those same movies to watch through one of Roku’s partners including Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand.” The trailers will be for unreleased and released movies; ratings from Rotten Tomatoes will also be displayed. Flixster has mobile applications for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, and webOS as well as a WAP site. Hit the jump for the full release.

Flixster Brings Streaming Movie Trailers to TV in Partnership With Roku

The World’s Biggest Online Movie CommunityDebuts on Roku’s Streaming Media Players

SAN FRANCISCO (August 3, 2010) – “Coming attractions” can be the best part of a movie experience, and now movie fans can watch trailers for upcoming movies (both theatrical and on DVD/VOD releases) on their home television sets as Flixster, the world’s biggest online movie community, teams with Roku Inc., maker of the popular and award-winning family of Roku streaming media players.

Flixster on Roku will also offer the widely recognized Tomatometer® scores from Rotten Tomatoes, which will help users make their moviegoing and in-home film experiences richer.

Roku players already offer a wide range of entertainment options, and the addition of Flixster trailers means that movie lovers can explore the newest cinematic offerings on their TV in high definition as they decide which movies to see. Better yet, using Flixster, Roku customers can search Flixster’s entire database of movie trailers and then search for those same movies to watch through one of Roku’s partners including Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand.

“Flixster has quickly become one of the most well-known and trusted movie brands among consumers, who associate Flixster with learning about the newest film entertainment,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. “We think there is a great fit between discovering movies with Flixster and watching them on-demand on the Roku player.”

Steve Polsky, president and COO of Flixster Inc., added, “Roku brings us a brand-new platform to reach moviegoers, and makes a great addition to our online sites and our fast-growing mobile apps, which have become the leader in their space. We want to be wherever moviegoers are, and Roku helps us reach them in new ways.”

By choosing Roku as its first launch partner in the home entertainment category, Flixster joins major entertainment partners including Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Amazon Video on Demand (Nasdaq: AMZN), MLB.TV, the Ultimate Fighting Championship®.

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Today, Roku and MP3tunes announced a partnership that will bring your iTunes music library to your television. MP3tunes, for those not familiar, is a company that provides “secure online music space” and features “unlimited listening.” The company’s website boasts, “With just a couple clicks, Locker users can sync their personal digital music and video up to ‘the cloud’ for enjoying from any web browser and a wide variety of mobile and home entertainment devices.” And starting today, you can add the Roku to that list. MP3 offers 10GB of storage for free — ad supported of course — with paid options all the way up to 200 GB. Hit the jump for the full press release. 

MP3tunes and Roku Partner To Bring Personal iTunes Music Collection To TVs

An Industry First: No PC or home server required to play iTunes music libraries on Home Entertainment Systems

San Diego, CA – For the first time, music lovers can play their personal iTunes music collection on their TV without a home server. Roku, the market leader in streaming entertainment devices has added expanded support for personal music collections with the addition of MP3tunes. Available now on all Roku players, the MP3tunes channel connects securely to a customer’s personal music stored online in their MP3tunes Locker. After a few simple steps to connect and sync music to a web-based locker, any Roku becomes a rich music player.

“Now customers can get their music library to their TV without the complexity or cost of a home server,” said Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3tunes. “For less than $100, iTunes users or any music enthusiast can turn a TV into a home stereo and take advantage of the best speakers in their house.”

Roku customers can find the free MP3tunes channel in the Roku channel store. By adding this channel to their Roku, customers can access their song libraries and playlists which have historically been available only on their PC in iTunes or portable players which they sync. The MP3tunes channel defaults to a one-click shuffle mode, which immediately plays a random mix of music along with a visual display of accompanying cover art. Customers may choose to browse their music and select artists, albums or playlists to hear.

All Roku customers receive 10GB of free storage space for their music which, on average, will store music libraries up to 2,500 songs. Additional storage for larger music collections is available with MP3tunes premium locker accounts up to 200GBs. For a limited time, customers may also buy a Roku player with a $20 discount and get a free MP3tunes Premium Locker. See www.mp3tunes.com/rokubundle for more information.

“Roku customers are increasingly taking advantage of streaming music services, and now with MP3tunes we are giving them access to their full iTunes music library right on the TV,” said Jim Funk, vice president of business development for Roku, Inc. “In addition to being a terrific video player with support for Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, and a whole host of other great sports and entertainment content, the Roku player is also a gateway to rich audio entertainment thanks to MP3tunes.”

By choosing Roku as its first launch partner in the home entertainment category, MP3tunes joins major streaming services like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Amazon Video On Demand (Nasdaq: AMZN), MLB.TV, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. The Roku digital video player joins a growing family of devices that play music from a secure MP3tunes locker including Apple iPhone, iTouch, Google Android and Logitech radios. MP3tunes’ unique open music API (www.mp3tunes.com/api) allows any net aware device for car, home, mobile to play a personal music collection.

A video tour of the service can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/user/mp3tunes#p/u/6/ctn4Dx0IGPE

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Folks on the fence about a Roku box may be swayed by the news that Roku is teaming up with Clearleap to bring on-demand cable TV programing to the video streaming platform. Clearleap is a growing company that serves as the middle man between cable, satellite and telephone companies that have on-demand content and video streaming services like Roku that want to dish up this content. This arrangement would allow Roku users to purchase on-demand movies from their television provider via their Roku box and have all charges tacked onto their monthly TV bill. That’s definitely great for those with more than one TV in their house, and could also potentially allow television providers the option to offer the Roku box as a cable box alternative. Roku’s move towards providing traditional video-on-demand content is still in its infancy as no content providers have currently jumped on board. But if and when this on-demand service materializes, Roku owners will only have to download an update with the on-demand application to activate the service.

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Roku customers that are also patrons of Netfix have a reason to jump for joy this spring evening as the two companies have released a video showing off an upcoming redesign of the Roku-Netflix experience. Due out in June as a free software update, users will not only have a shiny new interface to stare at but will be able to browse, search and play everything in Netflix’s instant streaming catalog as well as add movies and TV shows to a queue for watching at a later time. We’ve got the teaser video lined up for you after the jump, so don’t forget to click through the jump and check it out.