Roku Becomes First Company with TV Streaming USB Stick

Saratoga, California – privately held home media tech company Roku may only have 170 employees in a competitive field that pits it against rivals Google and Apple’s 47,000 and 80,000 employees respectively. Both Google and Apple are multi-billion dollar corporations, but the adage regarding intimacy referred to as “size doesn’t matter” apparently applies to technology budgets as well.

Roku has beaten Google to market in the United Kingdom as the first to offer a TV streaming USB stick which is designed to plug directly into the TV. Just how potent is the stick? In short, if a television has an HDMI port, it can now become a Smart TV by merely plugging in the stick. The television will have access to 750 streaming channels or apps which include popular Netflix, YouTube, 4OD, and the BBC’s iPlayer. Users will also be able to redirect their media such as music, pictures, and video from their smart phones and tablets to the television display in a “Look Ma, no cables!” type of approach. In other words, the stick will truly let a person “geek out”.

The video quality is a full 1080p and is the unit is controlled by a small remote just a little bigger than the stick itself. Roku believes customers want better streaming capabilities along with an easy to use interface. The unit appears to be as robust as the larger set top boxes Roku offers. The USB Streaming stick will retail for £50 which is very competitive compared to Apple TV’s £99. Google has yet to get the Chromecast to the UK, but it has begun selling the unit in the USA where it retails for $35 USD. Users of iPhones and Android-based smartphones will be able to use their phones as remotes for the Streaming stick in addition to redirecting their media output to the TV via the stick.

Source:
Roku beats Google’s Chromecast to the UK with a TV streaming stick
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/05/roku-beats-googles-chromecast-uk-tv-streaming-stick

Roku launches UK TV streaming stick ahead of rivals
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10677361/Roku-launches-UK-TV-streaming-stick-ahead-of-rivals.html