Roku unveiled a lineup of new streaming and smart home devices as well as new features designed to boost content discovery during a press event held in New York City on Wednesday.
The platform introduced a “Coming Soon to Theaters” row and personalized sports highlights. It also launched short-form content rows in the All Things Food and All Things Home destinations for users to easily find smaller curated clips, from recipe tutorials to home organization hacks. It also unveiled badges to help users differentiate between free, paid, new and award-winning content.
It also plans to bring Roku Sports Zone to Mexico in the coming weeks, offering a one-stop hub for sports fans to catch all their favorite games, and is launching mobile notifications that will allow users to keep up with their favorite sports teams on the go.
Roku also introduced two new streaming devices — the $29.99 Roku Streaming Stick and $39.99 Roku Streaming Stick Plus — which are over 35% smaller than other brands. The Roku Streaming Stick will allow users to change the volume, power on their TV or search for and play TV shows and movies using their voice.
The streaming players will launch in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama.
Additionally, the company announced new features for the Roku-branded Plus Series TV, including Smart Picture Max, which adjusts picture settings on a scene by scene basis, mini-LED backlighting, Bluetooth Headphone Mode and a remote finder button.
It also unveiled a Roku TV Smart Projector reference design that will be made available to all of its partners and a Smart Home operating system powered by Roku’s new Battery Camera and Battery Camera Plus for both outdoor and indoor spaces.
The cameras’ rechargeable batteries offer up to six months and two years of battery life on a single charge, respectively, and have the option to add a solar panel. They also offer 1080p HD full-color picture and as well as color night vision.
The Roku Cameras app for TV automatically cycles through various camera feeds based on motion and will send notifications or allow you to keep a closer eye with a Picture-in-Picture feature while you’re watching a movie or TV show.
Roku reaches over 90 million households worldwide, including half of all broadband homes in the U.S.
“As we step into the new streaming-first era, our focus at Roku is where it’s been since day one: redefining what streaming can be,” Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood said in a statement. “With our intuitive interface, unmatched scale and insights, and cutting-edge innovation, the full Roku Experience doesn’t just meet expectations — it sets a new standard. I’m proud of how far we’ve come, and I’m even more excited about where we’re headed next.”
“Our mission remains the same — to deliver better TV for everyone,” Roku devices president Mustafa Ozgen added. “With this new device lineup and beyond, we are changing the future of television, with streaming that is seamless, innovative and enjoyable.”
