Roku 2 Is Now Official
The Roku 2 has not been a secret for a while now thanks to the FCC, but it would appear that it is now completely in the open. Roku has finally made the official announcement about their new lineup of media streamers. The new Roku boxes are not major upgrades, but do bring some interesting new features and some new channels.
The most obvious new feature will be the size. Roku seems intent on giving Apple a run for its money in making its streamers a favorite with hockey fans. The bigger news is support for games. The Roku 2 launches with the king of casual games, Angry Birds. There will also be some significant upgrades to the Roku’s Netflix streaming with Dolby Digital Plus, English subtitles and 1080p video on devices that support it.
There are three new models:
- Roku 2 HD
- MSRP $59.99
- 720p
- Roku 2 XD
- MSRP $79.99
- 1080p
- Roku 2 XS
- MSRP $99.99
- 1080p
- Ethernet
- USB port for local media playback
- Roku Game Remote with motion control
- Angry Birds (full version)
All three models include wireless networking, Bluetooth for connecting the Roku Game Remote, and a MicroSD slot for game storage. The Roku Game Remote is included with the Roku 2 XS, but will also be available in a separate package bundled with a 2gb MicroSD card for $29.99.
The new channels include:
- AOL HD
- Fox News
- EPIX HD
- Major League Soccer
The Facebook support in particular sounds like it will be quite extensive with complete Wall access as well as photo and video access.
I am super excited to introduce our brand new line of streaming players – the Roku 2. We’ve been working hard on these guys for the last year, and they are finally ready!
For the same low price as our previous streaming players, the Roku 2 adds a bunch of new stuff. A smaller, sleeker design is the first thing you’ll notice. A Roku player will now fit in the palm of your hand!
Ethernet is only on the most
Ethernet is only on the most expensive model? Didn’t all the old models have ethernet? That doesn’t seem like the type of thing you want to use to differentiate your high-end model with… unless they’re using the AVR mentality.
I can’t see why anyone would
I can’t see why anyone would go for the lower models. Yes price matters but at that cost level I don’t think it makes sense. Really it just seems like marketing fluff to compare Roku 2 HD feature set to the Apple TV2 and have a big check mark next to the price column.
mikinho wrote:I can’t see why
[quote=mikinho]
I can’t see why anyone would go for the lower models.
[/quote]
Exactly what I was thinking. It’s almost like they don’t want anyone to buy anything but the “top” model.