Roku is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc They offer access to streaming media content from online services.
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34 Facts About Roku
2.
Roku devices are considered to have popularized the concept of low-cost, small-form-factor set-top boxes for over-the-top media consumption.
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3.
Roku has licensed its platform as middleware for smart TVs.
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4.
Roku was founded by Anthony Wood in 2002, who had previously founded ReplayTV, a DVR company that competed with TiVo.
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5.
In 2014, Roku partnered with smart TV manufacturers to produce TVs with built-in Roku functionality.
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7.
In 2019, Roku acquired dataxu, an advertising technology company for $150 million.
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8.
In July 2011, Roku unveiled its second generation of players, branded as Roku 2 HD, XD, and XS.
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9.
In January 2012, Roku unveiled the Streaming Stick - a new model condensed into a dongle form factor using Mobile High-Definition Link.
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10.
The Roku 3 contains an upgraded CPU over the 2 XS, and a Wi-Fi Direct remote with an integrated headphone jack.
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11.
In October 2015, Roku introduced the Roku 4; the device contains upgraded hardware with support for 4K resolution video, as well as 802.
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12.
Roku revamped their entire streaming player line-up with five new models in September 2016, while the Streaming Stick (3600) was held over from the previous generation (having been released the previous April) as a sixth option.
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13.
Roku has resurrected the Premiere and Premiere+ names, but these two new models bear little resemblance to the 2016 fifth-generation Premiere and Premiere+ (4630) models.
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14.
The new Premiere and Premiere+ (3921) are essentially based on the Express (3900) model with 4K support added, it includes Roku Streaming Stick+ Headphone Edition (3811) for improving Wifi signal strength and private listening.
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15.
Roku had warned in 2015 that it would stop updating players made in May 2011 or earlier, and these vintage boxes were among them.
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17.
On November 15, 2021, Roku announced a budget model Roku LE to be sold at Walmart, while supplies last.
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18.
Roku announced its first branded smart TV and it was released in late 2014.
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20.
In January 2020, Roku created a badge to certify devices as working with a Roku TV model.
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21.
In January 2021, a Roku executive said one out of three smart TVs sold in the United States and Canada came with Roku's operating system built-in.
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22.
Roku pushes OS updates to supported devices in a staggered release.
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23.
Roku provides video services from a number of Internet-based video on demand providers.
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24.
Content on Roku devices is provided by Roku partners and is identified using the term channel.
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25.
Roku is an open-platform device with a freely available software development kit that enables anyone to create new channels.
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26.
Roku launched its own streaming channel on its devices in October 2017.
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27.
Roku added the "Featured Free" section as the top section of its main menu from which users can get access to direct streaming of shows and movies from its partners.
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28.
On January 8, 2021, Roku announced that it had acquired the original content library of the defunct mobile video service Quibi for an undisclosed amount, reported to be around $100 million.
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29.
Daily Beast alleged that non-certified channels on Roku eased access to materials promoting conspiracy theories and terrorism content.
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30.
Roku defended itself against the allegations as such, stating that these channels were not officially certified and that the company takes active measures to stop illegal streaming services.
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31.
The 11th Collegiate Court in Mexico City overturned the decision in October 2018, with Roku returning to the Mexican market soon after; Televisa's streaming service Blim TV would launch on the platform.
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33.
Google claimed that Roku had "terminated our deal in bad faith amidst our negotiation", stating that it wanted to renew the "existing reasonable terms" under which Roku offered YouTube TV.
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