i have an old school roku...but now this will be the shit...
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/story/2012-01-04/roku-CES/52368412/1?csp=hf
Roku has successfully persuaded 2.5 million TV fans to buy its tiny set-top box that brings Netflix, Amazon and other Internet channels to the living room and bedroom big screen TVs.
Now Roku is going even smaller. Today it is announcing the Streaming Stick, a tiny USB-like drive that slips directly into the TV, eliminating the need for cables, power cords and another remote.
Best Buy has signed on to sell the device exclusively with its home brand of Insignia TVs.
Roku, which will be showing demos of the speed stick at next week's
Consumer Electronics Show, plans to eventually open up to other partners as well.
Most consumer electronic devices last about two years before consumers get itchy for a new one, says Roku founder
Anthony Wood. However, consumers stick with their TVs much longer. So with an easy-to-replace stick, if "you want to upgrade the streaming on your TV, you pop it out and replace it with a new one."
The stick will be available at midyear and sell for $50 to $100.
It will compete with existing boxes, such as the
Apple TV device that sells for $99, as well as a plethora of connected devices, such as Blu-ray players that are available from all the major manufacturers. Smart TVs, which have a limited selection of Web channels, will also be in the mix.
The market is heating up.
Google TV, which was widely rejected by consumers when first launched in 2010, is looking to make a comeback at
CES, and Apple is expected to launch its own Internet-connected TV in late 2012.
"A stick is a better deal for consumers than a box," says James McQuivey, an analyst at
Forrester Research. "It's less intimidating, and it's portable. You can take it with you on vacation, plug it into a hotel TV. People will like the portability."
The stick will be compatible with the new MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) standard. MHL provides power to the stick from the HDMI input, so the device won't work with most TVs — even most new ones. (MHL is designed as a way to power up your smartphone and access media from the device at the same time.)
Currently, only a handful of TVs from Toshiba and Samsung are MHL-compatible, says Parks Associates analyst Kurt Scherf. The new sets from Best Buy will be MHL-compatible, too.
"You'll see a lot more MHL TVs in 2012," he adds. And new smaller MHL TVs may be considerably cheaper than a big smart TV, making the stick a viable option for consumers looking to bring the Internet to their TVs, he says.
So what do you lose by opting for the stick instead of the Roku box?
Nothing, Wood says.
"You now get a better experience, because it's integrated into the TV."
