Roku is expanding its streaming player lineup with the addition of two new devices - the new Roku Premiere and the new Roku Premiere+.
The Roku Premiere ($39.99 MSRP) and Roku Premiere+ ($49.99 MSRP) are simple to use and offer picture quality in HD, 4K Ultra HD or 4K HDR. The company also announced updates to the Roku Ultra streaming player, which now features premium JBL headphones yet remains at the same price of $99.99 MSRP.
With the Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+, users can search for shows and discover thousands of free and paid channels to stream almost anything, including movies, popular shows, live TV, news, sports and much more.
The device also ofers access to free content through The Roku Channel, which offers access to award-winners, cult classics, live news and more with no subscriptions and no fees. In addition, Featured Free provides users with direct links to free in-season episodes of top network shows and full past-season catch-ups.
The 4K Spotlight Channel offers easy access to streaming movies, TV shows and more filmed in 4K Ultra HD and rich color.
New Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+
The new Roku Premiere is a simple way to start streaming in HD, 4K Ultra HD or 4K HDR for $39.99 MSRP, while the $49.99 MSRP Roku Premiere+, a Walmart exclusive, includes a voice remote with TV power and volume buttons.
Roku Premiere Features:
- Picture in HD, 4K Ultra HD and 4K HDR
- Quad-core processor
- Low profile form factor
- Includes Premium high-speed HDMI cable
- Remote with channel shortcut buttons
- 802.11 (b/g/n)
- Dolby and DTS Digital Surround pass through over HDMI
- Roku Premiere+ includes everything Roku Premiere offers plus:
- Voice remote with TV power & volume buttons
Improved Roku Ultra
At $99.99 MSRP, Roku's most powerful and feature-packed player gets even better. It offers everything a streamer could want including an enhanced voice remote with TV power and volume buttons and new JBL headphones (valued at $39.95 MSRP) for private listening. Additionally, the lost remote finder feature can be set to play new tones including SportsCenter's DaDaDa from ESPN or HBO's Game of Thrones theme song beginning in November.
Roku Ultra Features:
- JBL headphones for private listening ($39.95 value)
- Offers both Ethernet 10/100 and 802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless
- Enhanced voice remote with TV power and volume buttons, headphone jack for private listening, gaming buttons
- Lost remote finder button on the device now with SportsCenter's DaDaDa from ESPN and HBO's Game of Thrones theme song
- USB port for local media playback
- Dolby and DTS Digital Surround pass through over HDMI
- Night listening mode
The Roku Premiere is available for pre-order at Roku.com beginning today and, along with the Roku Ultra, will be available at retailers beginning in early October. The Roku Premiere+ will be available exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com in early October.
Roku OS 9 to Offer New Voice Control, Search and Volume Leveling Features
Roku also today announced Roku OS 8.2, a software update for Roku TVs that enables new features for compatibility with upcoming Roku TV Wireless Speakers; and Roku OS 9, a new software release with a variety of enhancements such as new ways to search and control entertainment. Roku will soon enable the ability to use Google Assistant devices to control Roku streaming devices. In addition, premium music services Spotify and Pandora Premium support are coming to Roku devices.
New features across the Roku platform
- Google Assistant - Soon, you'll be able to use Google Assistant devices to control select Roku streaming devices to pause and search for content and launch channels. Additionally, Roku TV owners can turn their TV on and off, turn up the volume, mute, switch inputs and change channels if there is an OTA antenna connected.
- Pandora Premium support - With Pandora Premium, listeners can search and play any song, album or featured playlist, with the option to create their own, and access personalized soundtracks based on changing moods. Available via the Pandora channel in the Roku Channel Store now.
Roku OS 8.2 for Roku Tvs and Roku TV Wireless speakers
Access and control iHeartRadio, Pandora and TuneIn by voice - Launch live radio stations from across the U.S, podcasts, custom artist stations and more with iHeartRadio; Playlists, stations and more via Pandora; and live radio stations, play-by-play sports, news, etc. with TuneIn. Use voice commands using Roku voice remotes, Roku Touch or the Roku mobile app. Subscriptions not required and premium features available with upgraded services.
- Automatic Volume Leveling - Automatic Volume Leveling enables a uniform audio level across various types of content, so it will no longer feel jarring when a commercial comes on or when streaming channels are changed. Night mode lowers the volume level for louder scenes, and boosts it for quieter ones. The volume mode setting will be accessible by pressing the star button during video playback when Roku TV Wireless Speakers are connected to a Roku TV.
- Speech Clarity - This feature looks for voice frequencies and boosts them to address intelligibility. Speech Clarity will be available via the star menu when Roku TV Wireless Speakers are connected to a Roku TV.
- Spotify - Discover, manage and share over 35M songs for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features including offline mode, improved sound quality, Spotify Connect and ad-free listening. Roku customers will be able to launch and navigate the channel using a Roku remote or via Spotify
- Connect on a laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
Roku 9 OS for Roklu Streaming players, Roku TVs and Roku TV wireless Speakers
- "Free" Genre Voice Search - Browse free content available on the Roku platform with simple voice requests
- Automatic Volume Leveling - Automatic Volume Leveling will be available on select Roku streaming players, as well as select Roku TVs whether paired or not to Roku TV Wireless Speakers.
- Spotify
Pandora Premium is available via the Pandora channel in the Roku Channel Store now. Suppoty for Google Assistant Cis coming in the coming weeks.
Roku OS 8.2 is rolling out to Roku TVs now and is expected to be completed in November.
Roku OS 9 will begin rolling out to Roku streaming players in early November and Roku TVs early next year. It is expected to be completed in Q1 2019.