Roku


Roku

A family of digital media hubs from Roku, Inc., Saratoga, CA (www.roku.com) that streams audio and video from the Internet to the TV. Roku boxes connect to the TV via HDMI and provide access to Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and a variety of free and paid movie, TV, music, sports and technology "channels." Via Plex software, the personal media libraries on the user's computers can also be streamed to the TV (see Plex). See digital media hub.


Roku Models
The small Roku player (top) comes in HD and 4K models and connects to the home router via Wi-Fi. The Ultra (bottom) connects via Wi-Fi or Ethernet and has a microSD slot. The remote includes a headphone jack. (Images courtesy of Roku, Inc.)







Streaming Stick
The Roku Streaming Stick plugs into and draws power from the TV's HDMI port and provides the same functions as the bigger boxes. See MHL. (Image courtesy of Roku, Inc.)







A Unique Music Hub
Roku started out with audio hubs in 2002. One of the few non-Apple products that could stream from iTunes playlists, this M2000 had the only music hub readout that could be seen from a distance. Roku later changed focus to video streaming. See iTunes.