Roku players arrive in the UK: over 40 streaming channels of telly goodness in a box

DaRiCh10 February 2012

Looks and sound very promising, Just a shame you couldn't give a bit more info on differences between the two. also there's no mention of playing media through a usb device, as this ommision would be a bit of a disappointment especially on the XS version, or even the LT version as there are budget players well below £50 that have that capability.

paul riley13 February 2012

I am loving NetFlix on the Roku, new in the UK, especially as Amazon seems to have fumbled the ball, and although they are the only people selling the Roku in the UK, have overlooked providing their own streaming service that will work on the device. The US version of Amazon Streaming is blocked in the UK, Amazon.co.uk does not currently have a streaming service available, LoveFilm a british company that Amazon brought recently (presumably to plug the gap in streaming services provided by Amazon.co.uk), does not support the Roku device. So as I say Amazon seem to have fumbled the ball, selling what I predict will be the most popular streaming device in the UK (already the most popular device in the US), and the company is giving their competitors a clear shot at the market. There is a but in all of this, why oh why are customers of Netflix in the UK treated as second class citizens as far as the programmes available. A brief look at Netflix (US) and comparing it to Netflix (UK) and it is obvious that currently the UK customers are seeing only a small subset of the programs available. Companies like Amazon and Netflix need to realise that with the freedom that streaming gives the customer, they are starting to see program content recorded in the US, and when these shows are raving about how good Netflix is and how, if your on Netflix you should play catchup on show such as Friday Night Lights, a show that is just starting to be shown on Murdocks Sky TV, it's easy to get disappointed by the discovery that this is a show that only US Netflix users are permitted to see. If I was a conspiracist I would suggest that Murdock is trying to throttle the life out of streaming in the UK, something that will effect the Sky broadcaster more than anybody else. I hope that both Amazon and Netflix really give the battle for UK viewers a serious go, I would hate for either company to see the UK market as a no go area.