Roku Rolls New Player Line-Up, Updated OS

New versions of the Roku Express feature new, smaller form factor, OS 9.2 builds in enhanced search and discovery and voice capabilities.

September 19, 2019

5 Min Read

LOS GATOS, Calif. -- Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) today unveiled its new streaming player lineup for the U.S and other markets. New versions of the Roku Express (MSRP $29.99), offering easy HD streaming in a sleek new form factor, and the Roku Ultra (MSRP $99.99), featuring fast channel launch and a remote with personal shortcut buttons designed to get to content quickly, will be available to customers. Five additional Roku streaming players round out the lineup in the U.S and will be available broadly in the coming weeks. In addition, Roku also announced Roku OS 9.2 in a separate announcement.

New Roku Express
Roku Express is 10% smaller than its predecessor and is designed to blend in when connected to a TV. It can be fully powered by most televisions if an outlet is not nearby, reducing clutter.

New Roku Ultra
Roku Ultra remains the ultimate streaming player delivering brilliant HD, 4K & HDR picture quality and Roku's best wireless performance. With an enhanced quad-core processor and 802.11ac dual-band wireless, Roku Ultra offers exceptional streaming and is feature-packed for power streamers and cord-cutters. The new fast channel launch feature get users to entertainment faster, improving channel launch times for the top channels across the Roku platform.

Pricing and Availability
The Roku streaming player lineup offers a variety of devices made with unique streamers and customers in mind.

  • Roku Express (MSRP $29.99) – Features an even smaller form factor and offers easy HD streaming

  • Roku Express+ (MSRP $39.99) – Features the new sleek form factor and a Roku Voice remote. Available exclusively at Walmart

  • Roku Premiere (MSRP $39.99) – Delivers easy 4K & HDR streaming with a simple remote Roku Streaming Stick+ (MSRP $59.99) – Offers a powerful, portable HD, 4K and HDR streaming with the long-range wireless and a Roku Voice Remote with TV controls

  • Roku Streaming Stick+ HE (MSRP $59.99) – Available exclusively at Best Buy and includes the Enhanced Roku Voice Remote with a headphone jack and Roku headphones for Private Listening

  • Roku Ultra LT (MSRP $79.99) – A Walmart exclusive featuring HD, 4K and HDR streaming, ethernet, 802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless, an Enhanced Roku Voice remote with TV controls and Roku headphones

  • Roku Ultra (MSRP $99.99) – Delivers brilliant HD, 4K & HDR picture quality and Roku's best wireless and new features such as fast channel launch, personal shortcut and mute buttons, premium JBL Headphones and more

  • The Roku Express and Roku Ultra are available for pre-order at Roku.com today. The Roku Express and Roku Express+ will be available broadly at the end of September with the rest of the devices on sale in October.

International Availability
Roku is also expanding its streaming player lineup internationally in Canada, the UK, the Republic of Ireland and select countries in Latin America. The Roku Express, Roku Premiere and Roku Streaming Stick+ are expected to be available in the coming weeks.

In a separate announcement:

LOS GATOS, Calif. -- Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) today announced Roku OS 9.2 will start rolling out to Roku devices in the coming weeks. The software update focuses on getting customers to content quickly and adds new ways to control the home entertainment experience. The 4K Spotlight channel has been redesigned making access to stunning 4K entertainment even easier. The new "Roku Tips & Tricks" channel features videos to help Roku users get the most out of their Roku devices. Roku Voice enhancements provide new voice control options while new channel performance improvements enable smoother streaming experience. Additionally, Roku announced a new streaming player line up in another announcement today.

Features coming to Roku devices in Roku OS 9.2 include:

SEARCH & DISCOVERY
Roku Zones – Search for a genre or topical subject for a curated selection of relevant content from channels across the Roku platform. Roku Zones are organized into browsable, categorized rows that may include new releases, titles that are free to watch, rentals and more. Examples include the "Drama Movies & TV Zone" or the "Superhero Movies Zone" which will be frequently updated providing users with a refreshed selection of entertainment. Additional genre and topical Zones may be added over time. 4K Spotlight Channel – A content-first, hand-curated selection of brilliant 4K entertainment from channels across the Roku platform now leverages the new Roku Zones architecture. Browse a wide variety of 4K titles across a number of categories such as Most Popular, Action, Drama, TV shows, 4K channels and more.

NEW ROKU VOICE FEATURES
Set Sleep Timers on Roku TVs – Roku TV customers can use their voice remote or Roku mobile app to quickly set a sleep timer on their TV by saying things like "Go to sleep at 11 p.m." Search by Movie Quotes – Enjoy finding movie results by searching for the top quotes from thousands of popular movies across the Roku platform 4K in Roku Search – Use Roku Voice to say "4K movies" to see results for a variety of popular 4K movies. Entering a text search for "4K" will now return results including the 4K Movies & TV Zone.

Support for Roku Media Player – Customers who use the Roku Media Player to play their personal music, movies and photos can now use Roku Voice to find, play and control stored files by using commands such as "Play," "Skip," and more

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