Hi, everyone !!
If you happen to have read my previous post, "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #87", then you will (perhaps) recall my mentioning there had been some recent "improvements" to the "Official" Roku websites which led to a fair amount of consternation among some of the more regular visitors, such as myself. Well, I'm sad to say that these website woes have continued throughout the past week and have been added to by the fact that these new-look webpages are regularly failing to load fully on the first attempt, some even not-at-all, and several requiring three, four or even five reloads before all of the content was visible. It wouldn't be so bad if it were all the "add-ons" that failed to load but, in every instance I experienced of this sort, it was always the crucial information (channel icons, descriptions, etc.) that was missing with only the bare bones of the webpage template(s) showing. That's fine if you only loaded the webpage to use the links to one of the "external" Roku sites (e.g. Roku Support, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) but when you're trying to view a channel description for a new channel and all of the relevant information is "missing" then that aspect of the website is not much use to anyone.
I'm sorry to keep carping-on about it but, when all is said and done, I really wish they had left well alone instead of insisting on making changes purely for the sake of change... especially when the said changes result in an even less functional end-user experience (at least, from my own point of view) and do nothing to actually "improve" what was there (and in complete working order) beforehand. Why on earth they (i.e. Roku) chose to invest their efforts in this way rather than the more urgent matter of, say, extending a "UK" equivalent of their "FREE One-Stop Roku Search Tool" as announced, VIA THIS POST, on the "Official" Roku Blog (more than two years ago now!) to Roku owners in this country, is completely beyond me !! Or, how about dedicating some time (and offering some help, if need be) to get a "UK" version of the "Amazon Instant Video" channel for Roku, SHOWN HERE, which has been available to Roku owners in the USA practically from day one?! Then, while they were at it, Roku could also lend a hand in taking the "Amazon Cloud Player" channel, FOUND HERE, which has also been a feature of their streaming media players (in the USA) for quite some time and making that available to UK Roku owners as well !!
Speaking of Amazon... some (if not most) of you will by now be aware that their "Fire TV" device is now available in this country and, despite only being released three weeks ago, already has a channel for "TV Player" offering LIVE STREAMING access to many 'Freeview' broadcasts for UK owners of an Amazon Fire TV streaming media player. Now, why on earth a channel such as this would be added to a fledgling platform before it was added to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store, I really cannot say BUT, if I were Roku, I'd be contacting the folks behind 'TV Player' c/o their website, FOUND HERE, to discuss what needs to be done to develop a "TV Player" channel for UK Roku players without any further delay. They already dropped the ball and missed-out on a similar (earlier) opportunity with 'CatchUpTV' in the UK which was careless (to say the least) but, to miss a second chance such as this, losing out on another shot at bringing 'Freeview' to UK streamers (via Roku) could prove to be catastrophic... especially given the huge range of Android apps at Amazon's disposal which could quite feasibly see the "channel" count on Amazon Fire TV exceed that on UK Roku players in a (very) short space of time. If Roku doesn't wake-up to the precise needs of the UK streaming market and do something about it, they may well lose their UK streaming "crown" to a competitor which I (for one) sincerely hope will not be the case so, COME ON ROKU... IT'S TIME TO UP YOUR GAME!
Meanwhile... as Roku (themselves) pointed out while "Introducing Roku Search...", see link above, they always "welcome your input" as they "continue to improve the Roku experience" so (at their suggestion) I invite you all to send your feedback about the lack of an "Amazon Instant Video" channel in the UK, or the absence of their "One-Stop Roku Search Tool" on UK Roku players, or any of the other issues outlined previously (both this week and last), to: feedback@roku.com and, while you're at it, don't forget to give them a nudge about adding some LIVE STREAMING channels (such as 'TV Player', mentioned earlier) to UK Roku players. For those of you that prefer not to engage in sending emails of this nature but can spare a few moments to "tweet" your thoughts on the matter(s) above, you are encouraged to engage with Roku via their UK-specific Twitter Feed: @RokuUK as well as the main Roku Player Twitter Feed: @RokuPlayer to make your feelings known. Then, if you haven't yet done so, you can also take the opportunity to follow the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels to this blog, for all the BIG NEWS, at least in terms of Roku-related matters, which might come about during mid-week while I'm compiling my next 'Weekly RoundUp' of new Roku channels in the UK !!
While I'm on the subject... having believed that I'd be able to catch-up on all the missing Roku-related news from this blog in the coming weeks, with all the extra work I've been burdened with of late, it now seems unlikely that I'll be fully caught-up anytime soon. Until I do find the time... my one saving grace is that (as mentioned previously) I have somehow managed to remain up-to-date with all of the latest additions to the "New" category of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store and will endeavour to flesh-out what's missing ASAP! Admittedly, there are quite a few articles that I need to catch up on but, rather than post links for individual weeks, I'll simply refer you back to one of my earlier posts, namely the "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #78", which contains all of the pertinent information you might need when researching back over the items in question. Again, I'm sorry this has continued to drag-on for (far) longer than anticipated, and I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you in the meantime, but (all being well) things will be back up to speed before too long!
For now... all I can offer you (once more) is a brief summary of the latest channel additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store from the past seven days. As with my other recent posts, you can expect all the Roku-related news from this past week, along with details of any changes to the channel selection found on NowTV Boxes, to be added at some point in the near future. As for "mending" all of the "broken" links from previous 'Weekly RoundUp' posts (as mentioned last week), I still can't put a time-scale on how long that is going to take but (like I said) if you "copy" the existing link(s) and change the "http" prefix to "https", as well as removing the "forward slash" between 'channels' and '#!details', so that "channels#/!details" becomes "channels#!details" in each weblink, you should then find that they will all work for you and redirect to the new-look version of each individual channel description. As with last week, every link from this post (as well as all future posts) will make use of the new format, so it's only those from 'Weekly RoundUp #1' up as far as 'Weekly RoundUp #86' which you'll have to amend... at least, until I can edit/repair the links for you !!
Anyway, with all the "missing" Roku-related news (and links) still to follow, let's now press on with the current 'Weekly RoundUp' of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. This time, there are TWENTY-FIVE NEW CHANNELS which have been added during the past seven days. These latest additions to the channel line-up provided FRESH CONTENT in each of the Film & TV, Games, Music, Internet TV, Photos & Video, Food, Special Interest, Screensavers & Apps, plus Religion & Spirituality genres (i.e. categories). Specifically, this means there's NINE NEW "Special Interest" CHANNELS in addition to FIVE NEW "Food" CHANNELS and THREE NEW "Games" CHANNELS, as well as TWO MORE OPTIONS in both the "Screensavers & Apps" and "Religion & Spirituality" categories plus ONE EXTRA CHANNEL in each of the "Film & TV", "Music", "Internet TV" plus "Photos & Video" genres, among the selection of new channels that have been added to the channel store on all Roku streaming media players in the UK, during the last week.
In keeping with previous installments from the 'Weekly RoundUp' series, details of these new channels have all been listed below, together with links to obtain further information {by clicking on the channel name(s) beneath the respective channel icon(s) as pictured} and to read a 'Roku Guide' review with an independent (slightly more expansive) assessment of each one:-
AWESOME SCI-FI.........................COST: £1.99 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
COASTER 3D..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
LITTLE FLAPPER..........................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
2048 CHALLENGE........................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
SWAG RUNNER...........................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
ROKSBOX PLUG 'n' PLAY..........COST: £2.99 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
IDEAS TO I DO......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
THE CHILDREN'S MITE......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
FAMILY VACATIONS [by Fawesome.TV]..........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
FL DETOURS..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
WINE OH TV..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
BEAUTY and STYLE [by Videojug]......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
COOKING FOR BIMBOS......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
WOLTERS WORLD...............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
VIDEOJUG..............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
MOHAWK...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
ZOOMIN.TV MUSIC.............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
CULTURE [by Fawesome.TV]...............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
GRILLING and SMOKING....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
TOM'S TEST KITCHEN........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
MOTHER'S BBQ....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
STAND-UP COMEDY [by Fawesome.TV]...........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
CTA......................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
STUDY BUDDY....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
SCREENSAVER CHANNEL.........................COST: £0.69 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
SCREENSAVER CHANNEL.........................COST: £0.69 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
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Anyhow, like it or not, that is your lot for this week and, whilst it doesn't quite match-up to the thirty-five channels which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, I always think it's better to have SOME NEW CHOICES than none at all, don't you ?!!