Saturday, May 16, 2015

Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #114





Hi, everyone !!



By now, this should come as no surprise to you... but, if you've been following the goings-on around these parts over the past few months, you'll be all too aware of the unusual publishing method I've had to adopt for several of my blog posts during that time. For everyone else, it means I (basically) didn't have enough time to publish those posts in their entirety on a Saturday (as per my self-imposed deadline each week) and had to resort to doing both an "early edition" and a "late edition" for each of the articles. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to repeat that "slow-drip" method of publishing for the current 'Weekly RoundUp' post as well. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you, but (again) it was entirely due to factors beyond my control. You can expect several items of Roku-related news to be added to this post over the coming days so, if you visit this blog again sometime during the next week... you should find that the "late edition" of this article has been published to bring you up to speed with recent Roku happenings since my previous 'Weekly RoundUp' was published. :-)


Luckily, we have (again) been blessed with an above average crop of new channel additions this week - which will become apparent when you continue reading below - but, as a direct consequence of that, I was unable to find the time to leave you with details for any "private" channels on this occasion. Should you find yourself "jones-ing" for more Roku content, however, I suggest you look back over my tweets from the last week on the companion Twitter Feed to this blog: @ukrokuchannels where you will find details for some "private" channels I intend to add to this blog at a later date, which you may (or may not) have come across before. Those of you who don't mind waiting, and/or have no desire to go "trawling" through my ramblings on Twitter, can expect to find the info for several more of these "private" channels in a future 'Weekly RoundUp' post to "reward" you for your patience! ;-)


Anyway, before I proceed with listing the current crop of new channels (plus providing links to their associated reviews) for this particular 'Weekly RoundUp'... a brief reminder that, whilst I had hoped I'd be able to catch-up on the missing Roku-related news from this blog in recent weeks, all the extra work I've been burdened with of late means it remains 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 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 my "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 dragged-on (far) longer than anticipated, and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but (all being well) things will be back up to speed soon!


For now... all I can offer you is a brief summary of the latest additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store from the past seven days. As with my other recent posts, you can expect any additional Roku-related news from the 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, I still can't put a time-scale on how long that is going to take but (like I said before) 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 find that they will all work for you and redirect to the new-look version of each individual channel description. As with the last twenty-seven 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, every link from this week (plus all future posts) will use 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 !!


Still, with all the "missing" Roku-related news (and links) yet 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-FOUR NEW CHANNELS which have been added during the preceding seven day period. These latest additions to the channel line-up provided FRESH CONTENT in the Games, Music,  and Special Interest genres (i.e. categories). Specifically... this means that there are no less than TWELVE EXTRA CHANNELS in the "Special Interest" category, plus FIVE EXTRA CHANNELS in the "Food" genre and THREE EXTRA CHANNELS in the "News, Weather, Sport" category, as well as ONE EXTRA CHANNEL in each of the "Film & TV" plus "Games" and "Music" genres, not forgetting ONE NEW CHANNEL which, other than being in the list of "New" channels, remains without a permanent genre of it's own and therefore UNCATEGORIZED despite all of the fanfare afforded to it, IN THIS POST, on the "Official" Roku Blog - making up the new channel choices which have been added to UK Roku devices during this past week. 


In keeping with previous installments from the 'Weekly RoundUp' series, details of these new channels have 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:-







THE AUTO CHANNEL.........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






CHANNEL4U.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






AVI's KOSHER KITCHEN....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






WEEKEND BUSINESS REPORT.........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






THE MICHAEL WARBUX NEWS SHOW.........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






CHEF MARK ANTHONY....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






CHRISTINA PFEIFFER TRAVEL COLLECTION.............COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






CHAWLA's KITCHEN...........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






ZOOMIN.TV NEWS...............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






YING & YANG LIVING with MOON..................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






ZOOMIN.TV ANIMALS.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






MOCKTAILS 4 KIDS.............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






CONJECTURE........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






THAILAND TRAVEL [by TripSmart.TV].............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]







VIETNAM TRAVEL [by TripSmart.TV]...............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






PARODY [by Fawesome.TV].................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






MAKEUP STATION [by Fawesome.TV]..............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






AMERICAN CARTOON CLASSICS...................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






GLOBETREKKER.TV...................................COST: £2.49 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]

PLEASE NOTE:- That the 'GlobeTrekker.TV' channel for Roku devices, developed by 'Island Dreamer Enterprises', is a MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION purchase with recurring payments. As such, if you choose to subscribe to this channel, YOU WILL BE CHARGED £2.49 PER MONTH and will continue to be charged in this manner UNTIL YOU CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION. It is also worth noting, before you subscribe, that ALL PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE !!

ALSO:- Due to the fact that the 'GlobeTrekker.TV' channel was previously released via the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store sometime around late July / early August of last year, you will not find it amongst the channels listed in the "New" category of the"Official" Roku UK Channel Store - where you would normally expect to find all of the latest additions to the Roku UK channel lineup - and will, instead, have to trawl through the 300+ channels in the "Special Interest" category to locate it. You can try fast-scrolling using the "FWD SCAN" and/or "REV SCAN" buttons on your Roku remote, until you get to around the halfway mark since (at the time of writing) it was positioned at 176 of 321 apps (or, "channels", as Roku refer to them) on my devices. Of course, that number may change in future (or vary, dependant on your particular UK Roku model) but, hopefully, it will put you in roughly the right place to find the 'GlobeTrekker.TV' channel and add it to your Roku device(s)! ;-)

IN ADDITION:- The details provided in the 'Roku Guide' review of the 'GlobeTrekker.TV' channel, which was originally published on 1st August 2014, are now slightly inaccurate with regards to the exact content of the channel. That said, there is a useful link to a 'Vimeo' webpage where you can preview the kind of thing on offer through this channel thanks to the FREE TRAILERS provided. As always, I recommend that you read the independent 'Roku Guide' review and check-out all the details (including any screenshots & subscription information provided) in the channel description - either via the link provided (above) or by locating the channel (via the Roku Channel Store) on your device and clicking through to find the relevant info - prior to making any payment.







TWITCH..................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






PATTY SHUKLA KIDS MUSIC..........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






BABY NURSERY RHYMES................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






KATIE CUTIE KIDS TV........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]






ROBREED - FLIPPIN' AWESOME..........COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]

PLEASE NOTE:- That, at the time of it's initial release on the Roku streaming media player platform, THIS GAME IS COMPATIBLE WITH 'Roku 3' DEVICES ONLY so owners of other Roku models may have to wait & see if it becomes available for their chosen Roku product. That said... I have already heard from the developer, Nuclear Heart Games, that they intend to make the game available on as many platforms as possible... and that includes support for additional Roku player models! :-)


In the meantime, those with Android or Windows Phone mobile devices can get the game on either platform (or both, come to that) by visiting the relevant app store(s) - SEE LINKS BELOW:-


Robreed: Flippin' Awesome for Android.............£0.65 via Amazon UK App Store for Android

OR

Robreed: Flippin' Awesome for Windows Phone.............. £0.79 via Windows Phone UK Store


For a more visual representation of the game, in addition to the screenshots found in the channel description from the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store (see link above), there are further images available via both the Amazon App Store and the product page from the Windows Phone Store, some of which I'll include here, to give you a better feel of what to expect graphically from the game:-




















If you're still uncertain as to whether you want to part with your money for this game, the developer has also made versions for both Windows and Mac OS X computers. For a limited time, these are available on a "Name Your Own Price" basis via their Itch.io webpage, FOUND HERE, from where you can get a DOWNLOADABLE ZIP file for your chosen platform to give it a try. While you are able to download either of these versions for free if you "Name Your Own Price" as such, by choosing not to donate, it is strongly recommended that you support the developer by purchasing at least one of their apps. Those of you with Windows Phone who may (otherwise) be feeling hard done by, having to pay a little extra than the Roku / Android users, can take comfort from the fact that purchasing the Windows Phone app means you get the Windows (PC) version thrown-in for good measure. Meanwhile, if you have any feedback for Nuclear Heart Games, you can tweet your thoughts & comments directly to the developer via their official Twitter Feed: @Nuclear_Heart or else "get social" with them through their Facebook Page: Nuclear Heart Games (Facebook) where you can share any observations you may have on the game. Please bear in mind that THIS APP IS BY A UK GAME DEVELOPER and, as such, it would be good to show support for some "homegrown" talent among the Roku community! :-)




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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 twenty-seven channels (plus two additional Roku "themes" - inexplicably not available on UK Roku devices) which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, it's far better to have 24 NEW CHANNELS as shown above, than none at all, as I'm sure you'll agree?!


Meanwhile... hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the twenty-four "public" channels or else the "private" channels, whose access codes were "gifted" to you via the companion Twitter Feed to this blog, at various points throughout the last seven days. Even so, if you didn't find anything to add to your Roku channel selection from the assortment of channels on offer this week, you'll just have to pay us a visit another time when, with any luck, there will be something more to your liking. Afterall, there's no point installing every channel because like I say... when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS !!




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As mentioned earlier in this post, you can expect my usual summary of all the goings-on (or not) in the (severely restricted) Roku Channel Store that features on NowTV Boxes to follow in the near future. Meanwhile, whether you happen to own a Roku player, a NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to check my previous posts (as mentioned above) for all the new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store in each of the forty-one preceding weeks and then come back again in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp'. However, if you can't wait that long, remember you can always keep up with all the UK Roku action (as it happens) throughout the coming week, by following the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels where up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related (here in the UK) is posted on a daily basis (well, almost).



Until the next time, then...



That's all folks !!




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