Hi, everyone !!
Having shared details, in my previous 'Weekly RoundUp' post from last weekend, with regards to the suspension currently in place over sales and imports of Roku devices in Mexico... I then discovered (shortly afterwards) that there had since been official confirmation from Roku, Inc. who released the following statement in respect of the situation in Mexico:-
HINT:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
Anyway... their hard work clearly paid dividends because, later this week, there was an update to the story - in a subsequent news article published by Torrent Freak - which revealed how a Federal Judge in Mexico had suspended the ban (at least, temporarily) pending a further review by the courts. This means good news for would-be Roku purchasers in Mexico, who can (for now) find & then buy their preferred product(s) from the usual retail outlets. Further to this (temporary) suspension of the ban, the General Counsel for Roku (Steve Kay) commented that: “Roku are pleased with today’s court decision" which is hardly surprising, under the circumstances. Although it's also worth remembering this is all pending further review by the courts and that the ban on sales and imports of Roku devices in Mexico could come back in to force immediately, following any future ruling on the matter.
Unfortunately, the suspension of the ban on sales and imports of Roku devices in Mexico came too late for Father's Day... meaning any mexican dads who did not already own a Roku device, prior to the ban coming in to effect, will not have been able to enjoy the "Happy Father's Day" theme from Roku which was applied to those devices with 'Custom Themes' enabled in their device 'Settings'. Any Roku users in Mexico who (for whatever reason) missed this 'Featured Theme' last weekend can see what changes were applied to the background imagery thanks to the following screenshot:-
AS BEFORE:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
It goes without saying that Roku users in the United States were also treated to this latest custom theme, wishing every "American Dad" (ahem!) a "Happy Father's Day" for last Sunday. Again, if you happened to miss it (for whatever reason) here is a screenshot showing the (similar) background that was applied to Roku devices in the U.S. with 'Custom Themes' enabled in the 'Settings' menu:-
ONCE AGAIN:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
Unsurprisingly... given Roku's recent track record, as regards the application of 'Custom Themes' to their streaming media players in the United Kingdom, there was no "Happy Father's Day" theme to greet UK dads on their special day. Following-on, as it did, from recent snubs by Roku, Inc. for all Roku mums in this country with no "Happy Mother's Day" theme (despite being available elsewhere) and no "Happy Valentine's Day" theme for those of us who may have wished to mark the occasion with a special background on our streaming media players, as those in other Roku "regions" and/or countries were able to do (if they chose to) on February 14th this year. At a push, I suppose you may give them the benefit of the doubt for excluding UK users on account of the baseball-related imagery but, bearing in mind we have an MLB channel on Roku devices in the UK and some of us do happen to follow the sport here, it wouldn't hurt to (at least) give us the option of having this free theme if we wanted to... then again, maybe the absence of 'BT Sport' from the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store was grounds for not extending the theme here. Let's just hope we (eventually) get options to add both 'Custom Themes' and 'BT Sport' to Roku devices in the UK during the coming months and years!
There was more bad news for UK Roku customers and would-be purchasers this week, with the news that the entry-level Roku Streaming Stick is now "out-of-stock" across many of the UK retailers who are (or have been) "Recommended" by Roku, including: Argos, Box.co.uk, and several others. Some online retailers in the UK, such as 'Amazon' are (mostly) reliant on "Other Sellers" - many of whom are asking upwards of £48.00 to supply customers with this "budget" streaming device - while others, including both 'Currys' and 'PC World', are indicating (via the relevant pages on their website) that the Roku Streaming Stick is "Not available for delivery"... with the only option to collect "in-store" and that is providing (of course) your local stores happen to be ones which have that model in stock!
In fairness... this situation has been toggling between "available" and "not available" for delivery all week long at 'Currys' and 'PC World', which makes me wonder if it is only "available" because they have been recalling minimal amounts of stock from their retail stores to cover any online purchases? It could be that they find themselves selling-out fast (perhaps) due to lack of supply, while demand remains high from customers who themselves are rapidly running-out of options on where to buy this entry-level UK Roku model. To add to this current UK Roku crisis over increasing stock shortages for the Roku Streaming Stick, Maplin's website says they're now down to their "Last Few In Store"!
At the time of writing, if anyone wishes to purchase a Roku Streaming Stick in the UK, the cheapest price I could find for an "In Stock" item was £39.00 via Tesco Direct, with FREE "Click & Collect" from your local store. Argos told me (earlier in the week) that they: "don't have any dates for when stock is due" and are advising would-be buyers to "keep an eye on the website". However, when I checked just prior to my publishing this post, the Roku Streaming Stick had still not been re-listed on the Argos website, making 'Tesco' the only truly viable option... with 'Currys' and 'PC World', plus maybe 'Maplin', as walk-in retail alternatives - if, and only IF, your local store happens to have one in-stock for you to purchase. Unfortunately, that's the best I can offer you given the circumstances.
Still, the question remains... when are Roku going to address these massive stock shortages in the UK? Cynics might argue that Roku are delaying further action until the UK has bought-up all the old 'EU' stock which failed to sell in France when Roku launched there… but, then again, that's a whole other story. If you ask me, it's simply high time that Roku introduced some new Roku models to refresh their UK line-up and put an end to this UK Roku crisis ASAP!
On a more positive note... it recently came to light, via a post on the Roku Developer Blog, that the new Roku OS 7.7 software began rolling-out to all current generation Roku devices as of Tuesday 20th June 2017. As far as UK users are concerned, this includes every Roku model sold here since the brand was first launched here in January 2012. However, for those wishing to see a full list of every compatible Roku model that is eligible to receive the Roku OS 7.7 update, full details as to specific model numbers can be found in a related post from the "Official" Roku Stream Blog. The roll-out is not expected to be complete until the end of August so, if you haven't received the update just yet, I wouldn't worry too much as it could be a couple more months until you get it. When you do receive the update on your device(s), you will find that Roku OS 7.7 is mainly focused on bug fixes and firmware optimisations to increase the performance of Roku SceneGraph (RSG) channels. They have also addressed several bugs which had been causing audio, visual and/or crashing issues on a number of streaming channels. From a consumer (end-user) perspective, one of the more obvious improvements is that you'll have more control over which devices you can allow to connect to (or block from) your Roku device when using the 'Screen Mirroring' functionality. Additionally, there will be notifications (regarding loss of connectivity during streaming) that will direct you to network settings to update your connection. Those of you who wish to read the FULL RELEASE NOTES for Roku OS 7.7, and learn precisely what changes are in store, can view the SDK Documentation which accompanies this latest software version to get complete details of what to expect from the update. :-)
Anyway, that's the only Roku-specific and/or Roku-related news which I've managed to find for you this week. All that remains now is for me to bring you my summary of all the latest additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store, so that you can see if there's anything worth adding to your own (custom) selection of streaming channels. As has often been the case of late, the list (once again) begins with a few channels that, despite being new to UK Roku devices, are not listed in the "New" category (i.e. genre) of the Roku UK Channel Store. Blogging specifically about Roku streaming devices & other Roku-related matters, I love discovering apps like these... because they illustrate precisely why it's worth reading my 'Weekly RoundUp' posts. Any Roku users who simply rely on whatever they see listed under the "New" category in the built-in channel store of their streaming media players (to identify the latest apps for UK Roku devices) risk missing-out on channels like these altogether. Other websites offering Roku channel listings will base their contents on the Roku USA Channel Store, which means they also include apps that are unavailable to Roku UK users. As always... my advice, if you really want to know what's available channel-wise, for owners of Roku devices in the UK is to be sure and read this blog every week! ;-) :-)
However, before I run through the new channels, a reminder that UK Roku users are still subject to restrictions (imposed by Roku) and (bizarrely) remain unable to access the channel descriptions from the web store on the Roku (USA) website. That said, the majority of text in those web listings can also be found within the individual descriptions from the built-in "Channel Store" (accessed via "Streaming Channels" from the main menu) on all Roku devices and, together with the associated screenshots (where available), should give a pretty good indication of what those channels are about.
My advice to any UK-based readers of this blog is to ignore the links below (and to the left of) each channel icon shown here and (instead) rely on the link to the right (below each channel icon) which (where available) will redirect you to an 'Roku Guide' review for additional details on that channel. As it stands, the links below (and to the left of) each icon are (currently) only of use to readers of this blog from the USA. This means that Roku users from the other "supported" regions of the world (i.e. Ireland, Canada, France and Mexico) are, like those of us in the UK, unable to browse the Roku Web Channel Store - which for now (at least) remains an exclusive privilege of Roku users in the USA. :-(
Hopefully Roku will (one day) wake-up to the fact that improving the experience for users in "other" Roku "regions" is just as important as it is for those who buy & use their products in the U.S. and that denying access to the Roku website does not help the end-user experience for those of us (outside the USA) who wish to browse the web channel store. Meanwhile, that which Roku (apparently) doesn't want UK Roku users to see on their website (i.e. the list of new channels) is regularly summarised on this blog in my 'Weekly RoundUp' posts. So, without further ado, here's my 'Weekly RoundUp' of all the new Roku channels released between 18th June 2017 and 24th June 2017:-
TUBI TV...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PLEASE NOTE:- That, since 'Tubi TV' was originally added to the Roku USA Channel Store over three years ago now, you will not find it listed within the "New" category (genre) of the built-in channel store found on Roku devices in the UK. Instead, those wishing to install this channel from the UK will either need to use the Roku 'Search' feature, or look under "Film & TV" in the channel store, to locate and then add 'Tubi TV' to the channel selection on their devices.
JOCK JIVE SPORTS................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PLEASE NOTE:- That, since 'JockJive Sports' was originally added to the Roku USA Channel Store back in March 2017, you will not find it listed within the "New" category (genre) of the built-in channel store found on Roku devices in the UK. Instead, those wishing to install this channel from the UK will either need to use the Roku 'Search' feature, or look under "Film & TV" in the channel store, to locate and then add 'JockJive Sports' to the channel selection on their devices.
INTRIGUE TV.....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PLEASE NOTE:- That, since 'Intrigue TV' was originally added to the Roku USA Channel Store back in February 2017, you will not find it listed within the "New" category (genre) of the built-in channel store found on Roku devices in the UK. Instead, those wishing to install this channel from the UK will either need to use the Roku 'Search' feature, or look under "Film & TV" in the channel store, to locate and then add 'Intrigue TV' to the channel selection on their devices.
NOW FAITH IN ACTION MINISTRY....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
WATC TV..............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "EDUCATIONAL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
OUR TIME.............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
WEEKLY CHRIS.....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "PERSONAL MEDIA" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
STORYFUL WEATHER..........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
STORYFUL TRAVEL..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "TRAVEL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
OM NOM STORIES................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SUBRANG TV USA.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
ELIM BAPTIST CHURCH......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
SUPA TV..............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
FREE HORROR MOVIES.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
RETRO RELOAD....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
RADIO TV REVELACION CRISTIANA..............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PHOTOS FROM STRANGERS...............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "PHOTO APPS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
SPOTX VIDEO....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "APPS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
GEETHANJALI RHYMES AND STORIES............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
GEETHANJALI KIDS - FAIRY TALES..................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SPEECH SCIENCE.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "EDUCATIONAL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***