Hi, everyone !!
If you're not a fan of football (or, "soccer", as our friends in North America refer to the great game) it may seem like a poor excuse (on my part) to shrug-off finishing my current 'Weekly RoundUp' post in it's entirety on account of wanting to watch the FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier between Scotland and England from Hampden Park in Glasgow. If you are a fan, and (like me) did happen to watch the game, then you will understand why I'm glad I made the decision to do so... because, while it may not have yielded the end result (2-2) that either side would have wanted, it was a thrilling spectacle for the fans. The decision to stream the match (rather than watch a free-to-air broadcast) also helped me feel less like I had abandoned my Saturday routine of dedicating valuable hours to all things Roku!
;-) :-)
If you haven't already guessed, this means I'll be putting-off my usual Roku-related news summary until another day and concentrating solely on bringing you a list of all the latest channel additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store from the past seven days. Rest assured though, I will update this article (as soon as I get a chance) and can promise you an assortment of stories from the likes of Amazon Video, Netflix, and NowTV, plus various other bits of streaming-related news from the last week that are all worthy of a second visit to this page in a few days from now. All being well, I hope to have the finished article ready for you by Tuesday (at the latest) so do check back for that later! ;-)
Anyway, while I may not have any Roku-related news for you today... I do have a great list of new channel additions for you. Before I run through those, however, a quick reminder that UK Roku users are still subject to restrictions (imposed by Roku) and (currently) 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), do give a fair indication of what the 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 4th June 2017 and 10th June 2017:-
PLAYON CLOUD.............COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PLEASE NOTE:- That, while this 'PlayOn Cloud' channel for Roku devices and it's companion apps are all free, credits must be purchased through either the official 'PlayOn Cloud' website or through in-app purchases (IAP's) from within the 'PlayOn Cloud' apps, and then redeemed for each video that is recorded... meaning that, essentially, you'll have to pay for every show that you record. According to the MediaMall Technologies, Inc. website, who are credited with developing the mobile apps, there's a charge for each recording made and you need to purchase credits (minimum purchase: 100 credits) via the website (or the mobile apps) which can then be redeemed if you make a recording because, unfortunately, there is (currently) no way to purchase any credits directly through the Roku app. TOP TIP: You may find it works out cheaper if you purchase credits through the website, as opposed to the mobile apps, since it can cost twice as much to top-up via IAP's than online. For UK users, in-app purchase options (at the time of writing) included: £0.99 for one cloud recording; £1.99 for a 5-Recording Pack, or; £2.99 for a 10-Recording Pack, and; £4.99 for a 20-Recording Pack so it's worth "shopping around" for the best deal. Ideally, there would be one straight-forward tariff for everyone (across all platforms) but, for some reason, this does not (currently) hold true whenever you purchase recording credits for the 'PlayOn Cloud' service. Further complications arise whenever you schedule any recordings... since, apparently, this can only be achieved through the mobile app(s) and can't be done via either the 'PlayOn Cloud' channel on your Roku, or the 'PlayOn Cloud' website.
Since you're going to need these mobile apps, if you plan on installing and using the features found within 'PlayOn Cloud' on your Roku device(s), here are some links for UK Roku users to get them:-
FREE DOWNLOAD: Of iOS App for Apple Mobile Devices (from the iTunes UK App Store)
and
FREE DOWNLOAD: Of Android App for Mobile Devices (from the Google Play Store)
It's probably worth noting that the link (above) for the Android mobile app should work fine for users in any Roku "region" and/or country. However... if you're a reader of this blog from outside the UK, and wish to download the 'iOS' mobile app for your Apple device, you'll need to edit the 'gb' part of the URL provided above to match your own location (e.g. 'us', 'ca', etc.) for it to work where you are.
Meanwhile, if you wish to connect with the folk from 'PlayOn TV' via social media, there's an option to do so via their "Official" FB Page:- PlayOn TV (Facebook) or Twitter Feed: @PlayOnTV where I'm sure they will be only too pleased to hear from you and answer any further questions you may have about their Roku channel, mobile apps, or the 'PlayOn Cloud' service in general! ;-) :-)
NERDACLYSM.......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
TRANSPORTATION NATION NETWORK............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***N.B. THIS WAS UNCATEGORISED in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
PLEASE NOTE:- That, while this 'Transportation Nation Network' channel for Roku devices can be found within the 'New' category (i.e. genre) of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store, no permanent category / genre had (at the time of writing) been assigned to this channel in the UK. Having already brought this matter to the attention of the developer / content provider, I would expect to see this app given a permanent "home" under 'Special Interest' in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store within the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you don't wish to trawl through the 'New' category of the channel store to find it, I would suggest that you use the built-in Roku 'Search' feature to locate and install it. Using this method, you probably won't even need to finish typing the word "transportation" before seeing the channel listed among the 'Search Results' displayed on the right-hand side of your television screen. Failure to assign a permanent channel store category for the UK within the next four weeks (however) would mean that, once it ceases to be part of the 'New' category, it would no longer be listed, searchable or available to UK Roku users in the channel store (only to users who had installed it previously). So, if you think you are likely to want this channel, my advice would be to install it by the first week in July (at the latest) because, if the necessary edits are not made to the Roku package file by that time, you will not be able to afterwards. Needless to say, once the channel has been edited to include a permanent channel store category for the UK, I will update this listing with details of whatever genre has been assigned. As mentioned before, I would expect this category to be the 'Special Interest' genre, since that is what was assigned to the channel in the United States.
BUZZFEED NEWS.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SKUFF TV...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
DOTS AND BOXES FREE....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
TECHNOBUFFALO................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCI & TECH" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
COLOR SHADES OF GRAY.............COST: £1.99 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
LEGO FANS.......................................COST: £1.99 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
CLASSIC CARS................................COST: £1.49 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
JESUS SAUVE........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
RT (RUSSIA TODAY)............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
HALLOWEEN TV.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
ALI SHAN MAO...................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
APPLE 5x1............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "PERSONAL MEDIA" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
QUICKEMENU..........COST: FREE + $9.99 (MONTHLY) PER SCREEN [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "APPS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BACKGAMMON LIVE!........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH.......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***