Hi, everyone !!
Even if you don't happen to own a NowTV Box in addition to your Roku device(s) the chances are that you will have (at least) heard of the Roku Powered™ device(s) from 'NowTV'... but, what you may not be aware of is that 'NowTV' are not the only company to partner with Roku in order to take advantage of their streaming technology. Two years ago, the Australian company 'Telstra' introduced their first 'Telstra TV' device (as part of the Roku Powered™program) and it proved hugely popular, with over one million units sold. Building on that success, it was announced via a press release from the Roku newsroom (on Monday 23rd October 2017) that 'Telstra' would soon be launching a second generation 'Telstra TV' device. The new 4K HDR capable Roku Powered™'Telstra TV' will deliver a 4x higher resolution, compared to standard HD, when connected to 4K HDR capable televisions. Not only that, but these second generation 'Telstra TV' devices will also include an integrated free-to-air tuner, so Australians can enjoy regular broadcast television alongside the usual streaming options. It means they have gone a stage further than the latest 'NowTV Smart Box' because, while 'NowTV' did include a terrestrial tuner in their current Roku Powered™offering, it does not support '4K' content of any description. However, it will be interesting to see if (having done so with this 'Telstra TV' device) Roku builds a new 4K-capable device for whatever 'NowTV' has planned in the future. After all, now that UK Roku users can stream '4K' content... thanks to the new 'Roku Streaming Stick+' (3810EU) it would make sense for 'NowTV' to up their game and better compete with the likes of 'Amazon Video' and 'Netflix' who already offer UHD content to their subscribers. I'd say it's only a matter of time! :-)
In other Roku Powered™news from the southern hemisphere this week, there was an announcement that Philippines telco operator, 'Globe Telecom', is to leverage the Roku streaming platform to power their latest 'Streamwatch' player and deliver video services to consumers via Roku Streaming Stick… and this second press release to come out of the Roku newsroom in the last seven days was (perhaps) even more significant because it marks the first time that any Roku Powered™partner to offer a Roku Streaming Stick to its customers. Users of the new Globe 'Streamwatch' player will be able to watch a variety of content (across free and paid channels) in different categories, including: sports, lifestyle, fashion, and more. The new device will come with three months' full access to top streaming services such as 'Netflix', 'Disney Channel' and 'HOOQ'... with 'Globe Telecom' expecting to launch the newly licensed 'Streamwatch' player in the Philippines by November of this year. So, not long to wait! ;-) :-)
However, it was not just the southern hemisphere which hit the headlines this week, because Roku issued a third press release via their increasingly busy newsroom (on Thursday 26th October 2017) signalling their intention to introduce OTA Hybrid 4K HDR streaming players for pay TV and telco operators around the world. While 'Telstra' will be the first Roku Powered™ licensee to deploy the new OTA Hybrid 4K HDR streaming player for its 'Telstra TV' service later this month, the door is now open for any operator to leverage the Roku streaming platform including the Roku OS, Roku Channel Store, and low-cost streaming players for delivering live TV and on-demand services to customers. The idea is that, in partnership with Roku, telco operators develop their own streaming player by customising the home screen, app store, and streaming player for their audiences. Roku, for their part, will provide ongoing software updates to the Roku OS, host the app store, and provide development support plus certification services for all of the applications therein. Personally, I'd like to see Roku add a TV tuner to their own devices, much like 'NowTV' did with their latest 'NowTV Smart Box', but I'd be just as happy to see the likes of 'Freeview HD' leveraging the Roku platform at some time in the future... although, they'd have to figure something out as regards recording stuff! ;-)
Anyhow... with little time for anything else aside from details of new Roku Powered™devices for the streaming contingent in Australia and the Philippines, plus the promise of OTA Hybrid 4K HDR streaming players for the whole world (in terms of newsworthy items) to bring you from the last seven days, I'd best now turn my attention to getting you up to speed with all the latest new Roku channels added to UK Roku devices since my last 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published - and as you will soon discover, while not as many as last week, there have still been quite a few new additions! :-)
If you did happen to read my previous 'Weekly RoundUp' post, in which I commented as to how 'Roku Guide' had fallen far short of compiling a complete set of reviews for all of the new channels which were released in the seven days preceding their article, you will doubtless be pleased to hear that I have since posted active links to 'Roku Guide' reviews for all of them. Sadly, as their most recent article (dated 27th October 2017) does little more than to play "catch-up" with reviews that were absent from the previous week, it means there were very few 'Roku Guide' reviews for the channels which were actually released between the 21st October 2017 and 27th October 2017. As a direct result, there are currently "missing" links to 'Roku Guide' reviews for almost one quarter of the new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store from this particular 'Weekly RoundUp' post. Unfortunately, this (once more) leaves UK users a little short of additional info... and, much like the last month or so, rather than simply regurgitate what is written in each channel description from the channel store, I'm (once more) going to have to leave it for each of you (individually) to access those details via the built-in channel store on your Roku device(s). Needless to say, once the "missing" reviews have been published by 'Roku Guide', I will (as I have in previous weeks) ensure that I add the relevant links to this post. Apologies (yet again) for any inconvenience that may have been caused by the absence of active links to an independent review for so many of these new apps but, like I say, it was entirely out of my hands. Meanwhile... I advise scanning the list below, to see which channels (if any) you think are likely to appeal. If you then go to the built-in channel store found on your Roku device, you can read the description(s) there, for precise details on your pick of the latest new Roku channels (apps) which have been added to UK Roku devices during this past week! ;-) :-)
While it again falls short of equalling the epic list of fifty-plus channels from three months ago, or the equally impressive tally of forty-six channels we were treated to a fortnight back, you will find there's still a good amount of new channels in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store this week. These latest additions include plenty of additional options under "Screensavers", as well as several more options for those who enjoy "Music" or "Film & TV" content, along with a couple of new additions to the "Sports" category (i.e. genre) plus other new channels for those wanting "International" or "Lifestyle" programming, to keep you entertained in the coming weeks and months. There's also been the odd new addition to each of the "Kids & Family", "Personal Media", plus "Religious", "Special Interest", and "Travel" genres (i.e. channel store categories). In fact, with such a varied selection of channels to choose from, there should be something to please most streamers here. If not, I again shared details for some private channels (via social media) and some more special offers related to various Roku channels that are available in the UK. Check out my Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels if you'd like to know more about those and, while you're there, maybe "Like" and/or "Retweet" some of my messages to spread the word about what's happening Roku-wise in the UK and beyond! ;-) :-)
Anyway, back to the list... which, as always, will help you to identify the very latest apps which have been added to Roku devices in the UK. 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 UK Roku users. So, like I've said before... if you really want to know what's available channel-wise, for owners of Roku devices in the UK, you need to be reading this blog each and every week! ;-) :-)
Before I run through the new channels, however, 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 22nd October 2017 and 28th October 2017:-
AMFM247 BROADCASTING..............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
DRAMA CLASSICS CHANNEL..........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
HAWAII SCREENSAVER..............COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SUNRISE SUNSET SCREENSAVER....................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
BADLANDS SCREENSAVER.......COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
AUTUMN SCREENSAVER...........COST: £1.49 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
HALLOWEEN SCREEN SAVER...........................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
FALL FLOWERS SCREENSAVER........................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
VENUS............................................COST: £1.99 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
GUMBALLS...................................COST: £1.99 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
LA VOZ DE MARIA TV CATOLICA....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
FILM GORILLAS..................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE...............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LOTTIE DOTTIE CHICKEN.................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
COUNTRY ROAD TV.....COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
NORTHERN LIGHTS SCREENSAVER.................COST: £1.49 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
BIBLE STORIES FOR KIDS..................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
JUMPINTHEPACK................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "PERSONAL MEDIA" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
LATOYA FOREVER..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
AUSTIN MUSIC TV...............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ARIRANG TV.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
LIGHTNING COUNTRY RADIO - CNTY.............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LATINO PBS..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
GRINDHOUSE CONNECTION PLUS...................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
HALLOWEEN LOUNGE TV..................................COST: £1.49 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
IBTV........................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***