Hi, everyone !!
Things got off to a flying start this week with A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT, made via the Official Roku Blog, late last Sunday night (5th January, 2014) ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 (CES 2014) in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA). If you happened to miss the BIG NEWS, which was then echoed by multiple sources, including: 'TechCrunch', 'Engadget' and 'Gizmodo' (to name but a few), it was to introduce the concept of "Roku TV" to the world. These televisions, which will go on sale in the autumn (or, "Fall", for the benefit of our friends across the pond), came about as the result of some new partnerships between Roku and a handful of global TV manufacturers, including TCL & Hisense. Fortunately for us, the folks from Gigaom were on-hand at CES 2014 and were able to get a brief demo of a Hisense-manufactured Roku TV from one of the Roku employees at the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 (CES 2014) in Las Vegas, AS SEEN HERE:-
Also never far from a breaking 'Tech News' story, the folks at CNET sent their intrepid Senior Editor, Brian Tong, over to Roku HQ at CES 2014 for their "First Look" at the new Roku TV sets. This time both Hisense and TCL models were on display, for a side-by-side comparison, and some other features of the new Roku TV sets were also revealed... as can be seen IN THE VIDEO BELOW:-
You can read further insights from CNET 'Home Audio & Video' contributor, Matthew Moskovciak, as well as viewing a photo gallery of the User Interface (UI) for the new Roku TV, all of which can be found VIA THIS ARTICLE which (incidentally) also provided the original source for the above video.
Now whilst the names 'TCL' and 'Hisense' may not be overly familiar to UK readers, when it comes to TV manufacturing, they are among the top global manufacturers of television sets... with TCL ranking sixth in the world (surpassed only by Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic & Sharp) in 2010. It should not be too surprising, therefore, to learn that (between them) the two companies shipped a combined total of 21 MILLION televisions in 2012, accounting for NINE PERCENT of the WORLD TV MARKET in that year. Small wonder, then, that Roku chose to team up with them for the production of Roku TV's. With initial availability restricted to the USA & Canada, when the new Roku TV's go on sale later in the year, I was left wondering whether they would even see the light of day in Roku's other main marketing regions (i.e. UK & Ireland) and, if they did, would they bring any new features to the Roku user experience on this side of the pond?! However, on discovering that TCL had partnered with the French company Thomson SA (back in 2003), with television sets made by TCL-Thomson marketed under the "Thomson" brand in Europe, I became slightly more optimistic. Afterall, most of us should recall that Thomson previously partnered with Sky to produce their set-top boxes (STB's) for the UK market... so why shouldn't they bring the new Roku TV's to these shores at some point?!!!
Anyway the good vibes brought on by the announcement from Roku, introducing the new Roku TV, were soon quashed when I discovered, just a day or two later, that one of the highlights of the "Music" genre (i.e. category) in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store had been discontinued...
... yes, folks, unfortunately THE 'Shark Player' CHANNEL (a 'Grooveshark' client) for Roku (developed by Roque Pinel), which previously enabled Roku owners with 'Grooveshark Anywhere' to listen to their Grooveshark music library as well as popular songs & playlists, IS NO MORE !!!
As of Tuesday 7th January 2014, it would no longer function on the Roku streaming media player, now producing nothing more than a splash screen with a simple statement (whenever the channel is launched) proclaiming that, "This Channel is no longer in service". Below that is a brief message which says, "The SharkPlayer channel has been discontinued. We want to thank all the support. We hope you all can find alternative solutions". Aside from that there is nothing more than a short sub-text which reads, " ** this was an unofficial channel ** ", beneath which is a "Close" button that, if used, will exit the channel and return you to the Roku Home Screen. Needless to say, the 'Shark Player' channel is NO LONGER FEATURED in the Roku Channel Store IN ANY REGION !!!!
It is my belief that this has been a long time coming, with minor niggles having crept into things and messed with the functionality of the 'Shark Player' channel since November 2013. Most of this is fairly well documented IN THIS THREAD from the Official Roku Forums right up to, and including, the eventual demise of the channel (as outlined above). Long before that (in fact, as far back as May 2013) the warning signs had arisen from a response by Grooveshark (themselves) to a comment posted within the 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Shark Player' channel FOUND HERE which probably led to the above sub-text when the 'Shark Player' channel was discontinued. To illustrate my point, read the response from Grooveshark, effectively condemning the channel, SHOWN BELOW:-
It does seem strange that, three months after these comments, Roque Pinel (the channel developer) had seemed to be very close to collaborating with Grooveshark on an "Official" Roku channel only to find that, another three months down the line, his own 'Shark Player' channel started experiencing problems and, just two months on from that, he finds himself forced into withdrawing it from the channel store. My only hope is that, as with the demise of the '4oD' plugin for Plex and the subsequent arrival of an official '4oD' channel on the Roku platform, the removal of 'Shark Player' will most likely herald the arrival of an official Grooveshark channel for Roku players IN ALL REGIONS !!
Speaking of "Official" channels arriving, that brings me nicely onto the last bit of BREAKING NEWS for UK Roku owners this week... although, I should probably have said 'LATEST RUMOUR' rather than use the term "Breaking News", but still... on Friday 10th January 2014, whilst spending the evening looking through the latest Roku-related tweets, I came across this tasty tidbit which had been posted by a fella named Simon Wood (aka 'Si_Woody7' on Twitter) from Chesterfield, concerning the development of an official 'ITVplayer' channel for the NowTV Box (and, by association, UK Roku players) which alleged that firstly, "...the ITV contract has been signed", and then went on to add that "the channel is being developed", which (if it turns out to be true) can only mean GOOD NEWS for owners of Roku streaming media players and NowTV Boxes alike, here in the UK. So, to keep the rumour mill turning whilst attempting to prompt an "Official" word on the matter, I decided to RETWEET Simon's COMMENT and post it here for your consideration:-
Of course, being the kind of person I am, a simple retweet was never going to be enough to get the kind of reaction I was hoping for, so... I decided to put the question directly to both 'NowTV' and 'ITV', as to whether there was any OFFICIAL WORD on the rumour that was currently circulating. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ITV have (so far) neglected to comment on the matter BUT, to their credit, the people at NowTV were very quick to respond... and HERE'S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY:-
All of which means... it's still anybody's guess, from such a corporate, cookie-cutter, non-committal response as that, whether they are leaning more toward "when" than "if" and the NowTV Rep in the supermarket deserves a good pat on the back... or, was it simply part of a sales pitch in the hope that Simon would be persuaded into parting with his hard-earned for a NowTV Box?! In which case, the NowTV rep will (no doubt) be called to task for using a somewhat dubious sales technique !!
Meanwhile, in addition to new products, discontinued channels & rumours of exciting new channels, we've also had some more new readers coming to the pages of this blog. Once again there were many repeat visits from the various countries that I've mentioned in previous posts but, unlike last week, there was not just one but two countries that had not yet graced the pages of this blog until now. So, before we go any further with the current 'Weekly RoundUp', I'd first like to extend a warm welcome to those new readers from both Curaçao and Zambia, who each took the time to pay a maiden visit to these pages during the past seven days.
Now whilst the names 'TCL' and 'Hisense' may not be overly familiar to UK readers, when it comes to TV manufacturing, they are among the top global manufacturers of television sets... with TCL ranking sixth in the world (surpassed only by Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic & Sharp) in 2010. It should not be too surprising, therefore, to learn that (between them) the two companies shipped a combined total of 21 MILLION televisions in 2012, accounting for NINE PERCENT of the WORLD TV MARKET in that year. Small wonder, then, that Roku chose to team up with them for the production of Roku TV's. With initial availability restricted to the USA & Canada, when the new Roku TV's go on sale later in the year, I was left wondering whether they would even see the light of day in Roku's other main marketing regions (i.e. UK & Ireland) and, if they did, would they bring any new features to the Roku user experience on this side of the pond?! However, on discovering that TCL had partnered with the French company Thomson SA (back in 2003), with television sets made by TCL-Thomson marketed under the "Thomson" brand in Europe, I became slightly more optimistic. Afterall, most of us should recall that Thomson previously partnered with Sky to produce their set-top boxes (STB's) for the UK market... so why shouldn't they bring the new Roku TV's to these shores at some point?!!!
Anyway the good vibes brought on by the announcement from Roku, introducing the new Roku TV, were soon quashed when I discovered, just a day or two later, that one of the highlights of the "Music" genre (i.e. category) in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store had been discontinued...
HINT: Click on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!!
... yes, folks, unfortunately THE 'Shark Player' CHANNEL (a 'Grooveshark' client) for Roku (developed by Roque Pinel), which previously enabled Roku owners with 'Grooveshark Anywhere' to listen to their Grooveshark music library as well as popular songs & playlists, IS NO MORE !!!
As of Tuesday 7th January 2014, it would no longer function on the Roku streaming media player, now producing nothing more than a splash screen with a simple statement (whenever the channel is launched) proclaiming that, "This Channel is no longer in service". Below that is a brief message which says, "The SharkPlayer channel has been discontinued. We want to thank all the support. We hope you all can find alternative solutions". Aside from that there is nothing more than a short sub-text which reads, " ** this was an unofficial channel ** ", beneath which is a "Close" button that, if used, will exit the channel and return you to the Roku Home Screen. Needless to say, the 'Shark Player' channel is NO LONGER FEATURED in the Roku Channel Store IN ANY REGION !!!!
It is my belief that this has been a long time coming, with minor niggles having crept into things and messed with the functionality of the 'Shark Player' channel since November 2013. Most of this is fairly well documented IN THIS THREAD from the Official Roku Forums right up to, and including, the eventual demise of the channel (as outlined above). Long before that (in fact, as far back as May 2013) the warning signs had arisen from a response by Grooveshark (themselves) to a comment posted within the 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Shark Player' channel FOUND HERE which probably led to the above sub-text when the 'Shark Player' channel was discontinued. To illustrate my point, read the response from Grooveshark, effectively condemning the channel, SHOWN BELOW:-
It does seem strange that, three months after these comments, Roque Pinel (the channel developer) had seemed to be very close to collaborating with Grooveshark on an "Official" Roku channel only to find that, another three months down the line, his own 'Shark Player' channel started experiencing problems and, just two months on from that, he finds himself forced into withdrawing it from the channel store. My only hope is that, as with the demise of the '4oD' plugin for Plex and the subsequent arrival of an official '4oD' channel on the Roku platform, the removal of 'Shark Player' will most likely herald the arrival of an official Grooveshark channel for Roku players IN ALL REGIONS !!
Speaking of "Official" channels arriving, that brings me nicely onto the last bit of BREAKING NEWS for UK Roku owners this week... although, I should probably have said 'LATEST RUMOUR' rather than use the term "Breaking News", but still... on Friday 10th January 2014, whilst spending the evening looking through the latest Roku-related tweets, I came across this tasty tidbit which had been posted by a fella named Simon Wood (aka 'Si_Woody7' on Twitter) from Chesterfield, concerning the development of an official 'ITVplayer' channel for the NowTV Box (and, by association, UK Roku players) which alleged that firstly, "...the ITV contract has been signed", and then went on to add that "the channel is being developed", which (if it turns out to be true) can only mean GOOD NEWS for owners of Roku streaming media players and NowTV Boxes alike, here in the UK. So, to keep the rumour mill turning whilst attempting to prompt an "Official" word on the matter, I decided to RETWEET Simon's COMMENT and post it here for your consideration:-
Of course, being the kind of person I am, a simple retweet was never going to be enough to get the kind of reaction I was hoping for, so... I decided to put the question directly to both 'NowTV' and 'ITV', as to whether there was any OFFICIAL WORD on the rumour that was currently circulating. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ITV have (so far) neglected to comment on the matter BUT, to their credit, the people at NowTV were very quick to respond... and HERE'S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY:-
All of which means... it's still anybody's guess, from such a corporate, cookie-cutter, non-committal response as that, whether they are leaning more toward "when" than "if" and the NowTV Rep in the supermarket deserves a good pat on the back... or, was it simply part of a sales pitch in the hope that Simon would be persuaded into parting with his hard-earned for a NowTV Box?! In which case, the NowTV rep will (no doubt) be called to task for using a somewhat dubious sales technique !!
Meanwhile, in addition to new products, discontinued channels & rumours of exciting new channels, we've also had some more new readers coming to the pages of this blog. Once again there were many repeat visits from the various countries that I've mentioned in previous posts but, unlike last week, there was not just one but two countries that had not yet graced the pages of this blog until now. So, before we go any further with the current 'Weekly RoundUp', I'd first like to extend a warm welcome to those new readers from both Curaçao and Zambia, who each took the time to pay a maiden visit to these pages during the past seven days.
To those new readers, and to everyone else who continues to read my Roku-related ramblings here on this blog, I'd just like to say... "Thanks for stopping by" & long may you continue to do so.
Anyway, let's get on with the details for the current 'Weekly RoundUp' of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. This time, there are EIGHT NEW CHANNELS which have been added during the past seven days. These latest additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store provided FRESH CONTENT to the Film & TV, Music, Internet TV, International, Special Interest plus Religion & Spirituality genres (i.e. categories).
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 (where available) with an independent (slightly more expansive) assessment of each one:-
FIREWOOD HOARDERS TV...................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
PLEASE NOTE:- The Firewood Hoarders Club (FHC) are a down-to-earth group of wood-burning gurus, who are a mix of both wood-burners & pellet-burners, with a vast expanse of knowledge in all areas pertaining to firewood. This includes wood species, seasoning times, the best ways to stack & store wood, etc. and they engage in conversations on milling lumber, burning wood & pellets, hunting & fishing, outdoor cooking, homesteading... AND CHAINSAWS !!! As such, they would welcome contributions from like-minded individuals in the UK for a transatlantic exchange of techniques & ideas related to this particular topic of interest. If you have any videos you'd like to share with the group, you might even be able to get it added to the content on their Roku channel !! To find out more about the FHC, you can VISIT THEIR WEBSITE where you're sure to receive a "warm" welcome (ahem!). They also invite you to join in the conversation VIA THE FHC FORUM where you will also find THIS THREAD dedicated to the 'Firewood Hoarders TV' channel for Roku (available in all regions). Anyone wishing to connect with the Firewood Hoarders Club (FHC) can do so easily via their Official Facebook Page: Firewood Hoarders Club (Facebook) and if, for some reason, you don't have access to your Roku player then you can always visit their Official YouTube Channel: Firewood Hoarders Club (YouTube) from a computer or your chosen mobile device.
THE BEAT - DANCE HITS.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
CINE FUN TV............................COST: FREE + £4.99 to £19.99 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
PLEASE NOTE:- That, since this channel does not currently feature in the Roku (USA) Channel Store, the link above is for the Official Website of CineFunTV. It may further interest you to know that the 'CineFunTV' channel was developed for the Roku streaming media player by '1 Mainstream' whose website can be viewed HERE. Interestingly... the company is backed by 'BSkyB', as revealed through the 'Hollywood Reporter' VIA THIS ARTICLE, so it's little wonder that they are also responsible for bringing 'Sky News' to both Roku and Apple TV platforms. The plot thickens, still further, when you realise that the CEO of '1 Mainstream' is none other than Rajeev Raman (former Head Of Product at, guess who...? Yep, Roku !!) and that the company is based in Cupertino (California, USA) which must have facilitated the "hop into bed" with Apple. Those of you who would like to make contact with the developer will find all details in the COMPANY INFO from their website.
More to the point, you're probably going to want to know that the 'CineFunTV' channel (itself) is "a new & exciting entertainment service, providing a great mix of South Asian Live TV Channels, Movies & Video On Demand in various languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and many more". Although there is a lot of info to be found on their Official Website, perhaps the most concise description of what the 'CineFunTV' channel is about, and where they see themselves going in future, can be found IN THIS THREAD from the 'CrowdFundingForum' when they sought investment for 'Marketing & Promotion' plus 'Content Acquisition' back in September 2013.
From the section headed "Monetisation Strategy", in the thread linked-to above, you will see that there are two main options with which to pay for the content you consume, as follows:-
- MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION: ranging from £4.99 to £19.99, depending on package, or;
- PAY-PER-CONTENT: ranging from £0.99 to £4.99, depending on content.
The 'CineFunTV' channel also offers SOME FREE CONTENT, whether as part of a limited trial, or else ad-supported (including both pre-roll video adverts and banner adverts) across multiple devices. You can view a list of all SUPPORTED DEVICES on the main website but, from a Roku perspective, the Roku UK models that can be used with the 'CineFunTV' channel are the Roku LT and Roku 3 but, having said that, it does show up in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store on my Roku 2 XS as well, so it might be worth giving it a try if that happens to be the same model you own. Whether it is (currently) available, or will become so, on either of the new 'Roku 1' or 'Roku 2' models remains to be seen but neither one is mentioned as being specifically supported at this time.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE:- That you will need to SIGN-UP for a 'CineFunTV' account BEFORE you can access all of their content. Fortunately, this is achieved VIA A SIMPLE 2-STEP PROCESS which merely requires that you input an email address, by which you can receive an activation code. So, if you follow the link (above) to "sign-up" and then click on the "Sign Up" button, below where it says "Not a member?", then type your email address in the data-entry field marked "Email", and click on the blue "Send code" button, you need then only check your email and follow the instructions to complete the sign-up process for the 'CineFunTV' channel & get FULL ACCESS to all their content.
AS AN ADDED BONUS:- There will be FREE APPS that can be used to watch the 'CineFunTV' content on both iOS (details to follow) and Android (version 3.2 & up) mobile devices. You can currently DOWNLOAD the FREE APP for the Android operating system VIA THIS LINK:-
DOWNLOAD FREE: CineFunTV App (from Google Play Store for Android)
However, as far as I can tell, the iOS version is yet to be released so those of you with an iPad will have to wait for it to appear in the iTunes App Store, or else use your mobile web browser to access the 'CineFunTV' website, whenever you are on-the-go and unable to access your Roku. Once it's available, I will (of course) add the relevant details to this post for the benefit of all Apple users !!
Meanwhile, if you would like to connect with the 'CineFunTV' channel, you can do so via their Twitter Feed: @CineFunTV although, from my own recent experience, they do not appear to be prolific "tweeters", having made a GRAND TOTAL of ZERO TWEETS thus far, since setting up their Twitter Account. Perhaps a better approach would be to use the CONTACT INFO (found via the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the page, on their official website) or, if you just want to get social with them, to do so via their Facebook Page: CineFunTV (Facebook).
Lastly, and no doubt due (again) to the fact that the 'CineFunTV' channel has not yet been added to the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store, there is no 'Roku Guide' review available. If & when this situation changes, I will add a link to this post.
WWEBTV...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
SKIP HEITZIG........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
MIT OPEN COURSEWARE (UNOFFICIAL)...............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
99 CENT MOVIES.........COST: FREE-TO-ADD + $0.99 / $1.99 (PER MOVIE) [Roku Guide Review]
NET FIT............................COST: 30-DAY FREE TRIAL + $9.00 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
N.B. Whilst 'NetFit' is FREE-TO-ADD to your Roku player and does offer a 30-Day FREE TRIAL, there's a MONTHLY FEE of $9.00 (for the 'Silver Plan' membership subscription) that MUST BE PAID in order to continue accessing the content once the trial period has ended. When you join, via the 'Silver Plan', from the UK you will see that the price for your membership is instead quoted as a QUARTERLY FEE in £GBP (British Pounds) which is (currently) equivalent to £16.92 every 90 days. There is also the option to pay an ANNUAL FEE of $84.00 (equivalent to only $7.00 per month) for a 'Gold Plan' membership subscription. When you join, via the 'Gold Plan', from the UK you will see that the price for your membership is again quoted in £GBP (British Pounds) at the (current) price of £52.63 per year. No matter which subscription package you choose, however, PLEASE BE AWARE that, with membership to the 'NetFit' channel, ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED UNLESS you have taken the necessary steps to ensure that YOU CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION before the renewal date. Either way, PRIOR TO WATCHING ANYTHING, you will need to VISIT the SIGN-UP PAGE for the 'NetFit' channel VIA THIS LINK. The registration process requires that you first choose either a 'Silver Plan' or a 'Gold Plan' membership and then asks you to provide your first & last name, plus your company name & phone number, and an email address which will be used to send an order confirmation. In addition, you must provide your full postal address, as part of the 'Mailing Address' information associated with your 'Payment Method'. Speaking of which, your options for making payments include both 'Credit Card' and 'PayPal' no matter which membership plan you opt for. Anyway, once you have subscribed, you will then need to ACTIVATE YOUR ROKU PLAYER by entering the UNIQUE 6-DIGIT ACTIVATION CODE which will be displayed on your screen when you first launch the 'NetFit' channel via your Roku player. The webpage you must visit, in order to enter your unique access code, can be found HERE. You will know that the activation process was successful because the screen (containing the activation code) will be updated automatically (after waiting a few minutes) with a message of "Congratulations!" to confirm that you have successfully linked your Roku player to your account. From there, it's just a matter of selecting 'Start' & pressing "OK" on your remote to begin watching 'NetFit' on your Roku.
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So, whether it's having access to a rotating selection of over one hundred on-demand movies for less than a dollar (i.e. $0.99 USD), albeit in Standard Definition (SD), or getting the same titles in High Definition (HD) for $1.99 each, ALL on a Pay-Per-View (PPV) rental basis, or learning how burning wood can be a clean & renewable, as well as inexpensive, way to heat your home plus techniques for using & maintaining wood-cutting equipment (chainsaws, axes, etc), or listening to commercial-free contemporary Electronic Dance Music (EDM) courtesy of 24-hour non-profit radio station 'The Beat', or studying a range of subjects including, but not limited to, Computer Science, Biology, Physics & Engineering via MIT OpenCourseware lectures on video, religious programming, unlimited access to a wide range of fitness training & workout videos (incl. Kickboxing, Yoga, Pilates, Cardio Plans, Body & Muscle Sculpting, Fit Over-60's Workouts & much more besides), or (perhaps) even enjoying a mix of South Asian LIVE TV Channels, Movies and Video-On-Demand (VOD) in a variety of languages (incl. Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi & more)... we've pretty much got all of those bases covered with this latest batch of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store.
Anyway, like it or not, that is your lot for this week and, whilst it doesn't quite the match-up to the twelve new 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 ?!!
Still, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the eight channels outlined above. If not, then 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, as I've said before, when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku player, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS !!
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Meanwhile, for my last twenty-two 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, I have been suggesting we spare a thought for all the poor folk who handed over their hard-earned cash for one of those NowTV Boxes [Powered by Sky] which, as you may recall, have (so far) totally failed to live up to their full potential. Likewise, the original promise from NowTV of "more apps being continually added", is yet to be adhered to, since there has been ONLY ONE NEW CHANNEL ADDED to the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box SINCE THE PRODUCT LAUNCHED. Moreover, as we've now come to expect, whenever time moves on so too (it seems) does the tumbleweed...
+-+ZERO+NEW+NowTV+CHANNELS.jpg)
HINT: Click on the above image to ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
Whilst we may hear a lot about 'Cowboy Builders', and such like, here in the UK... I never thought we'd see any kind of reference to 'Cowboy Channel Developers' in the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. Don't worry, though... if you hear someone saying, "Reach for the sky", in this particular scenario they are more likely to be referring to the 'Sky Remote' as they try (in utter desperation) to find something to watch, having been left wanting (week-after-week) for new channel additions in the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. Let's just hope they can (ahem!) "Marshall" in some new additions to the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box sometime soon... preferably in the next few weeks, rather than months or years !! C'mon NowTV... give us a good reason to shout "Yee-Haw", instead of singing sad songs about the lonesome trail (in pursuit of new channels), because you know deep down that we're all "rooting" for you to succeed... especially when it comes to getting 'ITVplayer' onboard with the other UK CatchUpTV services on the NowTV Box (as well as Roku) !!
Meanwhile, it's likely to be of no surprise to any of you that (as with EVERY WEEK BAR ONE since it was launched) there has (again) been literally NO ACTION in terms of NEW ADDITIONS to the Roku Channel Store selection on the NowTV Box. What this means is that, over the course of the past week, NowTV have (once more) produced a (NOT SO) GRAND TOTAL of ZERO NEW CHANNELS to add to their (already SEVERELY REDUCED) version of the Roku Channel Store as included on their NowTV Box. Meanwhile, the "Official" Roku Channel Store that features on all UK Roku players has added a further EIGHT EXTRA CHANNELS during that same period of time. To keep things firmly in perspective, in the twenty-four weeks since the launch of the NowTV Box, there has been a total of TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHT EXTRA CHANNELS added to the "Official" Roku Channel Store on UK Roku players, as compared with ONE EXTRA CHANNEL being added to the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. That, surely, must tell you something ?!!!
As I keep saying, it seems to be a case of one step forward and three steps back when it comes to the meagre selection of channels available in the Roku Channel Store which features on the streaming media player from NowTV. To illustrate my point... from the moment that the NowTV Box was launched, they have managed to completely lose 'EWTN Europe', 'WatchIndia' and 'USTV Now', with 'HooplaKidz' plus 'VEVO' electing to hide out in the "Most Popular" channels category and 'Havoc Television' going completely AWOL from the channel store all together (although it will still be listed among "My Channels" if you happen to have added it previously)... presumably they all went into hiding from the embarrassment associated with the lack of channels in their original channel store categories on the NowTV Box - and who can blame them for that, poor things ?!!
Sadly, this means that there is still a total of just 46 CHANNELS to be found in the NowTV Box version of the Roku Channel Store PLUS the 'NOW TV' and 'Sky Store' channels, but (let's not forget) they are only there by default and not included with the apps (i.e. channels) in the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. So, leaving aside the "Most Popular" channels and any additional channels listed under "My Channels" (as I do with my channel count for the Roku player), when it comes to the actual Roku Channel Store categories on the NowTV Box, there remains no more than a paltry 44 channels in total, compared with 725+ in the channel store on UK Roku players !!!
Bearing this in mind... whilst the NowTV Box won't exactly leave you out-of-pocket, if you are after a streaming media player which can genuinely boast of "more apps being continually added" and is a lot less likely to leave you wanting by the time that the January sales have ended, then I strongly advise you to do yourselves a BIG FAVOUR and spend the extra twenty quid or so to get a genuine original Roku LT streaming media player that will allow you to ACCESS NETFLIX plus many other film & tv channels (incl. NowTV) as well as having the 'Plex' channel readily available via the channel store and will give you more than 675 EXTRA CHANNELS TO CHOOSE FROM compared with the selection (currently) found on a NowTV Box.
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Still, whether you happen to own a Roku player, a NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to come back in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp' and, 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 !!
Jack the Knife from Firewood Hoarders TV. Thanks for the review, we enjoyed having you as a guest on our forum. Firewood Hoarders TV is just starting to heat up as we are beginning to create some rather good productions to go along with some of our more basic user videos!
ReplyDelete
DeleteHey, "Jack the Knife", it's GREAT to hear from you !!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for taking the time & trouble to leave a comment. It's much appreciated. Thanks also for your kind words. As for my recent visit(s) to the Firewood Hoarders Club Forum, you can rest assured that I have enjoyed my time there just as much as you enjoyed having me there. In fact I should reiterate, for the benefit of my blog readers, that anyone visiting the FHC Forum should expect a warm welcome from the folks there, just as I did recently. Thanks again for that... and don't think that's the last you'll be hearing from me either because there's some fascinating, not to mention educational, topics being discussed there which I aim to be a part of.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to say how much I enjoyed watching your fifteen minute video, "The Real Reason We Like To Cut Firewood", because it was both candid AND interesting to hear the story behind what got you involved with all this... never mind the fact that you have since developed an entire Roku channel devoted to the subject !!
I'm certain that, over time, your channel will become as much of a worthy resource for the people who watch it as the combined knowledge of the FHC members is for both current and future generations to learn from.
I look forward to seeing how these new productions you have been creating will turn out and hope that things "heat up" for the 'Firewood Hoarders TV' channel among UK Roku owners as much as they have in the USA.
GOOD LUCK with it all... and STAY WARM !!!!
I've just been compiling an excel spreadsheet of all my Free channels on my UK Roku 3, complete with codes, are you interested in displaying it on your blog?
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DeleteHi, Steve !!
Thanks for taking the time & trouble to leave a comment.
It's much appreciated.
Sounds like you've been pretty busy compiling that list !!
Without prior knowledge of the content, and not having seen it, I cannot really commit as to whether I would be prepared to publish / display the information contained in your spreadsheet. However, I am curious to know if it is simply a list of FREE CHANNELS taken directly from the Roku UK Channel Store OR if you have undertaken additional research to separate channels which are FREE-TO-ADD (but may require some form of payment to view the content) from those which are completely FREE-TO-VIEW on UK Roku players?
ALSO: since you mentioned that your spreadsheet is "complete with codes", I wasn't sure if it included (or was comprised entirely of) PRIVATE CHANNELS (i.e. those NOT FOUND in the Roku UK Channel Store). Or, perhaps it is a mixture of BOTH PUBLIC & PRIVATE CHANNELS that are available on UK Roku players?! Essentially, since ALL of the PUBLIC CHANNELS can be added directly via the built-in Channel Store on Roku players, I'm not sure that a list comprised entirely of codes for those channels would be of merit here. As for the various PRIVATE CHANNELS that are available, it's my intention to provide more informative posts for each channel on more of an ad-hoc basis, rather than just publish a list of codes in it's entirety, so (again) I'd have to look into it before I could say with any certainty.
That said, having put in all that effort, it would be a shame for a resource like that not to be shared among UK Roku owners and potential purchasers of the product as a whole. Have you not considered publishing it online yourself? Should you choose to do so, I'm more than happy to provide a link to it from this blog and, that way, whether I could make use of it on this blog or not... it would at least be "out there" for all to see and make use of as required !!
I'd welcome another comment from you, if you have the time, with answers to some (if not all) of the questions I've raised in this reply and would like to thank you both for your efforts and your kind offer, regardless of whether your spreadsheet is eventually published here, or elsewhere on the internet.
It's good to know there are other people in the UK who are as passionate about their Roku player(s) as I am.
Thanks for reading the blog !!
Once again, a very informative blog and much appreciated. It would certainly be good if the ITV player comes online. As a non-computer minded soul, can I add/find the 4OD app to my Roku Box? BBC iPlayer and 5 On demand are there by default, but 4OD would be good too.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work :-)
Hi, Stephen !!
DeleteThanks for your kind words as well as for taking the time & troouble to leave a comment. It's much appreciated.
To answer your question as to whether you will be able to add the '4oD' channel to your Roku box, it rather depends on which model of the Roku Streaming Media Player that you own. If you happen to have one of the following, then the answer is "Yes":-
(1) Roku LT (Model #2400);
(2) Roku 2 XS (Model #3100), or;
(3) Roku 3 (Model #4200)
However if you have one of the newer Roku models released in October 2013 (as listed below) then, at this precise point in time, the answer is "No":-
(a) Roku 1 (Model #2710), or;
(b) Roku 2 (Model #2720)
IF YOUR ROKU BOX FALLS INTO THE "Yes" CATEGORY, then you should find the '4oD' channel listed under the "Film & TV" category in the 'Channel Store' on your Roku. You can navigate there from your 'Home Screen' by using the following sequence & selections with your Roku remote:-
Channel Store > OK > Down (x4) > Film & TV > OK > Right (x1) > Down (x1) > 4oD > OK > Add channel
You can also add the '4oD' channel to your Roku box (provided it's one of the supported models, from the "Yes" category) via your Roku account online. To do so, visit the Roku website at the following address (URL):-
http://owner.roku.com
Once there, sign in to your Roku account using the same email and password combination that you used to setup your Roku account, then click the blue button underneath marked "Sign in". Once the page reloads, you should be looking at a webpage headed 'My Account' and, if you scroll down a short way to a sub-section entitled 'Manage Account', you will see a link (in blue text) to "Add a Private Channel" allowing you to "Enter an invitation code to add a private or beta channel to your account". So, if you then click the "Add a Private Channel" link and type "4oD" (without the quotes) into the data-entry field, then click on the blue button underneath which is labelled "Add Channel" you should then see a confirmation screen, with the '4oD' channel icon, asking if you want to "Add 4oD to your Roku account?" and, assuming you still do, from there you need only click on the blue button, marked "Yes, Add Channel" and the task is complete. You can then sign-out of your Roku account and, the next time you turn on your Roku box, the '4oD' channel will be listed among "My Channels" on your 'Home Screen'.
QUICK TIP: Newly added channels are usually put right at the end of the list. You can get to it more quickly by using this sequence from your 'Home Screen':-
My Channels > OK > Up (x1)
... after which you should see the '4oD' channel in front of you. Then, should you wish to move it up the list of channels, you need only select the '4od' channel (i.e. make sure it is the one with a white box around the icon) and press the "Options" key (the one with a 'star' or 'asterisk' on it) to reveal a list which includes "Move channel". From there, select the option to "Move channel" & press "OK", then move it to the desired position in your list of "My Channels" and press "OK" again to deposit it there. Job done !!
/CONT'D...
Delete/CONT'D...
ON THE OTHER HAND: If your Roku box falls into the "No" category (that is, you have a newer 'Roku 1' or 'Roku 2' model) you will (unfortunately) have to wait until the '4oD' channel is modified to work with those players. Hopefully, this won't be much longer now but there is no fixed date just yet. You can read more about the '4oD' channel for Roku on their website VIA THIS LINK:-
http://apps.channel4.com/app/4od/#tv
Again, just scroll down a short way until you see "Roku" listed and I'm sure, if there's any change to supported models, they will post about it there.
ONE CHEAP FIX... for anyone who would rather not wait for the '4oD' channel to be added to the newer 'Roku 1' & 'Roku 2' models IS to SPEND £10 ON A NowTV Box WHICH DOES GET THE '4oD' CHANNEL already (essentially because it's a rebranded 'Roku LT' player, less around 675+ channels) but it comes with it's own HDMI cable & won't owe you anything... even if you sell it on, once '4oD' gets added to your 'Roku 1' and/or 'Roku 2' player(s) !!
Anyway, '4oD' or not, we'll still have to wait & see if 'ITV Player' decides to join the Roku revolution in the UK... maybe they're just trying to be "fashionably late" to the party? Who knows?? All I will say is that, if they do come onboard then I'll be sure to let you all know via this blog !!
Thanks for reading !!
Thanks as ever for your informative reply. My Roku2 is one of the "No" ones but I still have the Now box from Sky (although the HDMI cable is ****ed) so will use that pro tem.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work. Now, if you could tell me why certain channels on USTVNow pixilate and others don't (Internet works fine, get Google etc) then my UU-born wife will promote you from Superman to Captain America!
DeleteHello again, Stephen !!
Apologies for the delayed response. It's been pretty hectic around here recently. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you have a NowTV Box "workaround" for the '4oD' channel, until they can get it added to your Roku 2. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before that happens and you can retire the NowTV Box along with it's ****ed HDMI cable !! ;-)
I don't think I can provide a precise enough answer to your question re: the pixelation issue with certain USTVNow channels because there are just too many variables for me to reply with any certainty. However, if you navigate to this address in your web browser:-
http://support.ustvnow.com/entries/21994237-Trouble-Shooting-Roku
... and note down your answers to those questions, you can then SUBMIT A REQUEST to USTVNow Support for help with this issue. Again there is a DIRECT LINK to this request form which can be copied & pasted into your web browser HERE:-
http://support.ustvnow.com/anonymous_requests/new
That said, if you would prefer to talk to someone from USTVNow Support over the telephone (since you may well have a free call plan to the USA, given your wife's origins?!) they are available Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm (MST), by dialling the following number from the UK:-
001-917-746-8788
However, they would prefer it if you checked their FAQ, which can be FOUND HERE:-
http://support.ustvnow.com/categories/20066833-FAQ
... for a possible solution, BEFORE CALLING THEM for assistance.
If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say it was some kind of bandwidth problem and that could well be on the server end for the particular channel(s) that you have been experiencing difficulties with but, like I say, there's too many possibilities to say for certain without knowing all the ins & outs, so my advice is that you approach the support team at USTVNow whom I know, from personal experience, to be very helpful... even if their answer is not always what you were hoping to hear !!
Good luck with it all !!