Roku, maker of the popular media streaming box going by the same name has announced plans to add the Google Play services across its list of current generation of devices. This update will be featured across the countries of the US, the UK, Canada and also Ireland.
Roku already holds the biggest content material across all media streaming devices available today. Despite this record, the company feels that it is running a long marathon alongside many other competitors. This has led Roku to come up with yet another strategic move – that of adding the popularity and power of Google’s Play services to its line of devices. The new update will treat users to a lot more of new content material being added to the huge number of channel selections already available.
In order to add the Google Play services on devices, users will need to navigate to the channel store section online or the term can be searched in the Roku itself. This update will also include some freebies from Google which as of now is a high definition copy of the movie X-Men. Different titles will be added to this list each week and many users have their eyes glued to check for new titles and content available for download.
Google Play will also feature Info cards on the Roku devices when watching either television shows or movies on the device. When users hit pause, the cards come into play, pointing out details about the characters present on the screen. This proves to be a nifty little feature which allows users to easily discover details of actors they know little about and also to remember the names of actors previously seen but forgotten.
This new feature will also enable users to get access to brand new titles yet to be released on other formats like DVDs and Blu Rays. TV listings will also be made available with users having the option of viewing latest and older episodes of their favorite shows. A season’s pass is also provided which will enable users to have their loved shows to be automatically added to their libraries a day after they are aired on TV.
Another great feature that Google Play will add to the Roku is the ability to browse movie and TV listings by genre.
Roku, in its official blog, has announced that the Google Play service is already available across all current generation of devices. This would imply compatibility with all devices released after June 2011 and includes Roku models 1 through 3, other Roku devices including the Streaming Stick, the Ready, the LT and HD and across Roku 2 devices.
Roku is already considered one of the best media streaming devices available today. With such a plethora of content being added to the Roku via Google Play, its popularity is definitely expanding and many new consumers are pushed towards this being their preferred choice of media streaming boxes.
Roku has also announced that it will be providing support for TV services very soon.