Tag: Roku

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Roku adds 23 free, live channels in Canada, now offers over 100 channels

Roku now offers over 100 free, live channels through the ‘Roku Channel’ on its smart TVs and devices. The streaming company announced the milestone alongside the addition of 23 new live channels.

The new channel offerings include:

  • AsianCrush – AsianCrush offers a diverse catalogue of premium Asian content in the digital space, including Korean, Chinese, and Japanese dramas.
  • BlackPix – Stream a full slate of films and documentaries featuring Black talent and subjects of interest to Black viewers.
  • Cinevault Classics – Hollywood’s brightest stars and movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
  • Cinevault 70s – Once upon a time in Hollywood they made great movies, you dig?
  • Cinevault 80s – Think 80s hair was big? Our stars are bigger.
  • Cinevault Westerns – Hitch a ride back to the Old West featuring films from Columbia Pictures.
  • Classic Doctor Who – Join the first seven regenerations of The Doctor for incredible adventures through time and space.
  • Doctors – The award-winning Doctors follows the turbulent lives and loves of the staff and patients at a busy medical practice.
  • El Rey – A Latino-infused network showcasing a wide range of originals, iconic feature films, and TV series.
  • For the Fans – This multi-sport network brings fans live events from around the world.
  • Hi-YAH! – A martial arts mayhem and Asian action channel, with flying fists and roadhouse kicks, ninja stars, and fighting sticks!
  • Impossible Quiz Show – The quiz show that goes beyond right and wrong. Choose an impossible answer and
    face elimination.
  • Lift Ticket – Discover the largest and most premium collection of snow sports films available worldwide.
  • Maverick Black Cinema – Maverick Black Cinema offers movies in every genre, from thrillers and crime dramas to inspiring tales of faith.
  • Midnight Pulp – Watch something strange. Midnight Pulp offers the best cult movies and shows from all over the world.
  • Midsomer Murders –  Murders and mysteries are investigated by Detective Chief Barnaby in a quaint county with a staggering death toll.
  • Real Crime – Crime, justice, law and order. Real Crime investigates criminal activity across the globe.
  • RetroCrush – RetroCrush is a fresh streaming destination for everything classic anime.
  • Reuters – Serving the real world in real-time since 1851, Reuters delivers fast, accurate, unbiased and trusted news around the globe.
  • So Yummy – The most popular food brand on social is now on TV! A food channel filled with inspiration and entertainment.
  • The Country Network – Providing today’s Country music enthusiasts with more choices in televised digital programming.
  • Unidentified – Unidentified offers free films covering topics like UFOs and alien abductions, ghost stories, Bigfoot encounters, and more.
  • Vevo Pop – The latest hit music video from the biggest artists.

To access live channels on Roku, open the ‘Roku Channel’ and select the ‘Live TV Guide’ tile.

You can learn more on Roku’s website.

Source: Roku

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Mobile Syrup

Download the YouTube app on Roku ASAP

If you have a Roku streaming device without YouTube’s app on it, you should download it before December 9th. The two giant companies are fighting, and Roku’s deal to host YouTube in its store is set to expire very shortly.

That said, anyone who already has the app downloaded will be fine. However, the app likely won’t get more updates until the two media giants broker a deal.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a corporate fight resulted in YouTube being pulled from a service. Back in 2017, Google removed YouTube from Fire TV as the two companies feuded over Chromecast sales in Amazon’s store.

While the public has been aware of this Roku vs YouTube (Google) feud since April 2021, at least one of the companies is lying about what’s causing it. Roku says that Google is trying to muscle its way to the top of search ranking on the platform and some other perks that other apps aren’t privy to on Roku’s platform. On the other hand, Google says that it’s just trying to renew its existing deal with Roku.

Source: The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

Download the YouTube app on Roku ASAP

If you have a Roku streaming device without YouTube’s app on it, you should download it before December 9th. The two giant companies are fighting, and Roku’s deal to host YouTube in its store is set to expire very shortly.

That said, anyone who already has the app downloaded will be fine. However, the app likely won’t get more updates until the two media giants broker a deal.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a corporate fight resulted in YouTube being pulled from a service. Back in 2017, Google removed YouTube from Fire TV as the two companies feuded over Chromecast sales in Amazon’s store.

While the public has been aware of this Roku vs YouTube (Google) feud since April 2021, at least one of the companies is lying about what’s causing it. Roku says that Google is trying to muscle its way to the top of search ranking on the platform and some other perks that other apps aren’t privy to on Roku’s platform. On the other hand, Google says that it’s just trying to renew its existing deal with Roku.

Source: The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

Roku to close loophole that allowed porn channels on the platform

Roku will change up how it lets developers test apps and remove private channels in March 2022, effectively closing a loophole that allowed adult content providers, such as Montreal-based Pornhub, to offer content on the platform.

As reported by Protocol and The Verge, Roku announced a new ‘Independent Developer Kit’ and a new beta channel feature to replace existing tools like private channels. The former is a way for developers and hobbyists to experiment with apps and services without needing to use Roku’s software development kit (SDK), while the latter will allow developers to test channels with up to 20 users at a time.

The beta channel feature will replace private channels — or “uncertified channels,” as Roku likes to call them. The private channels system allowed developers to create channels without listing them in Roku’s Channel Store. However, they required a code to activate (or a direct link via Roku’s website).

Although private channels were intended for testing purposes, some developers used them to provide content that Roku doesn’t allow in its Channel Store — for example, porn.

Protocol reports that private channels from Pornhub and other adult content platforms such as Adult Empire, AEBN, Wicked, Adult Time and Naughty America are expected to disappear on March 1st.

Before this change, Roku effectively turned a blind eye to private channels, although it ran into issues for ignoring them. For example, a Mexican cable TV operator took Roku to court because people were able to access pirated content through private channels.

That led to Roku displaying a warning message when users attempted to access a private channel. The warning message said that Roku may remove private channels containing illegal content without notice and that Roku could ban repeat infringers from accessing other private channels.

Protocol notes that although there was also criticism of adult content on adult channels, it likely wasn’t the catalyst behind this change. Instead, Protocol suggests Roku’s move was to further lock down its Channel Store so that developers couldn’t bypass the rules, much like how Apple cracked down on its enterprise program to stop developers using it to bypass the App Store rules.

Source: Protocol Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Things are not looking great for the future of YouTube on Roku

The back and forth between Roku and YouTube is getting close to the deadline that could result in YouTube pulling its app from the smart TV OS.

The two companies have been arguing over their arrangement since April 2021, but Axios reports that if this goes on until December 9th, the YouTube app will disappear from the Roku Channel Store. However, Google mentioned that it would allow Roku to continue to provide the app to people who already have it downloaded.

Roku is claiming that Google is asking for a higher ranking in Roku’s search results, and the company wants Roku to implement new search, voice and data features that are apparently not requested from other smart tv operating systems.

Google says that it’s simply looking to renew its existing deal with Roku.

Taking a step back, it’s hard to see what is actually happening here. But since Google will make or lose millions depending on this deal, a conclusion could definitely be reached in December. Sure, Roku stands to lose access to YouTube, but it’s unclear how much that matters for a lot of Roku customers.

However, it’s still better for everyone if the companies reach a deal. It’s also surprising that Google appears to be picking on Roku so much since the purple company is one of the more dominant players in the streaming video market. Google stands to lose a lot by not having its services on Roku.

Source: Roku, Axios

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Roku acquires Canadian-made ‘Children Ruin Everything’ for US streaming

Roku has acquired the Canadian series, Children Ruin Everything, an eight-episode show that’s created by Schitt’s Creek‘s co-executive producer Kurt Smeaton, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  

This is Roku’s first-non U.S. and Canadian acquisition and is the first 30-minute acquisition by Roku since its Quibi takeover from earlier this year. In Canada, Bell Media holds the international rights for the series, which will air on CTV. The series is set to air in 2022.

Children Ruin Everything stars, Meaghan Rath, from Being Human, Aaron Abrams from Blindspot, Ennis Esmer from Schitt’s Creek and Nazneen Contractor from Star Trek: Into Darkness. Additionally,

“Children Ruin Everything was inspired by my own parenting experience, where every plan my wife and I made was thwarted by our kids in surprising and funny ways,” Smeaton said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to partner with Roku on this project and bring the show to the U.S.”

Roku Originals are available for free on the Roku Channel for free for more than 25,000 free movies and programs.

While this is Roku’s first Canadian series, Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas will shoot in Vancouver.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter 

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The newest Roku device is a revamped Streaming Stick 4K

The new Roku Streaming Stick 4K is a revamped Streaming Stick+ from 2018 with a faster processor, better Wi-Fi and a new slimmer design.

Specifically, the device is 30 percent faster, while the Wi-Fi should reach further and connect to faster speeds, says Roku. In terms of picture quality updates, the new stick has support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, so it’s up to modern standards and can compete with the best offers from Google and Amazon.

This stick also comes with the Roku Voice remote, which means that it will also be a universal remote and can control your TV’s volume and power. Plus, you can hold down a microphone button on the remote to use voice controls to find content quickly. With RokuOS 10.5, you can also search for content from apps and use the mic to type passwords letter-by-letter.

Overall, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K sits at the top of the Roku lineup in Canada in terms of video quality, but it’s not as expensive as the Streambar. The new Streaming Stick 4K costs $70 in Canada. The device is going to be exclusive to Best Buy until 2022.

RokuOS 10.5

To start off, Roku is updating its mobile app alongside the TV operating system to work better with Bluetooth headphones. In the new update, you can tweak the timing of the audio to reduce the delay between the audio and video. This is a really welcome change for people who listen to their TV quietly at night and it works both manually or by scanning the video with the camera on your phone.

Also, in the app, you can save movies and shows to your watchlist so you can find them quickly when you get back on the TV.

Beyond that, you can now use voice search to find music and podcasts on Roku OS, which is handy when you want lots of people to share the music selection.

The new update will roll out gradually to Roku devices in the coming weeks.

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RiverTV offering one free month with every Roku purchase

Canadians can get one month of RiverTV for free with the purchase of any Roku device.

The offer is available online and in-store wherever Roku is sold in Canada until September 30th.

Priced at $16.99 CAD/month, RiverTV normally only offers a one-week trial. The service is a cable-free streaming platform that features both live and on-demand TV entertainment from the likes of Global, Showcase, CBC, Teletoon, YTV, Treehouse, History, Adult Swim and Family.

Similar to Amazon Prime Video, RiverTV also offers premium channels for additional content from Nick+, Hollywood Suite, Super Channel and more.

More information can be found here.

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Roku expands beyond Quibi content with ‘Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas’

Roku’s first original film outside of its lineup of Quibi content is a continuation of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. 

The NBC series was cancelled in June after two seasons, although Roku has officially revived it for a two-hour movie titled Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas.

Set to release sometime this holiday, Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas will, as the name suggests, take the musical comedy-drama into the Christmas season. The original cast will return, including Jane Levy and Skylar Astin, while series creator Austin Winsberg is writing and executive producing and pilot director Richard Shepard is back to helm the film.

Notably, the film will shoot in Vancouver.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas will be available to stream on Roku in Canada for free.

Image credit: NBC