Roku, a company stationed in Saratoga, California, recently created a set-top box capable of competing with the AppleTV at $129 less. The Netflix player gives Netflix ultimate subscribers the ability to stream Netflix movies to their TV directly from the internet with no computer middle-man. Plus, according to Tim Twerdalh, vice president of Roku, this is only the beginning.

Within three weeks of the product’s first shipment, it was completely sold out. To meet the demand, Roku had to increase its production in Asia and its air-freighting units in America.

Twerdahl wouldn’t disclose any sales figures. Although, according to Forbes, he did say that the player would not be limited solely to Netflix. In fact, through a simple software update, the device can be compatible with several other “big name” providers.

This announcement has led to a lot of speculation around blogs and news websites. The most obvious choice for additional content providers is YouTube, the largest online video website. The timing maybe perfect too, since Google has been looking to bring their advertisements into videos and into consumer’s television sets.

WebTVWired also suggests Hulu, a growing video and movie online content provider, whose service is already free. Amazon UBox is another suggestion that could expand the player’s library.

VentureBeat brought up a good point when it said “this changes the device from a nice little purchase, into a potential Trojan horse for digital content in your living room.” Not only could this player stream movies to television sets, but picture albums, home movies, live video streams, and other kinds of digital content.

The device is extremely easy to set up and use. Simply connect the cables, register your player with your Netflix account and your ready to go. Download speeds are very fast as well. Video play-back is pretty solid, with no hiccups in the video and DVD-quality picture.

Netflix is also looking into other devices to bring their movies too. According to Forbes, they’ve begun to make partnerships with LG Electronics, Microsoft Xbox, and other set-top box providers. Plus, since 2007, they’ve put $71 million toward streaming video R&D, a 48% increase since the 2006 budget.

The player does face some limitations. Right now it only provides 10% of Netflix’s video library. Still, $100 for 10,000 videos to choose from isn’t half bad. Beta News reminded us of the blunder when DivX launched without Stage 6, its only content provider. Given those circumstances, I believe the Netflix player will do just fine.

In addition, some parts of the Roku Netflix player falls under the open source General Public License. Perhaps we’ll see further developments for the new AppleTV killer.

For more information about the Netflix player, check out our previous article written by Leslie Poston.

Related:

Entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 12:34 am under Apple, Internet, Online video.

Read more entries by TJ Kirchner.
Stumble It!