Roku

Hulu Plus coming soon to Roku, TiVo Premiere

This post was updated with TiVo's announcement.

Potential cord cutters take note: the cheapest and arguably easiest and (for some) long-awaited way to bring Hulu to a TV is now a reality.

Roku today confirmed the murmurings of yesterday that Hulu Plus is coming to its trio of set-top boxes. Starting "later this fall," the $9.99-per-month service that brings on-demand movies and TV shows from NBC, Fox, ABC, and others will be available.

There is no extra fee beyond the standard Hulu Plus subscription.

This is, of course, not the only way to get Hulu on … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1314: Weaponized viruses and overclocking your pacemaker (podcast)

Today: Mark Zuckerberg clouds the air further on the FacePhone; Verizon squashes iPhone rumors flat; Netflix blames bad actors; and Peek gets it right for a change.

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Roku takes on Apple TV with new streamers

It seems hard to believe, now that Netflix streaming video is available on nearly any Internet-connected home video product, but back in the spring of 2008, the only Netflix-compatible device was a tiny streaming media box called the Roku Player. In the two years since its release, a series of firmware upgrades has expanded the program offerings on the Roku, even as the company added step-down and step-up models to the lineup as well.

In its latest incarnation, the company has made its little black box even smaller, while retaining the same onscreen look and feel and "channel" … Read more

Olive delivers digital tunes for technophobes

Let me say this upfront: I haven't tried them myself. But the digital media servers from San Francisco-based Olive seem aimed at a weird niche between audiophile and technophobe.

A lot of home audio devices let you stream digital music from your computer to your stereo over a home network. Olive's digital servers also connect to your stereo, but let you rip CDs to digital formats right on the device--no computer required. (Or, if you're you're lazy and rich, the company will do the dirty work for you.) Then you can play the resulting digital files … Read more

Friday Poll: Are you ready for the coming of streaming TV?

There's a new Apple TV around the corner and we're fielding rumors that a Google TV device will be launching at the end of the month. Both devices--as well as boxes by companies like Boxee and Roku--share the same goal: they want you to ditch your cable or satellite TV provider as well as DVDs and Blu-ray.

Many people actually have done so already--yours truly included. But there are others, like my parents, who find the idea too hard to wrap their head around. They want the content pushed to them by the providers and they're OK … Read more

MP3tunes, Roku stream iTunes users' songs to TVs

Roku, the set-top box known for streaming Netflix movies from the Web to users' television sets, has teamed with MP3tunes.com to offer users the ability to stream their iTunes music libraries to their TVs.

"For the first time, music lovers can play their personal iTunes music collection on their TV without a home server," MP3tunes and Roku said in a statement Tuesday. "Roku has added expanded support for personal music collections with the addition of MP3tunes."

Michael Robertson, the entrepreneur who loves to challenge the music sector and the founder of MP3tunes.com, is once … Read more

One tablet per kiddo

I am admittedly a fan of Nicholas Negroponte, which is one of many reasons I want his One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project to work. His book, Being Digital, is one of the most forward thinking books about technology I have ever read.

When Negroponte first showed off the OLPC netbook circa 2006, it was far more advanced than the laptops we had on the market at the time. It had hand-cranked power, a screen that worked in full sunlight, and it was smaller and cheaper than anything we had on the market. It was partially responsible for the explosion … Read more

Roku to begin Netflix update, add music channels

Recently, Roku released a preview video of an upgrade to its Netflix channel that added a more robust interface, more instant queue options, and--in a first for embedded Netflix players--the capability to search the library directly from your TV screen. According to the company, it will begin releasing the upgrade to Roku Player boxes over the course of the seven days, starting Friday, May 27.

I received the upgrade early, and was able to give it a quick hands-on test.

InterfaceRoku's current Netflix interface is something of a yawner. It is serviceable, but it does little more than provide … Read more

The Internet makes you happy

To counterbalance the stories we regularly see about how the Internet makes us antisocial misanthropists, here is one that shows just the opposite: the Internet brings happiness. Well duh! CNET readers already knew that!

All joking aside, there is something to be said about information and happiness. Ignorance is hardly bliss when ignorance means not having access to research, news, entertainment, and one another. The popular belief seems to be that modern advancements do not make us happy but perhaps that is too technologically deterministic. 

In The Wealth of Networks, Yochai Benkler writes that "technological determinism is false.&… Read more