![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It's perfect if you want to watch TV in bed without disturbing your partner. In fact, the remote is probably the biggest hardware innovation the Roku 3 offers: a headphone jack on the side that automatically mutes your TV and pumps the audio to your headphones instead. The Roku 3 does have a few hardware advances worth mentioning, especially when it comes to the remote control. And there's increased talk that Apple will open Apple TV to third-party developers soon, meaning even more content could be on the way.īut as it stands now, Roku simply offers you more content options for the same price as the Apple TV. HBO GO is reportedly coming soon and you can now use AirPlay to beam videos from the the iPhone or iPad version to your Apple TV. Hulu Plus finally got the green light last year. Yes, Apple TV is slowly letting more apps onto its platform. If you're like me, you'll have to repurchase a lot of your favorite content through Vudu if you decide to switch to the Roku. The Roku 3 is so good I regret doing that. Over the years I've purchased a ton of movies and TV shows through iTunes, meaning I'm already locked into Apple's system. That was my biggest problem with the Roku 3. It also has several shows available the day after the air, which can come in handy for those who no longer subscribe to cable. You can stream purchased videos directly to your Roku and they remain tied to your account so you can access them whenever you want. If you want to buy or rent videos, there's Vudu, a virtual store with a selection about as good as Apple's. Plus there are several casual games like Angry Birds and other streaming video apps to choose from in Roku's virtual store. But you also get a lot of stuff the Apple TV doesn't have yet like HBO GO, Amazon Instant, Spotify, and Pandora. The Roku has all the standard stuff Apple TV has like Netflix, Hulu, and sports services like MLB.tv. It's such an essential and simple feature that I'm shocked it's not standard on all streaming devices by now.īecause Roku is open to third-party developers, you have a much larger content selection than you get on Apple TV. You just search for the stuff you want and the Roku finds it for you wherever it lives. There's no hoping what you want to watch is on Hulu or Netflix or Amazon or whatever else before you search that individual app. There's no clicking through endless menus and search options. I haven't seen anyone pull that off on the television screen yet. These are tiny details, but they feel so natural that the interface almost disappears. (If you've used Apple TV's menus before, you know this can be a pain.) Scrolling horizontally lets you dive deeper into your selection, meaning you can launch the app you want or get more information on a specific piece of content. Scrolling vertically lets you cycle through apps or menu options in an infinite loop so there's no need to navigate back to the top of a list. Unlike the Apple TV which can make you click through as many as four or five menus before you're able to jump into the thing you want to watch, every detail in the Roku 3's user interface is designed to minimize your effort. The Roku 3 interface is a complete overhaul of the last one, and it's so good I'm going to have trouble going back to my clunky Apple TV. The newest box from Roku, the Roku 3, achieves both these things better than any other device I've used, making the $99.99 streaming box the best you can buy today.Ĭlick here for photos of the new Roku 3 > You also need plenty of good content to enjoy. What's most important in today's streaming devices is the interface, an interface that lets you find what you want to watch as quickly as possibly and jump in. You get access to the standard library of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, plus the option to buy and rent movies and TV shows. Most of these gadgets, the current Apple TV box included, function largely the same. And so on.īut at their core, none of these devices revolutionize television the way many are hoping Apple will if it ever launches its rumored television set. TV makers like Samsung and LG have streaming apps built directly into their web-connected TV sets. The Boxee that lets you record network TV on a virtual online DVR. You have the Apple TV that connects to your iTunes content. ![]() There's no shortage of devices with so-called smart TV functions. ![]()
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