Experts say that the American company Roku is seriously engaged in the development of products for the smart home ecosystem. There is nothing strange in this, since the smart home system is becoming more and more popular and in demand on the market every year.
The devices are already sold on the official website of the company, but only in the United States of America. The cheapest product is $8 and the most expensive is $100.
After a number of speculations, Roku has announced its official entry into the smart home market. The company introduced a line of CCTV cameras, doorbells, lamps and sockets. The products are expected to be manufactured in partnership with Wyze and will initially only be sold in the US.
According to the company, the devices are compatible with Google Assistant and Roku Voice. Alexa support is expected in early winter 2022.
As expected, users will be able to manage video streams through a dedicated channel in the Roku OS. In addition, the app will also be available for iOS and Android.
In the application, users will be able to manage devices, get video history in the cloud, activate smart alerts, and receive package delivery notifications. However, some of these features will be limited to a subscription that is not priced.
- The cheapest of the recently announced devices are smart plugs that allow you to control everything else. One unit costs $8.88.
- The most expensive is the external spotlight camera, which costs $100. Its light has a brightness of 2600 lumens which is motion activated. The device is waterproof, has a 270° field of view and can see up to 9m away.
Some of the new devices are already available for pre-order on the official website of the company. All of them will go exclusively to the shelves and in the American online store Walmart.
Even though Roku is part of the Connectivity Standards Alliance and the Matter Working Group, the organizations behind the standard, the company didn’t even mention the standard at launch. In practice, Matter is trying to solve the main problem of smart devices: the incompatibility between them. It is a protocol developed and tested since 2019 by a group of over 200 companies such as Apple, Google and Samsung.
Roku has announced version 11.5 of its operating system for its devices. The update will bring new features to the search engine, audio sync, and the voice command experience. The new features will roll out to all users “in the coming months,” the company said. The big highlight of OS 11.5 is search results, which Roku says has been improved. Now, when searching for a movie or series, users will be able to see images of each of them.
In addition, the cover pages will have an updated layout. New features include a new “Save” button and a list of where to find it that will tell you if it’s free or paid. The update will also improve the audio output of the devices. For example, anyone with a Roku TV connected to the soundbar will be able to sync audio and video for smoother streaming.
For those who prefer to watch with headphones, there’s good news: OS 11.5 will intelligently adjust audio and video sync based on the type of Bluetooth headphones connected. The new version of the operating system still has small improvements in Roku Voice, personal assistant, and automatic recognition of connections to Roku TVs.
