Roku unveils Search and Discovery streaming Features; upgraded Roku 3 and Roku 2 players introduced

Roku Inc. today unveiled two new ways for consumers in Canada to find and discover streaming entertainment on their Roku players.

The first feature, ‘Roku Search’ enables consumers to search for movies, TV shows, actors and directors and view pricing and availability details across top streaming channels.

The second feature ‘Roku Feed’ allows consumers to follow entertainment and get automatic updates on pricing and availability.This feature is launching with a focus on ‘Movies Coming Soon’ taking the guessing out of when a box office hit is available for streaming, which services offer the movie or how much it costs.

The company also introduced a new Roku 3 streaming player with voice search and a new faster-than-ever-before Roku 2 streaming player. The new features, new players and updated mobile apps will be available to customers in Canada beginning April 13.

“Now with a fast and fun way to search by voice, we’ve made the already popular Roku 3 even better.”

“With the biggest lineup of streaming channels available, and easy and unbiased ways to find and discover movies and TV episodes; Roku players make it simple for consumers to stream the entertainment they want to watch on their terms,” said Roku Chief Executive Officer Anthony Wood. “Now with a fast and fun way to search by voice, we’ve made the already popular Roku 3 even better.”

A Simple Way for Consumers to Find, Discover and Select Entertainment — On Their Terms

With a focus on giving consumers choice and control over their streaming entertainment, Roku Search gives people the ability to find what they want to watch and the power to decide how to watch it. Roku Search is a convenient and unbiased way for consumers to view filmographies and discover availability and pricing options they otherwise wouldn’t have known about. Consumers can search for movies, TV shows, actors and directors and receive all available results listed by price from top streaming channels. Roku is debuting search with Netflix, Crackle and Popcornflix while additional streaming channels are expected to be added in the coming weeks. Additionally consumers can search by streaming channel name within the Roku Channel Store making it fast and easy to find channels from the more than 1,400 options available today.

The Roku Feed lets consumer know when favorite entertainment becomes available to stream — and at what price. Roku is debuting the feature with a focus on Movies Coming Soon, which can be found under the ‘My Feed’ tab on the TV’s home screen. Consumers simply “Follow” popular in-theater movies they are interested in and Roku will deliver automatic updates in the future as relevant streaming information about the movie becomes available. Consumers will receive updates in the Roku Feed when a movie is first released to streaming, becomes available from additional streaming channels or changes price.

New Roku 3 and Roku 2 Streaming Players Offer Superior Streaming Performance

Roku upgraded two of its popular streaming players — the Roku 3 and the Roku 2 — adding to the most complete line up of streaming players that also includes the Roku Streaming Stick and the Roku 1.

The new Roku 3 now includes a voice search capability adding a fun, fast way for people to search for what they want to watch. Like its predecessor, the new Roku 3 is the company‘s top-of-the-line streaming player. It’s fast and fully loaded with features. The included enhanced remote control features a button to activate voice search, a headphone jack to enable private listening and motion control for to play casual games. The new Roku 3 will be available starting April 13 from retailers for a MSRP of CAD109.99.

The new Roku 2 was upgraded to match the speed and the performance of the new Roku 3. It is the perfect streaming player for those who want to watch video and music without the new Roku 3 enhanced remote. The new Roku 2 offers an extraordinary streaming experience and a snappy performance for a MSRP of CAD79.99. It will be available from retailers starting April 13.

Updated Roku Mobile App and Software Roll Out

In addition to using the included remote control, Roku offers a free mobile app to enable consumers to control their streaming player with their mobile device. An updated version of the Roku Mobile App for both iOS and Android devices will be available April 13 and will include support for the new search and discovery features announced today.

Roku will begin roll out of the software update that delivers the new search and discovery features to all Roku players in Canada beginning April 13.