14% of Households Use Streaming Media Devices, Roku More Popular Than Apple TV

Streaming media device use has doubled since 2011, with 14% of U.S. broadband households using products like the Apple TV or the Roku in 2013, reports Parks Associates (via CNET).

While the Apple TV has increased in popularity over the last several years, it falls short of competing product Roku. A survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households revealed that 37% used a Roku device while 24% used an Apple TV, making Roku the most used streaming set-top box in the U.S.

Parks Associates predicts that worldwide connected TV device sales will double to reach 330 million annually by 2017, with annual sales revenue increasing almost 100%.

“Innovations such as next-gen game consoles and 4K or ultra-HD TVs will boost unit sales for these devices, but overall, consumers are reluctant to replace these big-ticket items solely for smart upgrades,” said Barbara Kraus, director, research, Parks Associates. “As a result, streaming video media devices will have a thriving market because they can offer innovations such as streaming video at low prices. Devices such as Roku’s streaming players and Google’s Chromecast will benefit from these market conditions.”

 

STREAMING BOX ROKU ANNOUNCES CABLE DEAL WITH TIME WARNER, WHICH IS BIG NEWS FOR YOU

Yeah ROKU, If you don’t have one, you should. I bought mine the first week it shipped. It’s great.

The streaming player Roku — a device that’s used to stream content like Netflix, Hulu, TheBlaze TV and other subscriptions through the Internet onto a television — recently signed a deal with Time Warner Cable to offer an app that will allow it to function like a traditional cable box service.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Eric Savitz for Forbes wrote that Roku announced the deal, which brings its device’s use more into a mainstream capacity. Time Warner subscribers who also have a Roku box will be able to stream up to 300 television channels without any additional charges.

Here’s how TechCrunch described it:

The new channel will allow Time Warner cable subscribers to log in using their cable credentials and begin streaming live TV in their homes. While Time Warner Cable has made apps like this available on the iPad, iPhones, and through Web browsers, this will be the first time that a connected TV device will have the cable distributor’s programming. Despite previous announcements with CE manufacturers like Samsung and Sony at previous CES events, Time Warner Cable will land on Roku first.

“The big picture is that TV is moving to the Internet,” Roku CEO Anthony Wood said in an interview with Forbes. “All TV eventually is going to over the Internet.”

Forbes reported this breakdown to show that shift is already occurring:

Wood says that about 30% of Roku users to do not use a pay TV service, although the other 70% – and he says the balance has been pretty consistent as the company has grown. Of the 30% without cable service, about 10% came to Roku without previously having cable service. The other 20% drop cable after buying their Roku box.

The deal is being hailed as a milestone for the two companies. It’s the first time Time Warner has allowed a third party to access its content and Roku is functioning more and more like a cable box replacement.

TheVerge pointed out that the channels available to be streamed will be limited by what’s included in the subscriber’s cable package.

Roku’s Streaming Stick Makes Your Dumb TV Much Smarter

As the owner of a current ROKU, the streaming and the games, work just ducky.

Smart TVs are great and all — who doesn’t want a dash of WiFi with their daily dose of reality television? — but the segment will face challenges in the market. For one, a $49 Roku LT is a much better value proposition than a $1,000+ smart TV. Secondly, the hardware moves at such a rapid pace that even with solid software updates, your smart TV will likely be outdated much sooner than you’re ready to buy a new one.

But even with the hardships to be faced by the smart TV segment, Roku still wants a piece of the pie. Enter: the Roku Streaming Stick. It’s a little USB drive-sized stick that packs a processor, memory, software and WiFi to virtually transform your regular old television into a Smart TV, with access to all of Roku’s 400+ channels. The new offering streams video in 1080p, and thanks to a Broadcom mobile chip, Roku claims that you shouldn’t see any difference in performance between this and its other boxes.

Unfortunately, the Streaming Stick loses many of the extra ports you’d find on Roku’s other streaming boxes. But the real drawback is that you’ll need an MHL-enhanced HDMI port on your TV to get the Streaming Stick working. If you haven’t heard, MHL is a proposed industry standard that uses the HDMI port on a television to deliver power to mobile devices while they’re plugged. In other words, you’ll need a relatively brand new TV.

In my opinion, this is a tough catch. The whole point of getting the Streaming Stick is to be able to have what feels like a brand new TV, without, you know, actually buying said brand new TV.

Roku this year introduced gaming onto its platform, and the same will be available to owners of the Roku Streaming Stick. Since the Stick can be used with your current TV remote, gamers will need to shell out a few extra bucks to get the Roku Gaming remote. Luckily, that one should work fine with your TV so you won’t have to switch back and forth all the time.

Roku said that the Streaming Stick will hit shelves in the latter half of 2012, but wasn’t clear about pricing. But from what we’ve seen out of Roku before, I would expect that the Streaming Stick should go for no more than $100.

Apple TV: Jobs Sought Seamless Syncing With Devices and iCloud

Reports have suggested for more than a year that Apple is working on a smart TV product, and those reports were firmed up last week when an excerpt from Steve Jobs’s biography revealed that the Apple co-Founder was indeed working on an Apple television.

”I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” Jobs said according to biographer Walter Isaacson.

“It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

“He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant,” Isaacson said in the book. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” he told me. “It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.” No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. “It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

Rumors that Apple has plans to enter the TV market have swirled for years now.

Those reports were firmed up last week when an excerpt from Steve Jobs’s biography revealed that the Apple co-Founder was indeed working on an Apple television. ”I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” Jobs said according to biographer Walter Isaacson. “It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.” In a note to investors on Monday, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said that the upcoming introduction of a smart TV represents a $100 billion revenue opportunity for the Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics giant. Read on for more.

Full Story: Apple’s smart TV to feature ‘unmatched aesthetics,’ could be game-changer for gaming