Roku has announced the Streambar which combines a soundbar and Roku player together.
“Over the years TVs have gotten thinner, reducing space for builtin speakers, resulting in less impressive sound, while new streaming services have changed the way we watch TV. With the Roku Streambar, we offer an easy and allinone solution to that challenge,” said Mark Ely, Vice President Product Strategy at Roku. “Our engineering teams in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States have been working together to design and build the Roku Streambar from the ground up to deliver an incredible streaming experience and the ultimate upgrade for any TV.”
The Streambar has a compact acoustic design that delivers crisp, clean audio while also filling a room with sound. The device can automatically quiet-loud commercials automatically.
There are four 1.9-inch full-range drivers that use Dolby Audio. In the player part, the Streambar can stream up to 4K HDR content in addition to HD.
There’s also Bluetooth and Spotify Connect support. For ports, the Streambar has a USB port, HDMI and Optical Audio.
In addition to the Streambar, Roku is also adding AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support to their 4K Roku players and 4K Roku TVs (such as the latest TCL TVs). You’ll then be able to control your Roku using Siri or stream content from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Roku already has support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
The Roku Streambar is launching at the end of October for $189 CAD and be available in Canada, the US, Mexico and the UK.
AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support will come as an update by the end of the year.
Source: Roku
TheCanadianTechie 