Roku is a popular brand for media streamers in North America, which also operates in some countries in Europe, and according to the leaked pictures provided by Zatznotfunny, the company has 5 models in the pipe for this year with entry-level (Express), mid-range (Premiere) and high-end (Ultra) versions.  Let’s go through some of main features of the five models from low-end to high-end: Roku Express 3700 – About half the size of a Roku player, and comes with HDMI and micro USB ports.  Roku Express Plus 3710 – Similar as above, possibly with additional ports (e.g. AV jack) or headphone + voice control remote Roku Premiere 4620 – Larger model Roku Premiere+ 4630 – Same as above but with Ethernet and micro SD, as well as HDR support Roku Ultra 4640 – Replacement of the current Roku 4 with HDMI output (4K / HDR), micro SD slot, optical S/PDIF, and Ethernet.  It may also have a USB port.  We don’t …

Roku has introduced a updated version of their Roku Streaming Stick with a faster quad core processor, that’s supposed to he 8 times faster than the previous model, and with more processing power than Amazon Fire TV stick and ChromeCast.  The company did not release all hardware specifications, but here’s what we know: Processor – Unnamed quad core processor Video Output – HDMI with 720p or 1080p resolution Audio Output – Digital stereo over HDMI, DTS Digital Surround pass-through over HDMI Connectivity – 802.11 (a/b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support Power Supply- 5.0V – 1.5A USB power adapter; 3W typical power consumption when streaming HD video Dimensions – ~8.4 x 2.03 x 1.27 cm Weight – 17 grams The device runs the latest Roku OS 7.1, and ships with a point-anywhere RF remote, two AAA batteries for the remote, a USB power cable and power adapter, and a Get Started guide.  Roku has always used Broadcom processor in …

Since Nvidia released the Shield Android TV box, I’ve heard several people saying Nvidia raised the bar and even disrupted the TV box market by bringing a powerful HTPC and gaming console to the market for just $199.  The company has now released OTA 2.0 firmware that improves HTPC capabilities, including under Kodi and Plex, and the box supports for 10-bit HEVC, H.264, and VP9 @ 4K, and audio pass-through for HD audio codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master.  As part of the release announcement, Nvidia also compared the Shield TV media capabilities to the ones of other US centric media players, namely Apple TV (2015), Roku 3, Amazon Fire TV (2015), and Nexus Player.  Since it comes from Nvidia, it was also going to show the Shield TV in a good light, but I’m very surprised to see that Apple, Amazon, Google, and Roku would ship a device without MPEG-2 support… Maybe most people just stream videos …

The first Roku Streaming Stick was announced early 2012 with an HDMI/MHL port.  It turns out MHL did not take as Roku and others, including myself, expected, and even today MHL is not a prominent feature in new TVs, and seldom listed in the specifications.  So they’ve just announced a new Roku Streaming Stick, HDMI version, that can be powered via the USB port of your TV, or a standard USB power adapter.  The processor and memory have not been disclosed, but we can assume it’s probably based on a Broadcom processor.  The rest of the specs are as follows: Video Output – HDMI (720p or 1080p) Audio Output – HDMI with 7.1 and 5.1 surround pass-through support Connectivity – 802.11 dual-band (a/b/g/n compatible) with WEP, WPA, and WPA2 support Misc – Status light, reset button Power Consumption – Less than 2W (typical) when streaming HD video Power Input – 5V/1A power adapter connected to micro USB port Dimensions – …

Roku has unveiled the Roku Streaming Stick – an HDMI dongle about the size of a standard USB flash drive that will simply plug into a TV to instantly transform it into a Smart TV.  It basically includes everything you’d find in a Roku player (built-in WiFi, processor, memory and software) and will deliver all the channels present on the Roku platform.  It will be possible to use just one remote for the TV and for streaming and no cables or power adaptor are needed.  Another advantage of the Roku stick, is that when it becomes outdated and the hardware needs to be upgraded to be able to take advantage of new software capabilities, it’s possible to simply purchase a new low cost Roku Streaming Stick (or another equivalent product) without having to replace the much more expensive TV.  The Roku Streaming Stick will plug into MHL-enabled HDMI ports on TVs.  MHL is a new standard that uses the HDMI …

Embedded Systems Jobs

Facebook is seeking a Software Engineer to design, develop and implement hardware-near software for accelerators and other components used in our infrastructure.  This person will be an integral member of the team, responsible for embedded software de

We are a smart team of doers that work passionately to apply cutting-edge advances in and to solve real-world challenges that will transform our customers experiences in ways we cant even imagine yet.  As a Firmware Engineer, you will be working with

Echo Frames is Amazon's first prescription-ready smart glasses.  In this role, you will be working on the current and future roadmap for Echo Frames.  The team is focused on bringing technology and design into a form that is familiar to millions of gla

Echo Frames is Amazon's first prescription-ready smart glasses.  In this role, you will be working on the current and future roadmap for Echo Frames.  The team is focused on bringing technology and design into a form that is familiar to millions of gla

RT-Thread was born in 2006, it is an open-source, neutral, and community-based real-time operating system.  As an open-source project, RT-Thread has received strong support and contributions from the community developers and many chips and original eq