Roku Updates OS; Sets Streaming Player Portfolio for Holidays, Led by Downsized $30 Player

Roku rolled out seven new players for its holiday lineup Thursday, touting a downsized Roku Express ($29), said to be 10 percent smaller than the model it replaces, and the $99 Roku Ultra, due Oct. 13. Roku Express Plus, exclusive to Walmart, adds a voice remote, said Roku. The flagship Ultra model has “fast channel launch,” designed to speed channel launch times for the top channels on the Roku platform, and programmable shortcut buttons on the "enhanced" remote offer personalization, it said. Other features: 4K resolution, HDR, Ethernet and 802.11ac dual-band wireless, USB port for local media playback and MicroSD slot for channel caching; Dolby and DTS Digital Surround pass-through over HDMI, lost remote finder, JBL headphones and a voice remote with headphone jack for private listening. The company also announced a new operating system: Roku OS 9.2, rolling out in coming weeks, will add Roku Zones for searching by genre or subject; a 4K spotlight channel, search by movie quote function; set sleep time function for Roku TVs; and the ability to control multiple Roku devices with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Roku Premiere ($39) offers 4K and HDR streaming with a simple remote; Roku Streaming Stick Plus ($59) adds long-range wireless and a voice remote; Roku Streaming Stick Plus HE ($59), exclusive to Best Buy, includes the enhanced voice remote and Roku headphones for private listening; and Roku Ultra LT ($79), a Walmart exclusive, has the Ultra features but with Roku headphones, it said.