The new Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+ are looking to make 4K content more affordable, with price tags of only $39.99 and $49.99, respectively.
The age of the 4K TV is crawling in, as they become cheaper and more accessible to more households. Consumers, however, are starting to look beyond the apps that come with the 4K TVs, and Roku is right here to address that need.
Meet The New Roku Stick: Roku Premiere And Roku Premiere+
Previously, the Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+ carried priced tags of $70 and $90, which were not far off from the high-end Roku Ultra that is being sold at $100. The new versions of the Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+, however, are now being sold at $30 and $50, making them the company's lowest-priced 4K HDR players.
The $40 Roku Premiere is now the cheapest streaming device in the market that is capable of streaming 4K HDR video on services such as Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube, for viewers who own a 4K HDR TV and have the most expensive subscription tier in the case of Netflix.
At an extra $10, the Roku Premiere+ will come with an improved remote with a mic that enables voice commands and searches, instead of the infrared remote bundled with the Roku Premiere. The keys will even allow users to control their 4K TV's power and volume buttons.
The new Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+ are now open for preorders, with an expected shipping date in early October. The Roku Premiere+, however, will be exclusively sold through Walmart.
Roku Teams Up With Google Assistant
Alongside the announcement of the new Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+, Roku revealed that it will soon allow users to control the company's devices though Google Assistant.
Once the feature is launched, users will be able to talk to a Google Home smart speaker or the Google Assistant on their Android smartphone to issue commands. Voice commands that can be issued to Roku devices through Google Assistant include launching specific apps, controlling playback, searching for content, and accessing the home menu.
The Roku voice technology, which is found in the remote that comes with the new Roku Premiere+, is already good at looking for certain streaming content. However, by opening up its devices to Google Assistant, Roku users will be able to enjoy the digital assistant's added perks and features.
There is no word on whether Amazon's Alexa will also be coming to Roku, but the company revealed that Spotify will soon return to the platform.
