Roku have always been a major name in the market for TV accessories, and even though the company hasn’t released a new flagship in about two years, they still have a strong market presence and a lot of fans. Other companies have come out with their own special offers in the meantime, and they’ve kept improving them too – Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast are both quite capable at the moment, and they’re used by lots of people.
But according to various experts, if Roku manage to get the Roku 4 out on the market before the end of 2015, it should be a very good move for the company and will allow them to regain a lot of the positions that they have somewhat lost lately. As we said above, Roku are still enjoying a strong following on their market – but other companies have really started to catch up and Roku’s popularity has suffered a bit as a result of that.
The performance of Roku 3 on the market is still pretty good and the device has managed to get ahead of Apple TV in terms of popularity, but if they aren’t quick enough to release another proper flagship soon, their popularity is definitely going to suffer.
What is the Roku 4 going to offer, and how could it become the next big device on the TV streaming market? One of the most prominent rumors about it is that it will come with 4K resolution support, and it could also offer even more memory than before. Some reports have put the figure at 2 GB of RAM, which should make it even more capable than before, not that it was lacking in performance originally.
Roku are also rumored to be working on some major revisions to the interface, aiming to make the whole experience smoother and more intuitive, even for people who aren’t very familiar with technology in general. They have been addressing this problem in various ways from what we’re hearing, but this is just an unconfirmed rumor that has been going around messaging boards and other online communities – and it’s not even a very major rumor right now – so we aren’t sure how much credibility to give it.
It is true that Roku have been continuously releasing new updates for the Roku OS, their custom Linux-based operating system that powers their devices. Users have been reporting a great overall experience with those updates, claiming that Roku have been doing a great job at maintaining a high quality level for the system and keeping it in line with what can be expected from a device of this type.
Customizability seems to be the biggest factor that Roku are actively aiming for, and that’s certainly great because TV has traditionally been seen as a somewhat restricted, limited experience. It would be good to have a device that allows its users to truly customize the way they use it, and basing the operating system on Linux is a great way to build the foundation to that.
But in any case, it might be too early to draw any solid conclusions about the Roku 4, but hopefully the company has been paying attention to what people are saying on the Internet about their last products. A quick glance at some of the more popular discussions is enough to reveal what most people want to see in the next Roku, and there are plenty of ideas out there that can be explored.