down the avenue: The Roku Box: The Perfect & Easy Way to Stream Content

FAVORITE QUOTES

Only Those Who See the Invisible, Can Do The Impossible
The Age of your Heart is the Age of what you Love - Marcel Prévost
Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I'll understand.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one opening before us. -Helen Keller
The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. -Leo Tolstoy
Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets. -Paul Tournier
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. -Carl W. Buechner
Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The foolish reject what they see, the wise reject what they think
Imagination is more important than knowledge - Albert Einstein
When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you - Lao-tzu
The world surrenders to a quiet mind
It is a funny thing about life: If you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it - Somerset Maugham
"At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you." Goethe

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December 21, 2012

The Roku Box: The Perfect & Easy Way to Stream Content

Streaming. So many of us are doing it now to get our content, yet folks like my sister or friends from other parts of the world I keep in touch with through old fashioned email and yes, even sometimes social networks, don't stream. It's not their normal way of viewing or listening to content.

Roku has come up with a way to make it easy for anyone to use. Their mantra or at least one of them is: streaming made simple. With over 150,000 movies and shows instantly available, Roku delivers various titles to match your mood. Using Netflix, you can see up to 1080p HD video or TV shows through Hulu Plus. There are also hundreds of free movies from Crackle or the latest Hollywood releases on Amazon Instant Video. There’s also access to premium services like HBO GO and EPIX, available via participating providers.

Roku delivers more than movies and TV shows as well. In the Roku Channel Store, you get instant access to the best selection of streaming entertainment available – over 600 channels, which includes live sports, music, photo and video sharing, games, international programming, radio, tech news, non-tech news, podcasts, cartoons and more.

They also have a great one-stop search feature, where you can find your favorite movies and TV shows all from one place – no matter if they're on Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video or Crackle. For example, you can search for a title, keyword or actor. Once you find what you’re interested in, all you have to do is select a channel it's on, and you're ready to start watching.

There's also access to music. With Roku, you can play your music, any time. You can access unlimited music from Pandora and MOG or from Live365, your iTunes library, and more.

All you need to get started is a high-speed Internet connection (and a TV, of course). There are various versions of Roku boxes - I'm about to install the Roku 2 XS which is 'fully loaded' with the most functionality, for about $99, but there's also three other versions: Roku 2 XD, Roku HD and Roku LT (known as the purple box, which is priced at only $49). The others are of course black. And, the other beautiful thing about Roku is that the boxes are small and you can be up and running in minutes.