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This week on TechHive: Where’s the antenna support in streaming boxes
My column this week is a follow-up to Roku’s announcement of new streaming players (which I’ll discuss more in the Weekly Rewind below).

Alongside the new players, Roku announced an operating system update that, among other things, makes the over-the-air antenna experience much better on Roku TVs. Antenna users will get a 14-day channel guide, which also lists whether each program is available from streaming sources. Local TV listings will appear in Roku Search as well, and live broadcasts will support private listening, either through Roku’s mobile app or any Roku remote that has a headphone jack.

Unfortunately, none of this over-the-air innovation is available on Roku’s streaming players, because Roku doesn’t offer any way to plug an antenna directly into its streaming players. The same is true with Amazon’s Fire TV box, which has none of the antenna features that appeared on Fire TV Edition televisions earlier this year. To understand why streaming box users are being left out, read the full column on TechHive.

Weekly Rewind

New Roku players: Roku is once again overhauling its streaming device line in time for the holiday rush. The short version, with links to product pages:

  • The Roku Express gets much a faster processor, hopefully addressing my biggest complaint with the first-generation models. The price is still $30, or $35 for the composite video-friendly Express+.
  • The Roku Streaming Stick has a new remote with voice control and an IR emitter, enabling TV volume and power control without a separate remote. It’s back to its original price of $50.
  • A new Roku Streaming Stick+ adds 4K HDR video support for $70, and has its wireless receiver built into the power cable for better reception. It also has the new remote.
  • The Roku Ultra is largely unchanged from last year, but its remote–the only one in Roku’s lineup with private headphone listening–has the same new voice-and-IR powers as the Streaming Sticks. And it now has a lower price of $100.

Notably, last year’s Roku Premiere and Premiere+ are gone from the lineup, effectively replaced by the 4K HDR Streaming Stick+. It’s a logical update to Roku line that creates a clear distinction between models: Express for no-frills streaming, Streaming Stick for voice and TV controls, Streaming Stick+ for 4K HDR on a budget, and Ultra for fancy features like Ethernet and USB media playback.

I expect to review all the new players over the next few weeks.

Netflix price hikes: The news wasn’t all positive this week, as Netflix announced higher prices for most U.S. subscribers:

  • HD with two simultaneous streams: $11 per month, up from $10 per month.
  • 4K HDR with four simultaneous streams: $14 per month, up from $12 per month.
  • SD with one stream: Still $8 per month

The change will take effect immediately for new subscribers, and in the next billing cycle after October 19 for existing subscribers.

For now, my only take on this is the obvious one: Someone has to pay for all the expensive original content Netflix is putting out. But Business Insider makes an interesting observation: Based on viewing time per dollar spent, Netflix is still about four times more valuable than cable.

More Catch-Up

Save More Money
Amazon is still bundling pre-orders of the new 4K HDR Fire TV with an Echo Dot for $80. That’s only $10 more than the Fire TV by itself, and a savings of $50. Though I haven’t used the new model, I’m a fan of the Fire TV in general, and this is as cheap as it gets for a 4K HDR streaming player with hands-free voice controls.

Thanks for reading!

We’re in the calm before the storm now, right after announcements of new streaming devices from all the major players, but before the review units arrive for testing. As always, you can contribute to this newsletter through my Patreon page (for recurring payments) and my Ko-Fi page (for one-time payments), and help inspire future story ideas by sending in your feedback. Just reply to this email or find me on Twitter.

Until next week,
Jared