Roku, founded in October 2002, is a privately held Saratoga, California consumer electronics firm which specialises in home digital media products. Their current consumer products line-up includes the Roku SoundBridge, a network music player, and the SoundBridge Radio, a network music player with built-in speakers and subwoofer, AM-FM receiver, volume-ramping alarm clock, preset buttons, SD slot and headphone jack. For retailers, Roku also makes the BrightSign solid-state media player, designed to drive HD displays in a retail environment.

Announced May 20th 2008, Roku is the manufacturer for the first set-top Netflix streaming box. The NXP-powered device costs $99 and provides unlimited access to Netflix's streaming catalog.

Roku's audio products do not use internal storage but rely on Wi-Fi or Ethernet to stream digital audio over a network, either from Internet radio or a computer attached to the same network.

Roku introduced the Radio Roku Internet radio directory in August 2007. Radio Roku provides a directory of Internet stations, accessible from a web browser or from SoundBridge players.

Roku formerly made the PhotoBridge HD1000, a system for displaying images on a high-definition TV, as well as streaming MPEG video. The unit has four card readers on the front and can read from Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, SmartMedia Card, CompactFlash Card type II. The HD1000 has been discontinued.

The company was founded by ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood. 'Roku' means 'six' in Japanese, a reference to the six companies Wood has launched.

External links

• Roku Website
• Radio Roku Website