Confirming recent rumors, streaming media hardware company Roku announced it has partnered with major Web-based content service Hulu to bring the premium Hulu Plus service to Roku set top boxes later this fall. A surprise announcement came from TiVO, however, which said TiVo Premiere users will have access to the service as well.Last week, Roku unveiled its new line of set top boxes which really put the heat on competitors AppleTV, Boxee, and even GoogleTV. Roku effectively defined how an over-the-top streaming set top box should work with its first generation of Netflix streamers, which combined an extremely simple interface and an agreeable pricetag with an ever-growing library of content. With these new devices and content partnerships, it continues to lead the pack.Hulu, the popular streaming TV site from NBC, ABC and Fox launched Hulu Plus on the PlayStation 3 and iPad in July. The service is meant to be a portal to Hulu made just for non-computer devices like TVs and tablets. It carries a premium subscription charge of $9.99 per month, and shows still contain advertisements.To access Hulu Plus on the PlayStation 3, users must be a subscriber to both Hulu Plus and the PlayStation Network. A similar situation arises with TiVo users: in order to access the service, users must also subscribe to TiVo Premiere for $12.99 per month.To access the service on Roku, however, the user must only be a subscriber to Hulu Plus. Though Sony said the PlayStation 3 would be the exclusive carrier of Hulu Plus until 2011, Roku said the service is coming in the fall. TiVo said it would be receiving the service "in the coming months." "We're thrilled to be able to provide Hulu Plus subscribers with the most inexpensive device to stream Hulu content to their TVs," said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. "Hulu continues to be an amazing innovator in online entertainment, and Roku is an ideal platform to bring their content back to the living room and high definition televisions where it is best viewed."�"Adding Hulu Plus to TiVo's content offering was really the key missing piece to the programming portfolio that TiVo needed in order to deliver a truly comprehensive advanced television offering on the market today -- bar none," said Tara Maitra, VP & General Manager, Content Services and Ad Sales, TiVo Inc. "TiVo is the complete TV entertainment solution. No other service is as robust or offers consumers the ability to access live TV, Web video, and video on demand content from one box like TiVo does."�
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
TiVO - Roku - Netflix - NBC - PlayStation 3
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