Roku seems to be on a not-so-secret mission to infiltrate every smart TV on the planet. In early November, the streaming heavyweight announced a partnership with Philips, which became the seventh television brand to feature the excellent Roku TV operating system. Hitachi, Insignia, TCL, Sharp, RCA, and Hisense are the others.
Philips’ televisions — which are manufactured by licensing partner P&F USA (a subsidiary of Funai Electric) for the North American market — span the quality spectrum, with some including features like built-in Chromecast, 4K UHD resolution, and Dolby Vision HDR. Following the agreement, P&F introduced a new line of televisions, the Philips Roku TV 4000 Series.
The 4000 Series encompasses three screen sizes — 40-inch, 43-inch, and 50-inch — all featuring 1080p Full HD resolution and 120Hz Perfect Motion screen refresh rate. The 40-inch model is currently available via Sam’s Club for $298; Philips is advertising it at $349 retail. The $429 50-inch model is set to arrive in January, while the release date for the $379 43-inch model is to be determined. All three TVs also include the incredible Roku OS 8, which brings a number of quality-of-life improvements to both Roku streaming devices and Roku TVs.
Currently in the rollout process, Roku OS 8 adds voice control for input selection and local broadcast tuning, improved language understanding for voice control, and the new Smart Guide, which integrates local broadcast channels into your Roku TV’s channel listing. Private listening using headphones is now supported while viewing local broadcasts, and Roku overhauled its 4K Spotlight Channel to make things easier for those with Ultra HD-enabled televisions. For a full list of features associated with Roku OS 8, check out the official Roku website.
Roku has had a watershed year in 2017, bolstering its lead over companies like Google and Amazon in the race for hardware sales superiority, and adding Roku TV to myriad new models, including some from RCA and some from TCL. On top of all that, Roku introduced new streaming devices in October, including updates to the Roku Express and the Roku Ultra, as well as the new Roku Streaming Stick+.
Update: We added product details for three new Philips Roku televisions.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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