One
day
after
the
Google
TV
Streamer
hit
stores,
Roku
is
announcing
its
own
latest
streaming
player.
And
unlike
Google’s
big
design
overhaul,
the
new
Roku
Ultra
is
playing
things
very
safe.
I’d
argue
maybe
too
safe.
It’s
still
$99.99,
still
delivers
Dolby
Vision
and
Atmos,
and
it
looks
exactly
the
same
as
before,
although
the
company
says
there
are
notable
improvements
inside.
The
2024
Ultra
is
30
percent
faster
than
any
of
Roku’s
other
players,
and
it
now
features
Wi-Fi
6.
That
upgrade
puts
it
ahead
of
the
Google
TV
Streamer,
which
stuck
with
Wi-Fi
5.
Roku
is
now
on
par
with
the
Apple
TV,
but
behind
Amazon’s
flagship
Fire
TV
streamers,
which
include
Wi-Fi
6E
connectivity.
And
yes,
there’s
still
a
built-in
ethernet
jack
for
those
of
you
who
prefer
wired
setups.
“Plus,
as
a
HDMI
2.1
streaming
player,
Roku
Ultra
offers
Quick
Media
Switching
(QMS)
delivering
seamless,
judder-free
transitions
between
different
refresh
rates
or
content
sources
on
premium
TVs,”
Roku’s
Paul
Nangeroni
wrote
in
a
blog
post.
(Note
that
your
TV
must
also
support
QMS
for
this
to
work,
and
we’re
still
in
the
very,
very
early
stages
of
that.)
The
included
Voice
Remote
Pro
now
has
backlit
buttons.Image:
Roku
The
Ultra
ships
with
Roku’s
best
remote,
the
Voice
Remote
Pro,
which
itself
has
been
upgraded
with
backlit
buttons,
USB-C
charging,
and
new
quick
launch
and
live
TV
buttons.
The
former
lets
you
“see
your
personalized
shortcuts
—
your
go-to
apps,
your
favorite
voice
command,
switching
the
captions
on
and
off
—
right
on
your
TV
screen.”
The
2024
Roku
Ultra
also
“uses
advanced
machine
learning
to
anticipate
which
app
you
are
going
to
open
next
and
tees
it
up
for
our
snappiest
app
loading
to
date.”
Roku’s
mobile
remote
app
now
lets
you
browse
content
with
a
swipe
up.Image:
Roku
Roku
also
continues
to
build
upon
its
forever-simplistic
home
screen
without
reinventing
the
wheel.
It’s
adding
the
existing
Kids
&
Family
zone
directly
to
the
home
screen.
Separately,
content
pages
will
now
have
thumbs
up
and
thumbs
down
icons
to
help
personalize
the
company’s
algorithms
to
your
own
taste.
And
the
mobile
remote
app
will
now
have
an
entertainment
overlay
that
lets
you
swipe
up
to
browse
content
when
you’re
not
using
the
essential
controls.
Is
Roku’s
dependable,
no-frills
box
still
your
go-to
in
2024?
Are
you
holding
out
for
the
next
Apple
TV
4K
upgrade?
Original author: Chris Welch
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