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Roku has added another string to its streaming bow, with a new Amazon app for its set-top boxes in the UK.
US-based Roku sells streaming set-top boxes — such as the £60 Roku 2 , which let you funnel TV shows and movies into your TV, through an Internet connection.
A Roku box gets you access to programming from all the major UK terrestrial channels including BBC iPlayer, as well as popular subscription services such as Netflix and Sky’s Now TV. But until now it’s been missing video from Amazon. The addition of the Amazon Video app to that line-up plugs a major hole in Roku’s offering.
The Amazon Video app pumps out TV shows and movies from the retail giant’s roster of programming, which is available to buy or rent on-demand, including “Game of Thrones” season 5.
The app also grants access to Amazon’s Netflix-fighting Prime Video, which is part of the online retailer’s Prime service, and gets you no-extra-cost access to a host of TV shows and films, including Amazon’s home-made “Transparent”, which has been garlanded with awards. Amazon will also be debuting a new car show in 2016 featuring Jeremy Clarkson, who was fired from the BBC earlier this year for punching a producer.
The new app comes hot on the heels of a new competitor for Roku — a revamped Apple TV . Apple’s new set-top box starts at £129 and comes with a nifty touchpad remote, but is missing an Amazon app. It will be getting an iPlayer app though before too long, which will make Apple’s pricey box more tempting to UK shoppers.
