Audio Video News

Roku is making a nice sandwich out of its line-up, with new offerings priced above and below its popular Roku HD streaming media player.

On the high end, Roku has announced the HD-XR player, an updated Roku HD player with 802.11n wireless support on top of the original's built-in 802.11b/g wireless. Besides the speedier wireless protocol (of which users can only take advantage if they also have an 802.11n wireless router), the device is essentially identical to the Roku HD. At $129, the HD-XR retails for $30 more than the original HD.

On the lower end, the company has unveiled a standard definition player, the Roku SD. The bare-bones device only features up to 480p resolution and stereo audio through its composite A/V connections. If you haven't yet upgraded to an HDTV, or you have an older screen tucked away you'd like to adapt to streaming content, the Roku SD can be yours for $79. Considering the Roku HD is just $20 more and offers the same SD support on top of HD video and surround audio, the smaller price tag doesn't seem to justify the new model.

They're not ground-breakers or bank-breakers, but if you want to access Netflix's Watch Instantly library or Amazon's VOD service, offer some new choices. The new Roku boxes are available now.

— Will Greenwald

[Source and photo: Engadget]