LOS GATOS — Roku’s newest software update, Roku OS 9.3, will start rolling out to Roku devices in Canada in the coming weeks, the company announced Tuesday.
The free, automatic software update focuses on helping users get to content quickly and improving overall performance, says the news release.
“The Roku OS continues to get better with a specific focus on delivering better performance, new content and more ways to find it,” said Lloyd Klarke, director of product management at Roku, in the release. “With Roku OS 9.3, we’re enhancing Roku Voice in Canada with increased natural language understanding, additional media playback controls and fun features like the ability to find Hollywood hits using movie quotes.”
New in Roku OS 9.3:
- Increased Performance — A reduction in device boot times, faster launch times for a select number of channels (with more supported channels coming soon) and a more responsive Home Screen.
- Roku Voice — Enhanced to give users the ability to speak more natural phrases such as “Show me …” or “I want to watch …” and also allows users to find movies using a selection of popular movie quotes. Roku Voice now also supports a greater variety of voice commands including media playback controls such as “Fast forward” or “Pause,” and device control such as “Turn on closed captions”. Roku Voice is available on the remote of the Roku Streaming Stick+ and through the Roku Mobile App for all Roku streaming devices.
- Works with Amazon Alexa and Works with Google Assistant — Control Roku players and Roku TV models by speaking commands to Amazon Alexa and/or Google Assistant devices. Through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices users can now control media playback and search for entertainment. Roku TV users additionally can tune into channels or inputs, control volume and switch their TV on/off.
- Redesigned Roku Mobile App — The free mobile app features a new navigation bar at the top of the mobile screen providing access to Roku Search, the ability to switch between Roku devices and a shortcut to the remote-control screen. The redesign includes quick access icons so users can launch useful mobile app features without the need to exit the remote -control screen including the ability to browse and/or launch their recently viewed channels directly from the remote screen and more.
According to the news release, Roku OS 9.3 will begin rolling out to select Roku players in April and is expected to roll out to all supporting streaming players in the coming weeks. Roku TV models are expected to receive the update in phases over the coming months, says the release.
