Jason Dunn
01-13-2012, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/04/rokus-streaming-stick-makes-your-dumb-tv-much-smarter/' target='_blank'>http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/04/ro...v-much-smarter/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Smart TVs are great and all - who doesn't want a dash of WiFi with their daily dose of reality television? - but the segment will face challenges in the market. For one, a $49 Roku LT is a much better value proposition than a $1,000+ smart TV. Secondly, the hardware moves at such a rapid pace that even with solid software updates, your smart TV will likely be outdated much sooner than you're ready to buy a new one."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1326434647.usr1.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>There's nothing worse than a dumb TV right? Most TVs are pretty low-IQ in terms of what they can do - it's a recent development that we have TVs capable of running apps, streaming media, etc. The Roku looks like an interesting solution, but TechCrunch points out a key problem: it requires an HDMI port that supports the MHL standard, which only newer TVs do. For a product like this to be successful, it should work with the oldest, most basic HDMI port there is from years ago. Anything less than that and Roku might have a hard time selling many of these...</p>