Roku TV devices have had a few upgrades this year, and in the coming months, there will be big AI improvements to voice control – the new abilities will be similar to what Google TV devices now have, thanks to Gemini.
Besides your typical commands, such as opening apps or searching for TV shows and movies, you’ll be able to ask more complex questions. For example, “How scary is The Shining?” or “What kind of fish is Nemo?”.
According to The Verge, Roku Voice will display the response on the screen via text, with links to the series or films you’re asking about. The software will also support follow-up questions related to your original query. You can see how the technology will look below.
Roku
Beyond that, Roku is adding a Bluetooth headphone mode to its latest devices, the Roku Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus, so users can watch TV privately while not disturbing anyone else in the room using their own wireless buds or cans.
If you prefer to use the Roku mobile app over the standard remote, then free features coming to this include ‘find my remote’, shortcuts to closed captions, a sleep timer and daily trivia. There are also Netflix-style rating buttons, which allow users to like/dislike titles and mark them as watched. You’ll also be able to sort the For You page into different categories, such as shows, movies, sports, etc.
When viewing a trailer, a new ‘Ways to watch’ button will appear at the bottom so you can quickly find whatever is being advertised. Meanwhile, the search bar is being expanded to other areas of the platform, including What to Watch, the Live TV Zone and (eventually) the Live TV Channel Guide.
Finally, real-time sports scores will appear alongside games on Roku TV. If you don’t want spoilers, you can toggle these off. If you’re prone to forgetting when a game is coming up, the app can send you a notification when it’s time to tune in.
These updates will be rolled out in the coming months. However, we don’t know whether they are exclusive to the US, or if UK viewers will get them as well. We have reached out to Roku for clarification and will update this article when we find out more.
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