Those of you who have been considering buying a Roku might want to hold off for a bit. According to a new filing spotted at the FCC, Roku could be coming out with two new devices that doesn’t seem to differ much from the company’s current offering but look to be cheaper that Roku’s flagship set-top box. This is a smart move on Roku’s part considering the increased competition its facing, especially after Apple slashed the price of Apple TV.
Now might be a bad time to buy a Roku, as signs of new hardware clear the FCC. Former GigaOm writer Janko Roettgers first spotted the FCC filings, which hint at two new devices based on the $100 Roku 3. It sounds like they’ll be cheaper variants of Roku’s flagship set-top box. Both filings indicate no major hardware changes compared to the Roku 3, though Roku may be removing the Ethernet jack from these models and relying solely on Wi-Fi. The overall design looks to be a rounded rectangle similar to Roku’s existing set-top boxes. Roku currently sells three set-top boxes, though there’s not much reason to consider the cheaper models unless your TV doesn’t support HDMI and requires the Roku 1’s composite video output. Otherwise, you’re better off buying either the $50 Roku Streaming Stick or the $100 Roku 3, which adds Ethernet, USB, Micro SD, a faster processor, and a headphone jack on the remote control.
