As more and more content is crammed into our little mobile phones, one tech company is going in the opposite direction, putting the ubiquitous cellphone app Angry Birds onto our big-screen TVs.
Roku, the company that makes devices for streaming entertainment from the Internet onto television, is adding casual games to its lineup. First up is the epic battle between that titular flock and a bunch of egg-stealing pigs.
Angry Birds is typically played by sliding a finger across a touch screen, so to avoid smeared fingerprints on your TV, Roku has updated its streaming player to include an enhanced game remote with motion control. Once the player is set up, the game downloads and is ready to play. With the flick of your wrist, you can catapult the birds into those flimsy swine structures (those pigs seriously need to get some nail guns).
This second-generation player, the Roku 2, has been streamlined with a sleeker design and comes in three models: HD, XD and XS. The basic model, the $60 HD, supports up to 720p high-definition video quality. For $20 more, you can get 1080p with the XD. At about $100, the top-of-the-line XS has the same features and comes with Angry Birds and the game remote (a $30 accessory).
Roku is remarkably simple to set up and use. Each model has built-in wireless capability, so you need to establish a wireless network in your home. The XS includes an Ethernet port for a wired connection.
There is no off switch, but the player appears to go into a sleep mode when the TV is not in use. More than once, however, it took a couple of minutes to wake up.
Roku has added more channels, and now has nearly 300, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, Pandora, Vimeo and FoxNews. For sports fans, Roku streams live and on-demand sports from NBA Game Time, NHL GameCenter Live and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Channels with pay content require online registration, so have your credit card ready.
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