Roku announced today a new initiative called Roku TV Ready, with Sound United (parent company of Denon, Marantz, and Classé) and TCL North America as the first partners in this initiative. According to the press release, Roku TV Ready means, among other things, that certified products will allow for easier setup, quicker and simpler access to sound settings and volume control via the Roku remote control, as well as other unannounced features.
At the same time, Roku announced fifteen partners will now be making Roku TVs in North America and Europe in 2020, including ATVIO, Element, Hisense, Hitachi, InFocus, JVC, Magnavox, onn., Philips, Polaroid, RCA, Sanyo, TCL, and Westinghouse.
Read on for more details about Roku TV Ready, with comments from both Roku VP of Retail Product Strategy Mark Ely, as well as Brendon Stead, Senior VP of Product Development at Sound United.
Roku, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) today announced Roku TV Ready, a new program that allows consumer electronics companies to partner with Roku to help their products work seamlessly with Roku TV for an incredible home entertainment experience. The first partners under the program are TCL North America and Sound United, parent company to Denon, Polk Audio, Marantz, Definitive Technology and Classé, which will feature Roku TV Ready products for select brands later this year.
Products under the program will display a Roku TV Ready badge on marketing materials to identify that they have been tested and certified to work effortlessly with the Roku TV, offering smooth setup, easy on-screen access to sound settings and volume control with one remote. Consumer electronics companies can add Roku TV Ready functionality at no additional cost to their products.
"Our goal is to make the TV experience incredibly simple, accessible and fun. Roku devices continue to delight millions of consumers for these reasons. And now with this new program we hope to make it super easy to setup and control soundbars and audio/video receivers using just a Roku TV remote," said Mark Ely, Vice President, Retail Product Strategy at Roku. "Meanwhile, consumer electronics brands benefit by offering their products in a more appealing way to our large and engaged audience of millions of active accounts."
"Denon is consistently at the forefront of technology trends and services. Our joining the Roku TV Ready program demonstrates a continued dedication to this ethos while offering consumers an incredible value, endless entertainment and new features delivered over time," said Brendon Stead, Senior Vice President Product Development at Sound United, parent company to Denon. "The Roku TV Ready program enables Denon users to easily access Denon product features via the Roku TV Remote, among other features. In the name of seamless entertainment, this is a boon for watchers everywhere."
"TCL and Roku have been working to deliver incredible home entertainment innovation to consumers for many years and we're thrilled to be extending our partnership to home audio compatibility," said Chris Larson, Senior Vice President, TCL. "As America's fastest-growing TV brand, we're focused on providing a first-class home theater experience and a big part of that is ensuring consumers know their TCL television will work well with other products throughout the home."
Availability
TCL will be the first to announce support for Roku TV Ready, with more details to be shared at their press conference later today. Sound United will deliver Roku TV Ready to soundbars under the Denon brand via a software update later this year. Roku TV Ready features are expected to be delivered to Roku TV models via the Roku operating system in the coming year. Consumer electronics companies who want to work with Roku can contact [email protected].
Additional Resources
• Visit the Roku website for additional details.
• Why All AV Enthusiasts Should Be Upset About Roku Losing Twitch at HomeTheaterReview.com.
• Roku Announces New OS 9.2 and Updated Player Lineup at HomeTheaterReview.com.
• Home Cinema's Streaming Future Is Now at HomeTheaterReview.com.
