Feature suggestions

[glenns]

Oh no...not another update!!. Most of us are still recovering from the last build update....

I sure hope the folks are Roku are paying close attention to the all the posts in the past 2 days regarding the latest build.... and suggestions given to announce in advance what's going on and/or a method to undo build updates... Maybe they could make the old build into a new channel that a be added over the newer build ???
I can understand the need to have all the boxes on a recent build, but to render a person's box a paperweight is unacceptable! Thank goodness my issues were minor..

Sounds like 'the native are getting restless' and some indicate they are ready to jump ship...

I've heard NO COMMENTS from offical Roku ? Not a good situation...

[philsoft]

I've heard NO COMMENTS from offical Roku ? Not a good situation...

I think the reason is because there are only a (very vocal) few that appear to be having problems that even MIGHT be attributed to the Roku DVP. There are a long list of issues that you might be experiencing, and they are from multiple sources. Since the hardware options from Roku are pretty limited, if there were a widespread problem, there would be a MUCH larger group howling. My experience with the DVP has been great. I am not seeing issues anything like what I am hearing here. I tend to get popped back to position 3 in my Netflix IW Queue a bit more often than I would like, but that is a pretty small tradeoff for always getting HD quality when it is available.

The first thing to do when you are having trouble is to just pull the plug on the DVP and plug it back in. If you are still having trouble,
unplug your Modem, Router, and DVP,
then plug in the modem, wait 2 minutes,
then plug in the router, wait 2 minutes,
then plug in the DVP.
Things for people to look at, who are still having trouble after all that, are

1. Router settings - This is probably where most issues are resolved. There are a load of different routers out there, and the various settings vary wildly from model to model. Firewall settings and QOS settings are some of the adjustments where people have luck within Router settings.

2. DNS settings - this is a fairly common issue that people run into, it is something that would be adjusted from within your router's settings. This would normally go under router settings, but it is common enough that I felt it deserved it's own mention.

3. Questionable signal - Different devices can be more or less finicky when it comes to wireless signal, so just because your laptop is surfing merrily, doesn't mean your Roku DVP has the signal it needs from the same spot.

4. ISP - This can be a very tricky one. Your ISP is the first part of your link to the video file that you are trying to stream. Often enough people contact their ISP and have their problems solved that way (this could be as simple as upgrading their level of service).

This will probably resolve most issues, if it doesn't then you should explain exactly what you have tried so far, and describe exactly what behavior you are seeing, and what behavior you believe that you SHOULD be seeing.

[glenns]

You bet I'm going to be vocal when I had something that worked, was updated and then stops working...

I have 2 Roku SD boxes.. One was updated to the latest build and stop working... The other worked fine until it was updated later yesterday. I think that speaks volumes for the latest build.

MAYBE if Roku would have posted some sort of announcement about the new build somewhere (besides deep in an MLB thread, I found just an hour ago!!!) advising the 'customer'.... and maybe steps to take once issues were reported.. I would not be so upset!!

The folks at Roku need to understand they are in the big league now..Folks like me are EXPECTING their box to work on demand... 24x7... Test, test, triple test the updates... Get more beta testers... etc...

By the way, what is a DVP ... The Roku box ?

[philsoft]

You bet I'm going to be vocal when I had something that worked, was updated and then stops working...

I have 2 Roku SD boxes.. One was updated to the latest build and stop working... The other worked fine until it was updated later yesterday. I think that speaks volumes for the latest build.

MAYBE if Roku would have posted some sort of announcement about the new build somewhere (besides deep in an MLB thread, I found just an hour ago!!!) advising the 'customer'.... and maybe steps to take once issues were reported.. I would not be so upset!!

The folks at Roku need to understand they are in the big league now..Folks like me are EXPECTING their box to work on demand... 24x7... Test, test, triple test the updates... Get more beta testers... etc...

By the way, what is a DVP ... The Roku box ?

DVP = Digital Video Player

I have been through all of this WAY too many times to do it again.

1. There are a LOT of people with the same hardware as you.
2. Those same people have the same firmware as you
3. There are VERY few people having problems like you are describing

This tells me that your experiences are out of the ordinary, and if it were me, I would be looking at something besides the DVP as the source of my problems, but if history is any indication, you probably won't do any of that, and because of that, in the end, you will end up either unhappy or embarassed.

[jcmolet]

I would love to see a little polish added to the Pandora channel. Something like the iPad app would be great. The app shows the user's stations, the most recently played songs, the current song and background information on the the artist of the currently playing song.

I would also love to see the Pandora Video Series brought to the Roku DVP.

[Razmataz]

You bet I'm going to be vocal when I had something that worked, was updated and then stops working...

I have 2 Roku SD boxes.. One was updated to the latest build and stop working... The other worked fine until it was updated later yesterday. I think that speaks volumes for the latest build.

MAYBE if Roku would have posted some sort of announcement about the new build somewhere (besides deep in an MLB thread, I found just an hour ago!!!) advising the 'customer'.... and maybe steps to take once issues were reported.. I would not be so upset!!

The folks at Roku need to understand they are in the big league now..Folks like me are EXPECTING their box to work on demand... 24x7... Test, test, triple test the updates... Get more beta testers... etc...

By the way, what is a DVP ... The Roku box ?

DVP = Digital Video Player

I have been through all of this WAY too many times to do it again.

1. There are a LOT of people with the same hardware as you.
2. Those same people have the same firmware as you
3. There are VERY few people having problems like you are describing

This tells me that your experiences are out of the ordinary, and if it were me, I would be looking at something besides the DVP as the source of my problems, but if history is any indication, you probably won't do any of that, and because of that, in the end, you will end up either unhappy or embarassed.

Hi, Philsoft,

I tag teamed with you (you wouldn't have noticed) in a recent thread where you (and I) were trying to talk down a disgruntled user "off the ledge", so to speak. And I sounded a whole lot like you are sounding today, for the longest time, because I was savvy and patient enough to pore through the forums and make all the recommended best practice tweaks to router to optimize it for streaming, turn off QOS, enable Open DNS, more. Wired (cat 6) connections. Remove unused channels, etc. For the longest time, those tweaks worked for me. I had a flawlessly performing Roku box through these recent weeks where a few vocal others were complaining about the new UI - the elegant new UI which you and I both love and which performed for me. Just Friday night (3 days back), my guests and I reveled in a gorgeous, flawless showing of Avatar in HD, in fact. I was in my glory.

Then build 687 turned my box into a paperweight. And unlike many other consumer electronics where an early adopter or geek has the privilege of selecting when and which firmware upgrades to accept: that's not supported here.

Then I realized: after all the hours of effort I've put in, and the tweaks I've made: I don't have another fight in me. It's just a player, I've already paid my dues, and my life has other stuff going on, too, which will become my next focus. (What's next, learn assembler code? Solder extra connections into my router?) C'mon. My comcast cable already reliably outputs 3800 Kbps and higher and again, until Saturday, my box ran flawlessly.... but now for days, since this latest forced firmware, it can't even load SD movies, and it can't recognize that I'm capable of HD enough to even attempt to play in HD mode.

So that's why I have suddenly and unexpectedly said: sorry. Things have suddenly and unexpectedly changed. And if you read the various forums pertaining to this latest firmware: not just for me.

With forced firmware pushes, there has to be quality assurance if you want to keep customers happy - and - if you want to keep customers.

Keep the faith.

[mikecincy]

Would be nice to have a Rhapsody channel to stream playlist thru Roku.

[vulcanman]

A feature (I suspect this is more on the netflix camp) I would like to request ...

Have parental controls to restrict access to listing of mature content ... some of those box arts are pretty racy. (and I thought the title text on some of the shows on the cable box channel guide was inappropriate ... this is even worse since a picture is worse than a thousand words).

[Village Idiot]

Not sure this is the correct wish list section or not.
But what i would like to see is Roku being more compatible with other media.
For example only a few of the Radio station i like work through RadioTime.
And very few video's i like work on YouTube ( i love Venetian Princess )
I know its something to do with codes, flash, HMTL5, and other stuff.
I don't need to know the details to know that its not compatible.
I just wish it all was. And i hope someday Roku finds a way to make it compatible.
I would happily buy another box that did all that.

[kbenson]

Not sure this is the correct wish list section or not.
But what i would like to see is Roku being more compatible with other media.
For example only a few of the Radio station i like work through RadioTime.
And very few video's i like work on YouTube ( i love Venetian Princess )
I know its something to do with codes, flash, HMTL5, and other stuff.
I don't need to know the details to know that its not compatible.
I just wish it all was. And i hope someday Roku finds a way to make it compatible.
I would happily buy another box that did all that.

And you already have one, most likely. You probably posted that message with it. In truth, if you want to have all the viewing capabilities of your computer, you have to use your computer. Any dedicated device that isn't just a repurposed computer is going to have some subset of that functionality.

The reason some codecs are supported and others aren't is because it's done in hardware. On your computer, it's done in software. That's an option when you have dual 2+Ghz cores (or even substantially less). But a dedicated device that supports HD, has built in wifi and ethernet, ad is aiming at the ~$100 price point can't afford to throw in a powerful CPU. Modern capabilities and economics dictate that it will need to use a dedicated chip to accomplish the quite hard task of decoding certain video formats. The whole reason you can stream in 1-4 Mbits and not 20-70 Mbits is because there's a LOT of math going on under the covers. Since it's hardware, it has a limited set of specific codecs it can decode.

I'm not trying to be snide when I say your computer does what you ask. The Roku is cheap (comparably) and does a subset of what you are looking for. Your computer is expensive, and does it all. you may not be happy with the price point or interfaces available (there are lots, check out Boxee for what looks to be a nice one). A box that does everything you want may yet be released, but it may also be quite a bit more expensive. Better in the near term to concentrate on a few codecs that are common, and hope/advocate for convergence on them.

[Village Idiot]

Yeah but you're comparing the entire cost of a new computer to roku.
That's kinda unfair.
A new computers is way more then what i'm asking about.
For example i'm not asking about hookups for printers, scanners, and disk drives.
Which a new puter would have for the money.
Even so a new computer can be found on Best Buy for under $400 ( i looked )
Keep in mind that is also retail price not wholesale.
I'm sure the computer chips necessary to upgrade the firmware are not $400
In fact way less considering it would be wholesale or manufacture price.
So what maybe $100 ? tops ?
Its easier to say it can't be done then it is to try and figure a way where it can be done at a reasonable cost.
I'm not an expert. Maybe i'm way off.
But someone had the idea to create a roku box. So why stop there ?

[davige]

DLNA Streaming

[thehomelessguy]

A feature (I suspect this is more on the netflix camp) I would like to request ...

Have parental controls to restrict access to listing of mature content ... some of those box arts are pretty racy. (and I thought the title text on some of the shows on the cable box channel guide was inappropriate ... this is even worse since a picture is worse than a thousand words).

It would be quite nice. Although it'd be even better if you could have multiple playlists and lock some of them (require a combination of roku button presses to unlock). The Roku is a great interface, perfect for a kid

[marble31]

I recently got a reply from Grooveshark after sending them a link to the Roku developer page saying that they would put developing a Roku channel "on their list". Still pretty vague, but it's the first time I've seen them acknowledge the Roku. If you use Grooveshark take a minute to email or post on their Facebook page letting them know you want a channel. If you've never used them take a minute and check them out. Think Pandora with the ability to build and store playlist and save entire albums to your profile.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/

I contacted Grooveshark over the weekend re Roku. The following is a copy of my request and their response:

[[i]i]We don't have any plans for a channel at this time, but things could change. I think it's a good idea and hopefully in the future we'll look into it. Please let me know if you have more questions.
Kieran - Community Developer
JUL 26, 2010 | 05:47PM UTC
Grooveshark

I am a Grooveshark user albeit a free service user. I read in another forum that Grooveshark may have some interest in having a channel on the Roku digital video player. Pandora Radio already has a channel, but I am sure that Grooveshark's ability to create and play playlists, etc. would be heavily used and greatly appreciated by Roku users. I urge you to contact the Roku development team or one of Roku's volunteer private channel developers - and I, hopefully, look forward to listening to Grooveshark on Roku.
Thanks, marble31[/i][/i]

[jernstatc]

Google maps with satellite view. Or even better would be google earth.