WORLD CUP TRAUMA? Just Streaming Stick a Roku in it

If you share telly viewing with a masochistic soccer fan, you might well be tempted to consider alternative goggle box entertainment... er, Wimbledon perhaps? At least Blighty's entrant into the southwest London tennis competition stands a chance of winning – having prevailed last year. There’s more to telly than sport, though …

[Anonymous Coward]

Me too

Whats wrong with a NOW tv box then? only £9.99 and can be hacked.

Or any of the cheap ANdroid sticks out there (between £ 20 and 30 max).

[blofse]

Re: Me too

Agreed. Android stick + normal apps (=great) + android games support (=really cool) + XBMC (=ultimate).

Shame 4oD doesn't work for Android but xbmc plugins project free tv + 1channel +mashup fix this, without adverts.

Beat that!*

*Just make sure you get a stick with an aerial, my JUSTOP K9 (or MK809) had to basically be taken out of it's case and dangled down out from the tv to get the WiFi to work properly... I would go for the more recent versions of the stick and use a nice ROM like NeoMode.

[Afflicted.John]

Re: Me too

I think you answered his question perfectly. The point of the Roku Stick is you don't need to arse around with connections and fiddling. The thing just works and has a lot more content that a Chromestick.

[Richard Lloyd]

Re: Me too

Technically, the NowTV box hasn't been hacked (though one guy out there managed to get a root shell apparently) - you can't replace its firmware for example (e.g. with the Roku LT's firmware). What you can do is sideload one app in developer mode, the obvious ones being either Plex or Mediabrower3 to get the painfully missing DLNA support that actually makes the NowTV box useful.

I've ordered a NowTV to play with, but have prepared my router to block the IP 72.3.235.78 (aka windsor.sw.roku.com) to stop any firmware updates. Word out on the net is that the latest firmware has a lot of bugs and causes stuttering, random returns to main menu etc. plus also forces some of the Sky-brand channels to the top of the channel list and they can't be moved/removed.

What I don't like about NowTV is their insistence on a credit/debit card even if you're never going to buy anything from their service. It appears that reboots and firmware updates check you have a validated payment card and will whinge if you don't, which is quite nasty.

[Anonymous Coward]

Soccer fan?

It's called football!

[Captain Scarlet]

Re: Soccer fan?

Agreed, STOP IT!

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Re: Soccer fan?

Soccer is an abbreviation of association, as in Association Football*. It's a colloquialism yes, but that doesn't make it illegitimate. Watching people twist themselves in knots over it is fairly amusing, though.

* If you're going to insist on calling the sport by its proper name, try to do so.

[Anonymous Coward]

Point of Order

...I'd like to refer you to the line.

"At least Blighty's entrant into the southwest London tennis competition stands a chance of winning – having prevailed last year."

Should the afore mention chap lose, then I expect, no, I demand, this to be amended to:

"At least Scotland's entrant into the southwest London tennis competition stands a chance of winning – having prevailed last year.

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember he's only Scottish if he loses....:)

Isn't that how it works?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought

the rule was that the English were happy to support a Scot, be it that they lose or win. However, a Scot will support anyone as long as they're not English if they're playing someone who is English.

[Les Matthew]

Re: I thought

Think again.

[Graham Anderson]

Now TV hack closed now

As to the £9.99 Now TV box being hackable, it looks like Sky have closed that loophole now. I got one last week and followed instructions found on the net and the latest firmware looks different and does not seem to allow the user to go into developer mode, which was the basis of side-loading Plex onto the box.

If anyone knows of a up-to-date hack, I'd love to give it a try, but I wouldn't buy a Now TV box if you're after a cheap hackable Roku box.

[Afflicted.John]

Re: Now TV hack closed now

Why not just pay the extra £15 for a Roku LT? These cheapskates...

Question is how does it compare iwth the Roku 3? I just took delivery of both and haven't used them enough to say if one was better than the other, but the Roku 3 does seem faster all round. But certainly the Stick is no slouch.

Maybe £20 more than the Chromecast but worth every penny.

[drgeoff]

Re: Now TV hack closed now

Cobblers. Developer mode is still available with the latest (5.4) firmware for the NOW TV box. I've enabled developer mode and sideloaded PLEX and Mediabrowser (not simultaneously) since getting the 5.4 firmware a few days ago.

[KBP]

Registering a Roku without a credit card number

Although the default web-based Roku registration process asks for a credit card number, it's possible to register your Roku device without a credit card number by going to the URL https://owner.roku.com/signup-nocc instead of the default http://www.roku.com/link URL. If you registered already with a credit card, you can always call Roku support and ask them and they'll remove the credit card number from your account.

[Lamont Cranston]

Unless anyone can recommend an alternative

that will offer the usual catch-up services, Netflix, and XBMC (or similar, for NAS playback), I can see this making its way onto my x-mas list.