Home entertainment company Roku has announced a new software update aimed at helping users find streaming content—albeit in a slightly creepy way.
In the latest software update for Roku TVs, Roku has added a feature called More Ways to Watch. The feature uses a technology called Automatic Content Recognition to recognize and analyze the programming users are watching on tethered devices like cable boxes. The Roku TV will then make suggestions to programming on streaming services—like Netflix (NFLX) or Hulu—that users might like based on what they watch from traditional sources.
“Additional viewing options may include the ability to watch from the beginning, watch more episodes of the same show and/or view suggestions for similar entertainment available to stream,” Roku senior vice president of Roku OS Ilya Asnis said in a blog post on Tuesday.
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Roku sells a wide range of devices aimed at getting users access to streaming services like Netflix and others. Roku is best known for its line of set-top boxes, which connect to a television and give users access to a wide range of games and entertainment apps. Roku also integrates its software in a range of televisions from Sharp, Insignia, and other vendors. It calls those televisions Roku TVs.
More Ways to Watch is only available on Roku TVs and not Roku set-top boxes. The company didn’t say why set-top boxes don’t support the feature.
In a move that might allay some privacy concerns, Roku did say that More Ways to Watch is an opt-in feature, so users will need to turn it on in order to use it. Those who don’t turn it on will not have their viewing behavior analyzed even with the software update. More Ways to Watch can also be turned off at any time, Roku said in its announcement of the feature.
“Roku uses industry-standard methods of securing its electronic databases of personal information,” a spokesperson told Coins2Day in a statement.
Roku’s new software update is rolling out to user devices now. The company expects all supported Roku devices to get access to the software, which also comes with bug fixes and other tweaks, by June.
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