Roku Still Leads Streaming Video Hardware Market

I have a Roku, WDLive Player, and Fire Stick. I understand why Roku still has a large market share, it was first to be widely known and has a better known name, and has alot of content available. The programs on it all work quite well and I think the picture quality overall is very good.

However for a broader use including incorporating your own collection of movies and music I tend to like my WDplayer better. It has nowhere near the amount of programs (apps) available, but the biggies are there and to be honest so many of the programs the Roku has really are nothing I would ever be interested in beyond the ones everyone wants though with a few exceptions. A very big thing for me is the WDLive player has the Slingplayer built in something I use very often and it works well. The Roku Slingplayer relies on you sending the signal from your Smartphone or Tablet to it to use the Slingplayer. (It does work.)
It also will play just about any file format. It will never be as popular as the Roku and who knows how long it will remain available but for me it works great.

That brings me to what I consider the new King, the Fire Stick. (Or I suppose the Fire Player) Almost any android app will work on it, Amazon has many apps for it, the Kodi/XBMC media system program is tremendous especially on the Fire Stick being so portable. There really is no burning need to root it.
The Fire Stick will connect in a hotel or when there is a confirmation/sign in page where most other devices of that type will not without going through contortions. It is so simple to send almost anything to it, be it files or to watch something on the TV sent from your Tablet or Smartphone. There are already some great third party apps to enhance the OS/Start up screen. The play store (Not the Amazon) Slingplayer app works very well with my boxes. Like the WDLive player it plays most file types because there is most likely an app to play it if the Stick can not.
I have the Amazon Echo (Alexa) and there is much speculation the Fire Stick will work in conjunction with it at some point making quite a system.
 
I use my Tivo's now more than the WDTV for most things, except the Slingplayer. Netflix, Plex and PyTivo along with some Amazon Prime. WatchESPN for ESPN 3 stuff is about the only thing I use the Roku for.
 
I use my Tivo's now more than the WDTV for most things, except the Slingplayer. Netflix, Plex and PyTivo along with some Amazon Prime. WatchESPN for ESPN 3 stuff is about the only thing I use the Roku for.

I use my TiVo for most of my streaming too. It's the only streaming device I have found that actually outputs 24 frames per second on content that was filmed that way. It completely removes the judder I normally get on other streamers in Netflix and Amazon. Of course, you need a TV that supports 24Hz native playback but it makes a big difference if you have one.

The TiVo is just convienent too since I'm already using it to watch cable. I use the TiVo for Netflix, Amazon, MLB.tv, and Hulu Plus. I use the Xbox One for HBO Go, Showtime Anytime, and a couple other services TiVo doesn't support.
 
I also, but I do wonder what the new Apple TV will be like, find out next week.
 

Discovery Gets Ready for 4K

15' projector

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