Roku’s adding AI search and (hopefully) better recommendations

Roku is jumping onto the AI bandwagon with its next batch of software updates.

In the months ahead, the company will add AI-powered voice search for its smart TVs and streaming players. While Roku’s existing voice search can find specific programs, actors, or genres, the upgrade will allow for more conversational queries, such as “What’s the Barbie movie about?” or “How scary is The Shining.” It will also support follow-up questions.

Other forthcoming Roku features include a “What do you like to watch?” feature to tweak Roku’s home screen recommendations, live scores in the Sports section, and a search function in Roku’s live TV guide. Roku is also updating its recently-launched Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus to support private listening through Bluetooth headphones and earbuds.

TV-focused AI

Unlike rivals Amazon and Google, Roku isn’t trying to launch an all-purpose AI that also happens to work on TVs. Roku doesn’t sell its own smart speakers, and users primarily interact with voice control through the mic button on Roku remotes.

“Even in this case, with us evolving Roku voice to now answer entertainment Q&A, we are specializing in a TV-related solution only,” Amit Desai, Roku’s director of product and UX for voice and conversational AI, told reporters. He added that the feature will use a combination of in-house and commercial AI technology.

Roku

While it’s not yet clear what will happen if you ask about non-entertainment topics, Desai said Roku will tailor its responses for TV users, for instance by offering links to the shows being discussed along with related programming.

Other streaming platforms haven’t quite nailed that experience. You can ask the same questions on a Google TV or Fire TV device, for instance, but you might get a voice-only response with no quick way to access the movie or show in question. (In Google’s case, that’s because it’s using completely different voice assistant technologies for conversation and navigation.)

We’ve yet to see a live demo of Roku’s AI, but it could make for a less frustrating voice control experience if it works as advertised.

More features to come

Roku

Along with Roku’s AI voice upgrade, the company announced a slew of other software features and some hardware news:

“What do you like to watch?” This feature will present a series of movie and show tiles that users can mark with a thumbs up. Roku will automatically add suggestions to users’ Save Lists and tweak its home screen recommendations accordingly.

Sports scores and reminders: Roku’s Sports section, which tracks upcoming live events from across different streaming services, will display scores (which can be hidden). Users can also set reminders that will trigger a notification in Roku’s mobile app.

Roku

Channel search: Roku will add a search button to its Live TV menu, with a search function in its live TV grid guide to follow.

Trailer links: Trailers that you watch from Roku’s home screen will have quick links in the video player to add the program to your Save List or see where it’s available to watch.

Mobile app updates: Roku’s iPhone and Android apps are getting some quick shortcuts for things like closed captions, sleep timers, the remote finder function. The app will also get links to sections such as TV Shows and Sports, along with an easier way to rate shows or mark them as watched.

Roku

More hardware: Walmart will soon sell a $198 portable projector from Vankyo with Roku’s software built-in. It looks pretty similar to the Aurzen model that launched on Amazon last month for $250 (but quickly dropped to $180 as of this writing). The company has also added Pioneer to its stable of brands building Roku TVs.

Streaming Sticks add Bluetooth: It turns out that the Roku’s $30 Streaming Stick and $40 Streaming Stick Plus support Bluetooth after all. A software update will allow them to play TV audio through wireless headphones or earbuds. That’s one less reason to consider the $100 Roku Ultra instead.

It’s unclear exactly when the new software features will arrive, other than in the “coming months.” The updates will likely trickle out to Roku TVs and streamers over time, making it tough to product when you’ll start seeing them on yours.

Author: Jared Newman, Contributor