Roku showcases a complete lineup of smart home devices – this is so as the streaming platform is now venturing into the smart home industry with a host of smart home lights, cameras, and other sets of devices all set to be hitting Walmart in the coming week.
Roku Showcases a Complete Lineup of Smart Home Devices
Roku on Wednesday expanded the scope of its home entertainment ambitions and plans as it unveiled a full lineup of smart home devices that are meant to be paired with the popular media streamer and controlled through your TV. The entire product line which is inclusive of a color-changing light strip, automated LED bulbs, a doorbell cam, a smart plug, and a host of other smart home cameras will be available at Walmart starting on October 17 exclusively.
Roku’s President of Devices Official Statement
“As the #1 selling smart TV OS in the US, the Roku platform is used by tens of millions of households, and now we’re extending our ecosystem to include devices and services to power the modern smart home,” Mustafa Ozgen, president of devices, Roku, said. “Branching further into the smart home category is a natural extension of our business, and we’re proud to partner with Walmart to make the experience simple and affordable.”
Roku Partnered With Wyze for the Products
Walmart is not the only partner, just in case you didn’t know. The devices by Roku themselves will be coming by way of Roku partnering with Wyze which is a budget-minded smart home brand that has a wide range of devices already in its portfolios such as cameras, locks, and lights. And apart from getting rebranded Wyze-made gadgets into Walmart, the said partnership will be giving Roku an instant on-ramp into the smart home category and industry while at the same time keeping the company free to focus on the software that will help sync everything with and to your TV.
A Spokesperson from Roku Met With CNET
“Wyze is an introductory partner and we are leveraging some of their systems to bring our Roku Smart Home products and services to market,” a spokesperson from Roku told CNET. “Wyze is managing the Roku Smart Home cloud, which stores videos and some customer info, but Wyze does not have access to this data.”
One thing you should know here is that Wyze storing the data but not in any way having access to it suggests that the new Roku devices might be transferring user smart home commands and video footage making use of end-to-end encryption which would thus block anyone from having access or viewing the data with the unique key of the user. A spokesperson from Roku did not confirm that end-to-end encryption was an option with these devices when asked about it, however.
Users Will Be Able To Control Their Devices from Their Roku-Enabled TV
Users will be able to control their devices right from their Roku-enabled TV sets with dedicated smart home controls built into the interface’s main menu of the smart TV. And this will include keeping an eye out on your camera feeds or when it comes to adjusting the color of your lights, all making use of your Roku remote control. Also, you will be able to control everything by making use of a new Roku smart home app for both android and iOS devices. The spokesperson also added that voice controls via Google assistant and Roku voice with Alexa would be coming in November.
Will Roku Support Matter
The other big question on the mind of everyone at this point is if whether or not any of the devices by Roku will support Matter which is the just-launched universal home standard that is backed by a host of key stakeholders such as Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon and a host of many others. Roku is in the mix of supporters of Matter as too is Wyze. But the company however is not making any promises with its new devices yet.
“Roku is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance and the Matter Working Group,” the spokesperson shared with CNET. “We are involved with Matter and watching developments closely.”
