Well, it looks like Roku is considering expanding back into music speakers. Back in 2002 when Roku first launched one of their earliest products was a SoundBridge Radio a network music player with built-in speakers and subwoofer along with an AM-FM radio. Now it looks like they may be about to jump back into speakers.
Here is an image of the Roku SoundBridge from the mid 2000s:
Now according to a report from Variety Roku is looking at building an Amazon Echo like device. This comes from multiple public documents reviewed by Variety and several job offers posted by Roku.
Here is one of the recent job posting from Roku about an audio device:
The Audio Expert Role at Roku – “Building a Center of Audio Excellence “We are looking for a senior software engineer with extensive experience in audio, and audio software development on DSPs, Linux SOCs, and RTOS microcontrollers. This is a senior role with a high-level of visibility and you must have a proven track record of developing and porting software for new hardware platforms from prototype to mass production. You should come into the team as our audio expert prepared to teach and mentor other talented, senior software engineers who do not have an audio background.
Details are still thin but Roku maybe about to diversify their product lineup by expanding outside of video streaming and focusing more on music streaming. Roku already has apps to stream many popular music services including Pandora, iHeart Radio, Tunein, SiriusXM, Amazon Music, and more.
So would you buy a smart speaker from Roku? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
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