Roku has shown off new features for users of its streaming players that are designed to make it easier to find and watch TV shows and movies.
The most useful and notable is Roku Search, which lets you look for a particular show, actor, director or movie, rather than having to pore through listings. You can also search Channels to find new ones to download.
Once you find something you want to watch, clicking through shows you exactly where you can view it, and if it’s chargeable, how much it will cost too.
The second new feature rolling out to set-top boxes in the coming weeks and months is a personalized ‘Roku Feed.’ Unlike other apps or services’ personalization features, Roku’s is completely manual – movies are never added to your list unless you add them yourself.
To begin with, Roku Feed will just show movies that are currently showing in cinemas. Once you’ve picked the ones you’re interested in, the players will notify you if they’re added to any of the streaming services on Roku. This list also shows exactly where it’s streaming and how much it costs, once the title is available.
For the UK market, the company is also launching an upgraded version of its Roku 2 player. It has exactly the same top-end hardware as the Roku 3, but without the motion sensing remote and headphone socket. It’ll cost £69.99 when it arrives in May.
Across the line of players available in the UK, each remote control unit will also get dedicated shortcut buttons for Google Play, Rdio, Netflix and YouTube.
Rounding off the list of changes are incoming updates for Roku’s iOS and Android apps – both of which are set to support the new Search and Feed features announced today when they arrive by “early May,” Roku said.
The company said it will roll out the new Search and Feed features to all Roku players by mid-May.
While Search had already been available to users in the US, the option to search within the Channel Store, the Feed feature and the mobile app updates will all be new for US users once they roll out.
As an additional bonus, Roku 3 players in the US are also being equipped with the option of voice search, thanks to a microphone in new Roku 3 control units.
A spokesperson for the company indicated that the voice search option will eventually come to other markets too.
Every DJI Phantom owner should have the Manfrotto D1 Drone Backpack
Drone owners are a dedicated bunch of hobbyists, and clearly have no issue spending quite a bit on their aircraft. Though it’s a touch on the expensive side, the Manfrotto D1 Drone Backpack is probably an accessory every drone owner should have.
The D1 was designed for the DJI Phantom, but can fit any similarly sized drone. Its main compartment holds the drone, while a top pouch houses your remote. Another compartment further up is meant for a DSLR camera, but the compartments can be used as you see fit.
Around back, it has a sleeve for your laptop and tablet, should you need them in the field.
Inside, there are several dividers and compartments that are modular, so your drone gets a snug fit (because who wants their drone bouncing around?). If you’re filing your escapades, there’s even an external tripod mount for toting one around.
For those in wetter climates (like me), the D1 has a foldout rain protector. I can’t say I’d want to fly in the rain, but it may be handy if you didn’t see those clouds creeping in.
In use, I found the D1 to be subtly awesome. While I typically drive to open areas to fly my drone, it comes in handy for longer walks. It’s also great for trips, and a nice place to store extra goodies like batteries.
Probably the coolest feature is that the D1 can hold your drone with the propellers on. Though it’s designed for a quick tear-down when you’re not flying, it can accommodate a drone with the propellers attached via a front pass-through, which is great if you just want to move to a new location (or are asked not to fly where you’re at and want to make a quick getaway).
It’s not a hard case, but I can’t say it’s any less protective in normal circumstances. Similarly priced hard cases seem to aim for a smaller footprint, which leaves less padding. Manfrotto has made a name for itself protecting delicate equipment, too, which puts the mind at ease.
D1 Drone Backpack – Manfrotto Aviator Collection from Manfrotto on Vimeo .
At $199, the D1 is asking a lot. Considering your drone may have cost upwards of $1,500, though, it’s one of those ‘better safe than sorry’ scenarios.
I also like the D1 because it looks less like I’m porting something expensive and precious. To the layperson, it just looks like any other bag.
If you’re a drone owner, I’d suggest you take a look at the D1; it hits all the right notes. You can pick one up from Manfrotto, or have in in two days via Amazon Prime .
The Moto G is the first Android device to receive a Lollipop update
Unless you’ve already got your hands on Google’s latest flagship Nexus 6 or Nexus 9 devices, you probably haven’t yet got a taste of Android 5.0 Lollipop . If you’ve got an unlocked second-gen Moto G though, you can be among the first to try the newest version of Android with an over-the-air update.
Ars Technica reports that Motorola’s mid-range smartphone is the first device that’s already available, to receive the update in the form of a 386MB download.
This update is rolling out ahead of those for Google Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013 editions) devices that run stock Android, and comes as a surprise to most Android users who have previously been used to seeing Nexus phones and tablets receiving updates first.
Android 5.0 Lollipop updates should arrive on other Moto and Nexus devices, as well as the LG G3 (following a Lollipop update leak ) in the coming days, following a delay caused by a battery-draining bug that has since been fixed.