Roku Expands Smart Home Integration, Launches Affordable Projector in Bid to dominate Home Entertainment
Roku is making meaningful strides to enhance the home entertainment experiance, recently broadening its smart home compatibility to include Philips Ambilight and unveiling a new, budget-amiable smart projector available at Walmart. These moves signal Roku’s ambition to become a central hub for all things streaming and entertainment, addressing a key challenge for cord-cutters: seamless integration between viewing experiences and the broader smart home ecosystem.
for years, streaming device users have navigated fragmented systems, requiring multiple apps and devices to control lighting, sound, and content. Roku’s expanded compatibility with Philips Hue and the introduction of the Vankyo Performance H500R projector – priced at $198 – aim to simplify this process, offering a more immersive and convenient experience.This is especially impactful for the growing number of households embracing smart home technology and relying on streaming for their entertainment needs, perhaps solidifying Roku’s position in a competitive market.
The latest development sees Roku extending its smart home integration to work with Philips Ambilight, allowing Philips Hue lights to dynamically adjust to on-screen content for a more captivating viewing experience. Simultaneously, Roku has partnered with Vankyo to release the Performance H500R, a portable projector boasting native 1080p HD resolution, automatic keystone correction, autofocus, Bluetooth connectivity, and built-in Wi-Fi.
The Vankyo projector, available now at Walmart, delivers 330 lumen brightness, a 1500:1 contrast ratio, and dual 5W speakers. Roku previously entered the projector market last month with its first Roku TV projector, but the Vankyo model offers a more accessible price point for consumers seeking a larger-screen viewing option. Beyond hardware, Roku continues to offer exclusive content and experiences, including opportunities to win transport to exclusive Demi Lovato performances.
