Roku, the little streaming box that could, announced Tuesday that it has now shipped more than 10 million players in the US since its launch in 2008.

While it started out as a dedicated Netflix streaming player, today Roku Inc. boasts more than 1,800 channels as it achieves this milestone. Besides the Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) service, Roku's lineup includes apps from Hulu LLC and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN); broadcaster channels from networks like Fox Broadcasting Co., Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Home Box Office Inc. (HBO); and apps from such major pay-TV providers as Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC).

Roku was a pioneer when it hit the market six years ago, but consumer adoption has risen steadily since that time. In a recent report, analyst firm NPD Group Inc. found that 6 million homes in the US acquired streaming devices over the last year, bringing market penetration to 17% at the end of the second quarter. NPD also predicts that penetration will rise to 29% by 2017, making players a mainstream product.

Market growth is both good news and bad news for Roku. Demand is on the rise, but so is competition. Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), in particular, has been successful with its Apple TV devices, outselling Roku and capturing 39% market share in the US, according to NPD. Roku, in contrast, has 28% US market share.

Roku counters those numbers, however, by pointing out that Roku users stream an estimated 27 million video hours per week compared to the roughly 15 million hours that Apple TV users stream. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s Chromecast rings in at 12 million streaming hours per week, with Amazon's Fire TV logging 6 million hours weekly.

The big question for Roku is where to go from here. The company is innovating on the hardware front, and has introduced both new Roku-equipped smart TVs and HDMI streaming sticks.

Roku has an additional opportunity for growth as well in selling its hardware and software as a bundled platform. The company recently introduced a new white-label program called Roku Powered that is targeting pay-TV providers that want to complement their existing offerings with new online services. TiVo has already proven that the service provider channel can be a lucrative one, and Roku appears to want to cash in on TiVo's findings.

NPD Group also notes that content will continue to be critical to the success of any streaming media player going forward. John Buffone, executive director of NPD Connected Intelligence said recently, "Content is what's going to bring these devices to the next level. It's not just necessary to be able to stream popular video services such as Netflix and Hulu. Device manufacturers must also have the ability to attract a wide array of content owners and developers to build apps for their platforms -- which is the direction Apple, Roku, Google and Amazon are taking with their devices."

Introducing Roku Screen Mirroring Beta for Microsoft Windows and Android Devices

Today, I’m happy to share that we’re rolling out a beta release of a new screen mirroring feature for a select number of Windows 8.1 and Android devices. Available to customers around the world, screen mirroring is a quick, easy way to mirror videos, apps, web sites, and more from your mobile device to a TV via your Roku 3 or Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version).

Screen mirroring is one of the simplest ways to share any type of content with those around you, and you won’t need additional apps or software. All you’ll need is a compatible device with mirroring capabilities. Once you turn on mirroring for your phone, tablet or laptop, you can pair with your compatible Roku player and whatever you see on your mobile device is exactly what will be displayed on your TV.

My family has already found many ways to use screen mirroring around our house. In the past few days, my kids have shown me their homework assignments, played funny videos from Facebook, and made the visuals of the games they play huge by mirroring content on our TV screen. Perhaps the coolest example so far was when my son showed me a new app he’s using to compose his own music and we were able to view it together on the TV.

We’ve even found some great uses for screen mirroring around the Roku office by quickly displaying presentations and emails from a mobile device onto the TVs in our conference rooms.

Screen mirroring is the latest in a variety of ways we have made it easy for Roku customers to connect their mobile devices with their TVs in fun and exciting ways. The Play On Roku feature within the Roku mobile app makes it easy to send music, photos and videos saved on your smartphone or tablet to your TV through any Roku player. In addition, you can use the mobile apps from Netflix and YouTube to browse and then launch videos from your smartphone or tablet straight to your TV with the Roku 3 and Roku Streaming Stick.

The beta release of our new screen mirroring feature will begin to roll out to Roku customers today and we expect it to be available to all customers within the next few weeks.

Screen mirroring brings a whole new way to enjoy any type of content through your Roku player and we think you’ll love being able to bring your small screens to life on the big screen.

You can click here for more information on the screen mirroring feature and a list of supported devices.

http://blog.roku.com/blog/2014/10/02...droid-devices/