Google Play has partnered with Roku in a bid to step up the competition with Apple and Amazon, it was announced on Friday.
The service is now available in the Roku channel store in the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Canada. Taking on Amazon Fire TV and AppleTV, Google Play is granting Roku users access to its on-demand library, which currently has over 75,000 titles. The move will create additional brand awareness for Google Play outside its Android user fan base.
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The new Roku feature includes Google Play’s Info Cards, allowing users to press their pause buttons to get information on the film they’re viewing.
Roku launched in 2008 as the first device to stream Netflix to a TV, and the service now has access to more than 1,000 channels and content that includes Hulu, PBS and Syfy. Roku’s technology now comes embedded into several smart TVs and is available as an over-the-top box.
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“If you’re a TV lover, you can catch up on last night’s episode or past seasons of can’t-miss-TV, laugh out loud comedies, nail-biting dramas, notable documentaries and more, when it’s most convenient for you,” Roku said on it’s blog. “You can even get a season pass to have the latest episodes added automatically to your library the day after they air.”
Earlier this year Google launched Chromecast, a device that lets anyone use their TV to watch videos from their smartphones, tablets or laptops. The device was seen as latest in a string of efforts by tech-focused companies to establish a foothold in the living room.
Google Play was previously known to users as the Android Market.