Palo Alto, Calif. — Roku announced today that it was dropping the price of its HD1000 high-definition media player by $200, bringing it from a suggested $499 to $299, in order to attract more retail distribution.
The company also announced that it had secured distribution with four new retailers: J&R Music, Sharper Image, Abt and ThinkGeek.
Roku’s HD1000 is a networked digital media player that displays flash memory cards onto HD or analog televisions. According to the company, no other digital media player can be used for both standard and HDTVs. The unit can also connect to a home network, both wired and wireless, or a PC or Mac for accessing and playing digital media, including photographs, music or video.
The company sells accessory Art Packs for the HD1000 that feature high definition artwork on a CompactFlash card for a suggested $69 each. Current Art Packs include Aquarium, The Classics, Nature, Space, Clocks and Holidays.
The company said it would offer another SKU for the HD1000, called the Gallery Collection, that will ship the HD1000 unit with all the previous Art Packs stored on one CompactFlash card with a $499 suggested retail price.
