Along with the mlb.tv news, it looks like the cover art on the Netflix "channel" is larger (could just be my imagination).

Amazon's channel got some nice upgrades. They brought back the ability to check the freebies from the Roku DVP and have added a "Search" box.

I imagine MediaFly, Blip.tv, possibly Youtube, etc. will have similar search capabilities.

As many have stated before, entering text by pointing at a depicted keyboardish interface is not meant for heavy use.

I can only hope that Roku considers adding Bluetooth support in the next version of the DVP so that I can sit on my couch and use a real keyboard.

Looks like a nice upgrade - adding some polish to Netflix/Amazon and pointing towards the future with the mlb.tv availability.

Two more observations - I'd never noticed this before but you can use the FF (>>) and RWD (<<) buttons to jump five titles on the Netflix channel. If that ability has been there awhile I've clearly missed it but wanted to mention it here for the pure benefit of the functionality. Navigating the Netflix channel just got a lot easier for me!

Another observation will bring another reason to gripe - Amazon's "Search" feature. I hope I'm just picking titles that bring odd results. A search for "Batman Begins" yielded some strange titles (none of them the recent movie).

Sure wish Roku would publish actual change history somewhere.

One other major change you'll notice in build 59 is: in Roku player settings there is now an option to set 5.1 surround sound. The only provider using 5.1 ATM is Amazon VOD, and you'll see a 5.1 indicator in the Amazon VOD film purchase screen in the bottom next to the HD video indicator if the stream is available in 5.1 surround sound..

hotw00 wrote:

Two more observations - I'd never noticed this before but you can use the FF (>>) and RWD (<<) buttons to jump five titles on the Netflix channel. If that ability has been there awhile I've clearly missed it but wanted to mention it here for the pure benefit of the functionality. Navigating the Netflix channel just got a lot easier for me!

Another observation will bring another reason to gripe - Amazon's "Search" feature. I hope I'm just picking titles that bring odd results. A search for "Batman Begins" yielded some strange titles (none of them the recent movie).

Sure wish Roku would publish actual change history somewhere.

Yeah that FF/RWD skip has been there for awhile. Don't feel bad -- I just figured it out about a week ago, too.

There was also a change to help those with rebuffering issues. HD on Netflix should work fine now for all.

mkiker2089 wrote:

HD on Netflix should work fine now for all.

So Netflix HD will now work over my dial-up connection? Yet another technological innovation from the guys at Roku!

eri3k wrote:

mkiker2089 wrote:

HD on Netflix should work fine now for all.

So Netflix HD will now work over my dial-up connection? Yet another technological innovation from the guys at Roku!

Sweet! so this means I can watch HD in 1080i now right?

eri3k wrote:

mkiker2089 wrote:

HD on Netflix should work fine now for all.

So Netflix HD will now work over my dial-up connection? Yet another technological innovation from the guys at Roku!

And soon you will be able to access your favorite BBS's via the Roku.

AnClar wrote:

One other major change you'll notice in build 59 is: in Roku player settings there is now an option to set 5.1 surround sound. The only provider using 5.1 ATM is Amazon VOD, and you'll see a 5.1 indicator in the Amazon VOD film purchase screen in the bottom next to the HD video indicator if the stream is available in 5.1 surround sound..

All of the major tech news sites seems to have missed this, as they are busy talking about the MLB.tv channel addition.

jeffrok wrote:

eri3k wrote:

mkiker2089 wrote:

HD on Netflix should work fine now for all.

So Netflix HD will now work over my dial-up connection? Yet another technological innovation from the guys at Roku!

And soon you will be able to access your favorite BBS's via the Roku.

w00t !! Fido BBS via 300 baud dialup....be still my beating heart!!

I just did the update from 2.1 to 2.3. Very easy, but then again I made sure I did it during work hours across the whole country.

The Netflix movies page now seems to have a larger central image, with the movie titles on either side a little smaller (so maybe this is a bit of an optical illusion). This makes for a little more user friendly view, IMO, as it seems that you can see more titles on a given page.

I'd never danced much in the Amazon channel before, but there's some free stuff to view there, some in HD. The menu layout seems different there too.

The audio menu on the setup page now has the 5.1 surround option for programs offered in that format.

300 baud... I've got 14400 baud! Unimaginably fast! Well, it was mind-bogglingly fast in 1990. I actually used 300 baud for a couple months when I first started going online in 1990*. It was fun but that lasted a couple months, then I was at 2400 bad, seemed like blaing speed. A couple months later I was on 14400.

All of today's technology will be seen as quaint and primitive. All the tech that we today see as quaint and primitive was once cutting edge.

*I was online in 1981 for a while, we had access to a terminal on the Plato network via an accoustic coupler modem.

AnClar wrote:

jeffrok wrote:

eri3k wrote:

mkiker2089 wrote:

HD on Netflix should work fine now for all.

So Netflix HD will now work over my dial-up connection? Yet another technological innovation from the guys at Roku!

And soon you will be able to access your favorite BBS's via the Roku.

w00t !! Fido BBS via 300 baud dialup....be still my beating heart!!

HaHa... I ran a bbs for 3 years using WWIV BBS system. I was one of only 3 BBS's here in charlotte that could get fidonet and convert it into WWIV format and vice versa. Was tons of fun. Two phone lines and 3rd window for me to log in while others were online. Oh and back in the day I ran a supra 14.4 modem and an USRobotics 16.6 HST modem. I remember when I went from calling bbs's on my 1200 baud modem to running my own bbs with the higher speeds. Man I couldn't believe the speed we were getting back then. 16.6 was blazing fast hehe.

this whole post makes me want to go watch the movie hackers. oooh leather.

AnClar wrote:

One other major change you'll notice in build 59 is: in Roku player settings there is now an option to set 5.1 surround sound. The only provider using 5.1 ATM is Amazon VOD, and you'll see a 5.1 indicator in the Amazon VOD film purchase screen in the bottom next to the HD video indicator if the stream is available in 5.1 surround sound..

But can those of us with NON-HD TVs still enjoy 5.1, or is 5.1 only available on an HD Feed?