The next month, they introduced the Channel Store, where users could download third-party apps for other content services (including the possibility of private services for specific uses). By then, Roku had added support for other services.

The Roku DVP was retroactively renamed the Roku HD. Roku launched two new models in October 2009: the Roku SD (a simplified version of the DVP, with only analog AV outputs) and the Roku HD-XR, an updated version with 802.11n Wi-Fi and a USB port for future functionality. It features an NXP PNX8935 video decoder supporting both standard and high definition formats up to 720p HDMI output and automatic software updates, including the addition of new channels for other video services. The goal was to produce a device with a small footprint that could be sold at low cost compared to larger digital video recorders and video game consoles. It was developed in partnership with Netflix to serve as a standalone set-top box for its recently introduced 'Watch Instantly' service. The first Roku model, the Roku DVP N1000, was unveiled on May 20, 2008. In 2019, Roku acquired dataxu, an advertising technology company for $150 million. In 2015, Roku won the inaugural Emmy for Television Enhancement Devices. In 2014, Roku partnered with smart TV manufacturers to produce TVs with built-in Roku functionality.

In 2010 they began offering models with various capabilities, which eventually became their standard business model. Netflix decided instead to spin off the company, and Roku released their first set-top box in 2008. Fast Company magazine cited the decision to kill the project as 'one of Netflix's riskiest moves'. Only a few weeks before the project's launch, Netflix's founder Reed Hastings decided it would hamper license arrangements with third parties, potentially keeping Netflix off other similar platforms, and killed the project. In 2007, Wood's company began working with Netflix on Project:Griffin, a set-top box to allow Netflix users to stream Netflix content to their TVs. After ReplayTV's failure, Wood worked for a while at Netflix. Roku was founded by Anthony Wood in 2002, who had previously founded ReplayTV, a DVR company that competed with TiVo.

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