The Roku Netflix box was released back in May to a mixture of complete and utter enthusiasm, to a feeling that it won’t ever be able to compete with Apple TV, so why bother.

The player launched at the incredibly low price of just $99, and allowed users to stream movies and television from Netflix to their TV using the Instant Viewing feature. It’s been a sales success, with the device already hard to come by.

However, demand for the boxes is likely to increase even more with the news that the box is going to soon be compatible with more content providers than just Netflix, and these are going to be high-profile names.

New Content Partners

According to CNET, Roku’s vice president of consumer products, Tim Twerdahl, has stated that more content partners are coming, but refused to name names, which has obviously lead to huge amounts of speculation.

YouTube would seem to be the first, and most obvious target. The Google-owned company has been looking at new ways of making some revenue of late, and this would provide such an opportunity. Plus, it has already partnered with other hardware-makers of late.

Then there is Hulu, which is a possibility, but would be a strange choice for a box which is trying to make you buy content, seeing as the service offering premium content completely free.

Another possibility is Amazon Unbox, though some think the chances are not good seeing as it is a direct competitor to Netflix, but if it were to happen, it would be a massive coup

Digital Trojan Horse

As Venture Beat argues, the adding of new content partners could turn the purchase of the Roku box from a cheap treat in to a kind-of trojan horse designed to persuade consumers about the ease and possibility of digital content.

This is what has happened with the Playstation 3, which was used by Sony as a trojan horse to get Blu-ray accepted as the high-definition format of choice in the DVD war.

PS3 & Xbox 360 Netflix Support?

Speaking of the PS3, there is speculation that the console will start to support Netflix’s ‘Watch it Now’ feature soon, with an announcement possible at this month’s E3 conference. Microsoft could also follow suit with the Xbox 360.

Whoever it is, the fact that a set-top box available for under $100 could soon be carrying multiple streams of online video content has got to be good for the uptake of digital content amongst more than just technology geeks and early-adopters.

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