Roku’s Smart Soundbar can now pair with its wireless speakers for surround sound, Electronics & Gadgets : Today Indya

Roku’s Smart Soundbar can now pair with its wireless speakers for surround sound

Electronics & Gadgets

techcrunch

Roku’s audio expansions continue with a soon-to-launch software update that gives its existing line of Roku Smart Soundbars the ability to offer a surround sound experience when paired with Roku TV Wireless Speakers. The soundbar had already worked with Roku’s Wireless Subwoofer to add bass to the listening experience, but now they can pair with the wireless speakers or the newly added onn-branded wireless speakers sold by Walmart, also announced today.

Roku’s Smart Soundbar can now pair with its wireless speakers for surround sound

The onn Roku Wireless Surround Speakers will be available on Walmart.com and in stores in February.

Like the Roku TV Wireless speakers, these can be paired with the soundbar for surround sound. However, the onn-branded speakers will have some cosmetic differences to better match the aesthetics of soundbar and subwoofer, Roku says. Acoustically, they’ll be just about the same.

The onn speakers also won’t be bundled with different remotes the way Roku’s version is — today, Roku’s version comes with both a voice remote and tabletop remote. The onn Roku Wireless Surround Speakers won’t include a remote, because they’re meant only to pair with the soundbar, which has its own remote. However, this helps to bring the price point down, as the onn Roku Wireless Surround Speakers will be $149 while the Roku TV Wireless Speakers retail for $199.99 (but are frequently on sale, as they are now).

The goal with the software update and new onn wireless speakers is to give Roku customers a way to continue to expand their home entertainment system over time. And because all of Roku’s products are designed to be simple to set up, customers may opt for Roku products because they know the process will be quick and painless. In addition, Roku’s speakers and soundbars are aimed at those who want a more affordable system.

“We want to simplify home theater the same way we simplified streaming and we’re taking a big step towards that vision by expanding our Roku Smart Soundbars to support surround sound capabilities,” said Mark Ely, vice president, Retail Product Strategy at Roku, in a statement. “We want customers to be able to expand their system over time without having to spend a lot of money or run wires throughout the home. The Roku Smart Soundbar is an incredible two-in-one device that adds exceptional sound and powerful streaming to a TV and when Roku TV Wireless Speakers and a Roku Wireless Subwoofer are paired with the Smart Soundbar you get truly immersive surround sound without breaking the bank.”

Roku itself doesn’t sell the other audio accessories you’d need to mount your wireless speakers in the room, but its website points to various Sanus-branded products, like swivel mounts and stands that can help to complete the setup.

Along with the software update, Roku OS is adding new sound settings to enhance the stereo experience, including one for Movies & TV that offers a surround-like experience; another for Music that synchronizes audio across all speakers; and a third for normal stereo where sound will come from the front speakers only. (However, any Surround content will always be heard in surround, says Roku.)

The setup process has also been made easier with tools that now let you set up multiple devices at once or identify which speaker is the left one and which is the right.

The Roku OS software update will begin rolling out to devices in February, allowing owners of the onn Roku Wireless Surround Speakers and Roku TV Wireless Speakers to pair their devices to their Roku Smart Soundbar.

Article Original Source : https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/29/rokus-smart-soundbar-can-now-pair-with-it...

#rokus smart soundbar

#pair wireless speakers

#surround sound

How to Build Traffic to New or Struggling Websites

Electronics & Gadgets

searchenginejournal

Many sites struggle to build traffic. Sometimes it’s because of a Google update. For others it’s because the website is brand new. Sites don’t have to struggle. There is a way to build new sources of traffic.

About Google’s Freshness Algorithm

There’s an idea that Google prefers “fresh” content. That’s not entirely correct. The idea comes from a misunderstanding of Google’s “freshness algorithm.”

The freshness algorithm promotes new content when it is trending and of the moment.

The freshness algorithm is not about promoting recently published content. It’s about promoting trending content.

The publication date is not a ranking factor. Changing the publication date will not make the web page rank better.

Google’s freshness algorithm is 100% about relevance to users. A fresh web page is relevant to a person searching for the latest information.

Fresh Content is About Relevance

So if you think about it that way, on relevance and being topical or new, then generating ideas for content becomes easier.

Current events like politics, sports and entertainment are important at a specific moment. Anything that is new is a good topics for ranking new pages and building traffic fast. That is the kind of content that Google might rank faster for a new web page.

This is how Google explains freshness within the context of relevance:

“…we’re making a significant improvement to our ranking algorithm that impacts roughly 35 percent of searches and better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results for these varying degrees of freshness.”

Updating Content vs. Changing Content

In 2018 Google’s John Mueller had this to say about freshness as a ranking boost:

“Fresher doesn’t mean better. Don’t fall into the trap of tweaking things constantly …when you could be moving the whole thing to a much higher level instead.

It’s more a matter of your putting out new content… that’s relevant for people who are searching at the moment and that we’re ranking them based more on that…”

What Mueller is warning about is to avoid changing content in the hope that Google will see it as fresh. There is a difference between changing content and updating content.

Changing content does not make it more up to date. It’s simply rearranging words.

Updating content means making it up to date. That results in content that is relevant in a topic that is changing.

Fresh is About Relevance

SEOs tend to get hung up about being relevant to Google’s algorithm. Publishers can make great strides by focusing on being relevant to users when users need content about new topics.

Evergreen content is information that doesn’t change. For example, the basics for growing a tomato never changes. A brand new website is going to struggle ranking evergreen content against established websites.

But focusing on a trending way to grow tomatoes can be easier. For example, a new method for growing tomatoes that is trending because of social media. People are going to be hungry for more information about that new method.

Publishing content in trending topics is a useful strategy for new websites. It attracts users to the trending topic who may then stick around for some of the more evergreen topics.

Constantly adding content that is relevant to users and doing it on a regular basis is the secret to becoming a successful website. Devoting time to trending content is a good way to get the ball rolling on a new website or a way to keep afloat during the lean times between algorithms.

Article Original Source : https://www.searchenginejournal.com/strategy-to-boost-traffic/345572/