Roku owners are getting their Christmas a week early: Google and Roku on Wednesday finally made YouTube available as a channel on the streaming set-top box.
The Roku YouTube channel includes high-definition streaming; a Send to TV option that lets you use your phone as a YouTube remote control, as with Chromecast; and access to subscribed channels.The channel is available on Roku 3's in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. A Google spokesperson said that there are plans to add more features and expand to more countries in 2014, but wouldn't comment directly on a question about why YouTube was missing from the Roku for so long.
