Singapore’s hawker scene is not short of curry puff stalls. But when Lim Yuan Ming, 24, and his older brother Brandon, 29, decided to start one, they weren’t trying to out-tradition the traditionalists—they wanted to give the curry puff a modern twist.
Growing up around their parents’ Teochew porridge stall in Bedok, the brothers had a front-row seat to the realities of the hawker grind. That experience shaped their decision to build something simpler, more scalable.
With their friend Oh Chin Jie, 31—a trained cook—they pooled S$10,000 and launched What The Puff at Changi Village Hawker Centre in Dec 2024.
One and a half years later, they have three outlets, a central kitchen producing 1,500 puffs a day, and have made S$500,000 in revenue for 2025, all while Yuan Ming is still finishing his finance degree at SUSS.
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We spoke with Yuan Ming to find out how they got here.
Hawker blood runs in the family
Paoh T via Google Reviews
The Lim brothers are no strangers to the hawker trade. Their parents have been running Lao Er, a Teochew porridge stall at Block 216 Bedok Food Centre, for over a decade. Yuan Ming grew up helping out—cashiering on weekends, loading toppings on porridge, and absorbing the rhythms of the trade without realising it.
But Teochew porridge, with its 20-dish daily spread prepared from the early hours, wasn’t the model they wanted to follow.
It was their father who pointed them toward curry puffs, even suggesting they experiment with adding cheese to the curry filling—a slightly unusual combination, partly inspired by the cheese-topped curry ramen trend.
When we tasted it, we thought, oh my god, it actually works. Then we just went for it.
Lim Yuan Ming
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Once they had the idea settled, they brought in Chin Jie, Brandon’s friend from National Service, who had gained culinary experience at salad bar chain The Daily Cut.
Chin Jie took the lead on recipe development, while Brandon focused on operations and Yuan Ming handled the backend work, including administration, payroll, and supplier relations.
Six months to get the puff right
What The Puff has five flavours, with the Cheesy Curry Puff being their best seller./ Image Credit: travelforlife2511 via Instagram
What The Puff currently sells five flavours, all wrapped in a thick, crumbly, old-school curry puff crust: the Original Curry Puff and Sardine Puff at S$2 each, and the Cheesy Curry Puff, Black Pepper Chicken Puff, and Char Siew Chicken Puff at S$2.50 each.
Simple enough on paper—but getting there was anything but easy.
R&D began at home in Oct 2024, two months before the first stall opened, and continued well after.
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The trio spent weeks eating curry puffs with friends and family as unofficial taste-testers, producing up to eight iterations a day. After perfecting the basics, the Cheesy Curry Puff alone went through about 10 variations before they were satisfied.
The pastry proved the hardest part to nail, as small changes in ingredients, temperature, moisture, or even wind could affect the result. It took nearly six months of iterating before the recipe was finalised.
“We just ate a lot of curry puffs—to the point we got a little sick of them,” Yuan Ming said with a laugh.
From one stall to three
What The Puff’s Bedok and Punggol stalls./ Image Credit: chris koh and Matthew Lee via Google Reviews
Although the early days at their first outlet at Changi Village were slow, it taught them a lot about business.
Sales were modest enough that the three founders spent over a month making the puffs themselves daily before hiring their first employee, and none of them drew full salaries for the first six months.
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Soon enough, their determination paid off, with returning customers spreading the word about their funky puff flavours.
By late Jan 2025, they reinvested S$15,000 from the first stall’s earnings to open a second outlet at Block 216 Bedok Food Centre—just two months after their launch, and in the same hawker centre where their parents run Lao Er.
In Jul 2025, they opened a third outlet at Punggol Coast Hawker Centre in Punggol Digital District, funded with S$20,000. It has since become their strongest-performing outlet.
One surprise for the team was that curry puffs aren’t just a breakfast item. When they trialled extended evening hours at Punggol, demand stayed strong well past their initial 3PM closing time, prompting them to adjust operating hours accordingly.
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“Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”
Image Credit: Matthew Lee via Google Reviews
But running a business is not without its ups and downs.
In Mar 2025, Brandon and Chin Jie were called up for reservist at the same time—right when Yuan Ming was in the middle of his exams. He ended up running the business largely alone for two weeks, working 14-hour days. Along the way, he also had to contend with a delivery failure and a refrigerator breakdown that ruined 400 puffs.
Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Now I know to have a plan for it.
Lim Yuan Ming
The team also eventually decided to close their Changi Village outlet.
Despite being their founding location, its distance from central Singapore made logistics challenging, and foot traffic was affected by nearby roadworks. In Jan 2026, they closed the stall and opened a new outlet at Haig Road Market & Food Centre instead.
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What The Puff at Gastrobeats in 2025./ Image Credit: What The Puff
Financial setbacks have also been part of the journey for the team.
Beyond the hawker centres, they brought What The Puff to GastroBeats, a food and music festival, earlier in 2025. It gave them room to experiment with flavours, introducing festival-only specials like chilli crab, mentaiko tuna, and truffle mushroom.
However, the pop-up came at a cost as they took a financial hit of around S$8,000. Yuan Ming doesn’t see it as a failure, though.
“It gave us the chance to figure out if events are something we want to pursue,” he said. The experience also connected them with other entrepreneurs further along in their journey, offering a perspective they couldn’t have gotten from behind a hawker counter.
45,000 puffs a month & counting
Image Credit: Hypha Provisions
Recently, What The Puff made its first CBD appearance, expanding beyond the heartlands in late May. Through a collaboration, the brand is now stocked at Hypha Provisions at Raffles Place MRT.
The most significant operational milestone, however, came in Dec 2025, when What The Puff set up a central kitchen: a 100 to 200 sqft space staffed by four to five people to scale production.
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Most of the puffs are now prepared there and distributed to outlets for frying on-site, with the Punggol outlet remaining the only one handling end-to-end production.
This has increased capacity to around 1,500 puffs a day, translating to roughly 40,000 to 45,000 puffs a month across all outlets. At S$2 to S$2.50 per puff, it is not surprising that the brand hit S$500,000 in revenue in 2025.
Image Credit: What The Puff
However, the central kitchen has also introduced new cost pressures, with manpower emerging as the biggest expense. The team is now exploring automation for certain parts of production, though Yuan Ming is careful not to lose what makes the product distinct.
Currently, all puffs and fillings are still made from scratch.
The dough is beaten the day before, then portioned and wrapped from around 8AM until early afternoon. “The texture you get from hand-forming the edges is not easily replicated by machinery,” Yuan Ming said. “That matters to us.”
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Wrapping speed, at least, has improved dramatically—from 30 to 45 seconds per puff in the early days to under 20 seconds now.
What The Puff also makes sure not much goes to waste. Unfried puffs are kept frozen until needed, so the team only fries what they expect to sell. For damaged or leftover stock, they’ve partnered with food redistribution platform Food Tool, where excess puffs are listed at lower prices for anyone who wants them.
10 stalls in five years
For now, the trio prioritises stability over speed. The team wants to tighten production consistency, refine the menu, and get their systems solid before pushing further.
They have their eye on the West, North, and South of Singapore, as online orders have already been coming in from those regions, and a fourth outlet is planned for the second half of 2026. Their five-year goal is 10 stalls islandwide.
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Collaborations are also on the horizon, though Yuan Ming is waiting until production is stable enough to take them on properly.
For anyone thinking of getting into the hawker scene, his advice is to expect chaos, plan for it anyway, and don’t underestimate how taxing the environment is.
“It’s hot, oily, and things will inevitably go wrong,” he said. “But the government gives a lot of subsidies and grants to help people come in. If you want to try it, try it now—before the pressure to play it safe gets too loud.”
Hyundai Motor Company’s plan to put humanoid robots to work by 2028 is not part of current negotiations with striking South Korean autoworkers, according to the company.
The automaker is disputing news reports that partial labor strikes by the Hyundai Motor union at the world’s largest automotive plant in South Korea were spurred by concerns about the company’s planned deployment of humanoid robots in the United States starting in 2028. [The planned robots are built by Boston Dynamics, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai.] A Hyundai statement shared with Ars describes the union’s demands as focusing on compensation-related issues such as wage increases, bonuses, and an extension of workers’ retirement age. “Potential deployment of robots in Korean production facilities is not part of the current labor-management discussions,” according to the Hyundai statement…
Hyundai emphasized that its current plan only covers the initial deployment of the Atlas humanoid robot at Metaplant America, an electric vehicle factory near Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028. “Decisions about future Atlas deployment at other facilities will be made thoughtfully, in accordance with local operational needs, and in dialogue with the employees and workforce representatives at those sites,” the company stated. However, The Wall Street Journal described the Hyundai Motor union as making “unprecedented demands seeking to enshrine job protections in the era of robots and AI,” and characterized certain compensation demands as hedging against potential reductions in work hours caused by AI adoption and robotic automation. “Remember that without labor-management agreement, not a single robot using new technology will be allowed to enter the workplace,” the union told Hyundai in an internal letter reported by Reuters.
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Hyundai management and the labor union are currently reviewing a proposed wage reform that would “provide factory workers with greater income stability even after the carmaker’s planned deployment of humanoid robots,” The Korea Times reported. But experts cautioned that the wage overhaul, which would convert hourly pay for overtime and night-shift allowances into fixed wages, could come at the expense of company productivity.
Ukraine’s falcon-inspired drone destroys aerial threats with a suicidal dive attack
More than 100 reported kills put Tsyklop among Ukraine’s busiest interceptors
Gravity becomes Tsyklop’s final weapon during high-speed aerial interceptions
Ukraine has introduced the Tsyklop interceptor, a drone that attacks hostile UAVs by diving from above like a peregrine falcon before exploding on impact.
The one-way aircraft relies on altitude and a gravity-assisted descent instead of pursuing its objective across long distances.
Ukrainian officials say the design is intended to counter reconnaissance drones, Shahed attack drones, and other aerial threats using two operational variants.
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High-altitude interceptor focuses on aerial threats
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has formally codified the Tsyklop after several versions reportedly spent years in frontline service before receiving official approval.
According to the ministry, the interceptor can operate above the flight ceiling of several Russian reconnaissance and strike UAVs before beginning its attack.
The aircraft has a wingspan of slightly more than one meter and can reportedly remain airborne for almost 1.5 hours during operational missions.
One version is intended for slower aerial and ground threats, while the V2 model was developed to intercept faster Shahed drones flying at altitude.
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Officials said the interceptor has sufficient operational range to defend any Ukrainian regional center against incoming drone attacks.
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The Defense Ministry also said the V2 variant has destroyed more than 100 aerial targets and became the first interceptor to down a Russian Shahed over Kursk Oblast.
The drone has reportedly intercepted Gerbera, Zala, Supercam, Orlan, Lancet, Molniya, and Shahed unmanned aircraft during combat operations.
The ministry said codification formalizes a system that had already been used in combat rather than introducing an entirely untested capability.
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Ukraine accelerates development of interceptor drones
Tsyklop enters an increasingly competitive interceptor program as Ukraine expands domestic production and introduces new approaches to counter Russian aerial threats.
The Defense Ministry said it codified 413 unmanned aerial systems during the first half of 2026, with interceptor drones becoming one of the fastest-growing categories.
Other interceptor programs include the Octopus, with procurement covering 8,000 units equipped with automatic terminal guidance for aerial engagements.
Germany has funded 15,000 STRILA interceptors, while the Wild Hornets Sting reportedly destroyed more than 600 aerial targets using a NATO-approved control system.
The growing emphasis on interception follows reports that Russia has introduced jet-powered Geran-4 Shahed variants capable of cruising between 300 and 350 km/h before accelerating to between 500 and 600 km/h.
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Ukraine says Tsyklop answers that challenge by attacking from above instead of relying mainly on pursuit, although many reported combat achievements still rely on official Ukrainian statements.
Amazon is requiring that third-party sellers label any product images or videos that contain “AI-generated people” after New York recently passed a law mandating greater transparency around “synthetic performers” in ads… The policy directs sellers to tag images [and videos or other graphics on listing pages] with specific metadata keywords before they’re uploaded. “Recent legislation requires disclosure when images or videos in advertisements contain photorealistic AI-generated people,” Amazon wrote in the announcement [clarifying that the requirement doesn’t apply to content featuring TV/video game/movie characters or content including real people, even if they’ve been altered using AI]. The company said it will “add an indicator” to listings on its website, informing consumers that images or other content feature AI-generated people, “where applicable.” It’s unclear what criteria Amazon will apply when deciding when to display the label to shoppers…
Amazon has embraced AI internally and it’s increasingly infusing the technology across its portfolio. The company has optimized listing titles and details so they’re more likely to be spotted by AI systems, invested in a recently rebranded assistant called Alexa for Shopping, and launched a feature that injects AI-generated [images of] products into its search bar in real time based on user queries. More Amazon third-party sellers are using AI to generate text, images and other content for their listings, partly by using the company’s tools. Outside sellers account for more than 60% of goods sold on Amazon, the article points out. It adds that there’s currently no nationwide U.S. law requiring companies to disclose AI-generated advertising content, it adds — but YouTube, Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok have already added labels for AI-generated content.
And a new California law also requires large AI providers to embed watermarks in AI-generated images, video and other content…
Green light cuts through the Nebraska night as two men who should never share a car pull into a town that has already buried one body. Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan, the veteran who has seen entire systems burn out, flips a power ring across the front seat to Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart and jumps from the moving vehicle before the wheels leave the road. Stewart catches the car with a construct that looks half-formed and half-desperate. That single sequence from the new Lanterns trailer, shown first in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, tells you everything about the series that arrives on HBO and HBO Max on August 16.
Eight episodes will follow intergalactic cops as they investigate a small-town murder as if it were any other case, only for things to get crazier until the sky itself appears to be a suspect. The official trailer debuted at the panel, which also had Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King on stage, and it just keeps rolling from sandy highways and interrogation rooms into the big unknown. Hal in the trailer drives like he’s already realized that the neighborhood taco shop is probably the safest place to hang out and wait for this rookie cop who’s still adjusting to the whole ring thing.
BUILD GOTHAM’S LEGENDARY ASYLUM – Batman fans construct the city’s most iconic landmark with the LEGO DC Batman Arkham Asylum (76300) building set…
16 LEGO BATMAN MINIFIGURES – Includes Batman, Batwoman, Batwing, Robin, Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Scarecrow, Harley Quinn…
3-LEVEL BUILD – The model splits into 3 segments (first floor, second floor and roof) with removable elements for accessing the interior and…
Manhunters play a key role in the danger, replacing the interstellar police force from the comics. The series portrays them as terrifying because they can be anyone, speak any language, and walk into a Nebraska cafe without raising an eyebrow, but it doesn’t make them any less creepy. Sinestro is the final character to appear, imprisoned in space and played by Ulrich Thomsen, the former Green Lantern who attempted to rule the Corps with an iron fist. Hal arrives in full costume to inquire about Manhuthers, and Sinestro simply gives him a wicked little smirk and says, “You don’t really think he’s your back up, do you Hal?” which is like uttering the thing that no one in the Corps wants to speak aloud: replacement. The talk is as quiet as a whisper, yet far more terrifying than any explosion.
Finally, the series will air once a week beginning August 16th, with Mundy, Lindelof, and King serving as the brains behind it all. The list of executive producers also includes James Gunn and Peter Safran. Filming took place all around California; we see the flat spaces of Nebraska on the large screen before the entire thing kicks into high gear for the space things and the ring FX.
Our review found that brightness genuinely holds up outdoors, staying legible even during dazzling midday sunshine that has left plenty of other wearables struggling to keep up whenever the two are checked side by side.
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That kind of visibility matters most when you’re actually out using the thing, which is where the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2‘s dual-GPS setup earns its keep during runs, hikes and rides through genuinely tricky terrain.
Our tester walked it through Canary Wharf, an area of tall skyscrapers and rivers notorious for throwing GPS tracking off course, and the Watch Ultra 2 held its line accurately without ever once drifting off track.
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That accuracy now extends to a brand new trail running mode exclusive to this generation, letting you load custom GPX routes complete with turn-by-turn directions and elevation tracking displayed directly on the watch face itself.
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A professional diving mode developed alongside diving equipment specialist Mares is also arriving later this year, tracking depth, time and water temperature for anyone who takes their adventures underwater as much as out on land.
None of that would matter much if the watch couldn’t keep pace day to day, and the switch to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset means swiping through menus and opening apps now feels genuinely instantaneous.
Hands-free Gemini support means you can simply raise your wrist and ask a question without a wake word or a long press, which makes quick queries feel far more natural than fiddling with buttons and menus.
That combination of speed and outdoor toughness is exactly what makes the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 stand out among Android smartwatches, especially for anyone who already leans on a Samsung phone for their day to day.
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Still, at £580 rather than £649, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 remains one of the more capable Android smartwatches around, and getting it £69 cheaper right out of the gate makes the case even easier.
Venture through the afterlife of the gods while playing as Faye.
Sony
The next major installment in the God of War franchise, featuring Kratos’ wife Laufey, is set to be released on February 16 of next year. As confirmed during a San Diego Comic-Con panel and on PlayStation’s social media accounts, we’re less than a year away from playing God of War Laufey, which focuses on Laufey as she ventures through the afterlife of gods, following her death in God of War Ragnarok.
Instead of playing as the franchise’s eponymous protagonist, players will get to experience Laufey’s combat prowess, which has only been hinted at in previous games. The release date announcement comes about a month after a sneak peek of gameplay footage that showed off Laufey, also known as Faye, slicing and dicing enemies in the air and using magical abilities while fighting gods and creatures we haven’t seen in the franchise yet.
You can only add God of War Laufey to your wishlist for now, but there’s a lot more to look forward to in the franchise. During San Diego Comic-Con, Santa Monica Studio also confirmed that another Kratos-led God of War game will be coming after this installment featuring Faye, as reported by IGN.
Today’s Liverpool vs Sunderland live streams signal the start of a new era at Anfield, as Andoni Iraola takes charge of his first game as Reds manager in this pre-season friendly at Geodis Park, Nashville.
The Spaniard was appointed last month following a hugely successful three-year spell at Bournemouth, culminating in a club-record sixth-place finish in the Premier League that saw the Cherries qualify for Europe for the first time. However, expectations are very different at Liverpool, who ended last season one position above Bournemouth but still sacked previous manager Arne Slot, despite the Dutchman leading them to the title 12 months earlier. Iraola’s initial 31-man squad for the US tour, which also includes games against Wrexham and Leeds, features new signing Jeremy Jacquet and the 20-year-old centre back could get his first outing in red against Sunderland.
It is also an exciting time for the Black Cats, who finished seventh in their first season back in the Premier League – their highest placing for 25 years – to qualify for Europe for the first time since 1973/74. Sunderland have also made only one summer signing to date, experienced Belgium right-back Thomas Meunier, but the 34-year-old is one of four players who will not travel to the US due to his country’s progression to the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals. Regis Le Bris’ men warmed up for their trip across the pond with a 5-1 win at York City in their opening pre-season friendly last Saturday. They also take on Leeds and Wrexham in their remaining games.
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Read on to find out how to stream Liverpool vs Sunderland live and from anywhere in the world.
How to watch Liverpool vs Sunderland live streams for FREE
Although Liverpool vs Sunderland is not technically available to watch for free, new users on All Red Video – Liverpool’s official streaming platform – get a 14-day free trial, enabling them to stream the pre-season friendly at no cost. Please note that this game will not be available on All Red Video in the US.
Fans in Australia can also watch the game on beIN SPORTS Connect, which includes a 7-day free trial.
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In the US and want to watch the match on All Red Video? Use NordVPN to access your usual streams.
Use a VPN to watch Liverpool vs Sunderland from anywhere
A VPN is a handy piece of software that can make your device appear as if it’s back in your home country, thereby letting you unlock your usual streaming service. The best VPN right now? We recommend NordVPN – it does everything and comes with a 75% discount.
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It’s really straightforward to use a VPN to watch Liverpool vs Sunderland.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we’ve said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For example, if you want to watch the Stan Sport stream, select ‘Australia’ from the listed countries.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to Stan Sport and tune into Liverpool vs Sunderland.
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How to watch Liverpool vs Sunderland live streams in the US
Liverpool vs Sunderland will be shown on ESPN Deportes and the ESPN app in the US.
ESPN subscriptions start from $12.99 per month, but you will need the Unlimited plan for $29.99 to access ESPN Deportes.
Outside the US? Use NordVPN to unlock your stream of Liverpool vs Sunderland.
How to watch Liverpool vs Sunderland live streams in the UK
As mentioned above, Liverpool vs Sunderland can be streamed on All Red Video in the UK.
The monthly plan includes a 14-day free trial for new users, after which it costs £4.99 per month. You can also buy a season subscription to All Red Full for £42.99, but this does not include the free trial.
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You can also watch the game through safc.com, Sunderland’s official website. A match pass costs £8, or you can buy a pre-season bundle for £32, which covers four of the Black Cats’ pre-season friendlies. Pre-registration is required.
Not in the UK for Liverpool vs Sunderland? Use NordVPN to access your usual streams.
How to watch Liverpool vs Sunderland live streams in Canada
Stan Sport subscriptions start at AU$32 which includes the base plan ($12) with the sport add-on ($20).
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Subscriptions to beIN SPORTS cost AU$14.99 per month or AU$149.99 per year, with both options including a 7-day free trial.
Missing the game because you’re outside Australia?Use a VPN to login to your Stan Sport or beIN SPORTS Connect account.
What is the Liverpool vs Sunderland start time?
Liverpool vs Sunderland kicks off at 11pm BST / 6pm ET / 3pm PT on Saturday, July 25. That’s 8am AEST on Sunday, July 26 in Australia.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Roku built its streaming player business around a simple proposition: spend relatively little money, plug one into an HDMI port and escape whatever miserable interface came installed on the television.
That escape route just became considerably more expensive.
Roku has raised the U.S. list prices of its entire standalone streaming lineup, with the Roku Ultra increasing from $99.99 to $149.99 and the Streaming Stick 4K climbing from $49.99 to $79.99. The hardware has not been redesigned, and Roku has not announced new features to soften the blow. You are paying more for the same streamer because the AI industry has apparently reached the television stand.
The Streaming Stick 4K receives the largest percentage increase at approximately 60%, while the Ultra and Streambar SE each rise by 50%.
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Roku is temporarily discounting several products back to their previous prices through its online store, while Amazon, Best Buy and other retailers may continue selling remaining inventory at the older figures until it is replenished. That makes the current sale more useful than the usual countdown clock designed to create panic over a remote control.
Why Is Roku Raising Prices?
A Roku executive told The Desk that shortages involving memory and other components forced the company to increase prices. Manufacturers have shifted more production capacity toward higher margin chips used by AI data centers, tightening supplies of the less glamorous components found inside streaming players, televisions and other consumer electronics.
The timing is slightly awkward.
Only in May, Roku CEO Anthony Wood argued that Roku OS required less memory than competing platforms, giving the company a bill of materials advantage as component costs increased. Wood described the situation as “generally great for our business.” Less than three months later, the Roku Ultra costs another $50.
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Roku’s hardware business has never been the company’s largest source of profit. The devices place Roku OS inside more homes, where Roku earns money from advertising, subscriptions, transactions and The Roku Channel. Device revenue fell 16% during the first quarter of 2026, while the platform business generated more than 90% of company income.
That makes these increases more surprising. Inexpensive hardware has always been the front door to Roku’s considerably more lucrative advertising business.
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The front door now has a cover charge.
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Are Buyers Getting Anything New?
No.
The current Roku Streaming Stick 4K still supports 4K/60Hz video, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG, long range dual band Wi Fi and Dolby encoded audio passthrough. It remains a compact and easy to use streamer, but the specifications are unchanged from the model that cost $49.99 last week.
The Roku Ultra continues to offer HDMI 2.1, Wi Fi 6, Ethernet, USB playback, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos and the rechargeable Voice Remote Pro. Those features made sense at $99.99 and earned the Ultra a clear position above Roku’s sticks. At $149.99, the competition becomes much harder to ignore.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
How Do the New Prices Compare?
The $79.99 Roku Streaming Stick 4K now costs twice as much as Amazon’s $39.99 Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which supports 4K and HDR10+ but omits Dolby Vision. Amazon’s $34.99 Fire TV Stick HD also undercuts Roku’s new $39.99 HD model.
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The Google TV Streamer 4K costs $99.99, only $20 more than Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K. Google includes 32GB of storage, 4GB of memory, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, Ethernet, smart home controls and Gemini for TV. It is not as small or portable, but it now looks like the stronger value for a primary home theater system.
The Roku Ultra remains less expensive than the Apple TV 4K, which now starts at $199, but the gap has narrowed to $49. Apple offers a faster A15 Bionic processor, 64GB of storage, stronger gaming performance, HomeKit integration and tight compatibility with AirPods, HomePods and other Apple hardware.
Roku still has important advantages. Its interface remains easier to navigate than Fire TV, the platform is broadly neutral about which service receives prominence, and its search and free television offerings are useful. Roku also supports Apple AirPlay, HomeKit, Alexa and Google Home.
The problem is that simplicity feels less persuasive when the simple box costs $150.
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Who Should Buy One?
Existing Roku users who value the familiar interface and want another player for a bedroom or secondary television should look for remaining inventory at the old prices.
The Streaming Stick Plus remains the most sensible model for ordinary 4K televisions when discounted to $39.99. Buyers who need Dolby Vision should consider the Streaming Stick 4K, but $79.99 is difficult to recommend when the Google TV Streamer costs only $20 more.
The Ultra still makes sense for users who need Ethernet, USB playback, Wi-Fi 6 and Roku’s best remote. At $149.99, however, it is no longer the automatic premium Roku choice it was at $99.99.
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The Bottom Line
Roku has not ruined its streaming players. It has damaged the value proposition that made them so easy to recommend. The interface remains approachable, the app support is extensive and the hardware continues to work well. None of that changed when the price tags did.
The Streaming Stick 4K moving from $49.99 to $79.99 is the hardest increase to defend, while the $149.99 Ultra now sits uncomfortably between the more capable $99.99 Google TV Streamer and the considerably more powerful $199 Apple TV 4K.
Roku says component shortages are responsible, and there is ample evidence that AI infrastructure is consuming memory production that once supplied ordinary consumer products. That does not mean buyers need to accept the first new price they see.
Purchase remaining inventory at the old price, wait for the inevitable promotion or compare the alternatives carefully. Roku may still offer one of the cleanest ways to stream television, but cleanliness apparently costs another $10 to $50 now.
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Roku on-screen menu
Price & Availability
The new Roku list prices are effective now in the United States.
Roku is currently offering temporary discounts on selected players that return them to their former prices. Amazon, Best Buy and other retailers may also have remaining inventory available at the previous prices.
[Some online publications] are now debating whether to cut Google off entirely, as the Wall Street Journal reports, illustrating an increasingly fraught relationship between the tech giant and the publishers that are creating content its AI models are regurgitating. According to the newspaper, prominent outlets including USA Today, Politico, the Economist, People, and Reuters are all reexamining their relationship with Google. Some are debating whether to continue to work with the tech giant at all… Even Reddit executives are reevaluating the company’s $60 million-a-year contract that allows Google to train its AI models on user-submitted content on the platform. They’ve similarly watched as Google’s AI features discourage users from navigating to Reddit…
Beyond pondering whether to cut Google off, other publishers have resorted to suing the company, accusing it of illegally rehashing their intellectual property via AI summaries.
It’s an extremely undesirable position for publishers. By severing ties with the search giant, they could face even steeper declines in traffic. At the same time, there’s seemingly little to gain from having Google’s AIs crawl their content — and in the long term, it could guarantee their destruction. Two interesting data points from the article:
“Last month, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince noticed that automated bot traffic had overtaken human traffic for the first time in the internet’s history.”
“USA Today has seen its traffic from US users drop by almost half over the last year.”
TikTok might have failed to meet EU standards for child safety online.
Allowing content posted by minors to be pushed on TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed could be a violation of the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Commission has said.
On TikTok, minors can choose to have a public-facing profile. According to EU preliminary findings, this setting enables content published by 16- and 17-year-olds to be algorithmically recommended worldwide.
Exposure like this could result in unwanted contact from bad actors or increase the risk of cyberbullying, the EU said.
A different line of investigation into the company’s advertising transparency was closed through binding commitments last December.
Today’s (24 July) results are based on an analysis of TikTok’s interface, internal data and documents, as well as interviews with law enforcement officers and child protection experts, according to the Commission.
Content uploaded to the internet is rarely ever removed completely, and the EU said that minors risk lifelong consequences if their content is widely circulated online.
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It further said that minors can be easily found through the ‘following’ and ‘followers’ lists of other users even when their accounts are set to ‘private’. Their profile photos also remain accessible to anyone on the internet, including users without a TikTok account.
Under the DSA, platforms accessible to minors must ensure a high level of privacy and safety. TikTok might be failing to meet these standards, the EU said.
The company is up for massive fines of up to 6pc of its global annual turnover if it is ultimately found to be in breach of the law.
The EU wants TikTok to adjust the default settings of minors’ ‘public’ accounts, so that their content is, by default, only visible to those who follow the minor user.
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Older minors can have the option of a public-facing account, but their content should never be accessible to a global audience, the Commission warned, arguing that TikTok should not recommend minors’ content to other TikTok users through the For You feed.
“Minors deserve a safe experience from the moment they go online,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy. “A high level of protection should not be an opt-in – it should be the default.”
The investigation, now ongoing for more than two years, also covers the ‘rabbit-hole effect’ of TikTok’s recommender systems and the negative consequences of age-inappropriate experiences on the platform. These probes are still underway.
“Under-18 accounts are private by default and we are one of the only platforms where younger teens cannot use direct messaging or have their content eligible to appear in the For You feed,” a TikTok spokesperson told SiliconRepublic.com.
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The ByteDance-owned company said it would continue to engage constructively with the Commission.
TikTok accounts of users under 18 are automatically set to private, the company said, noting that users must be at least 16 to use direct messaging or have their content eligible to appear in the For You feed.
The company also said that it does not recommend accounts belonging to teens to users over 18. It said that users can only find private accounts of minors using ‘followers’ lists if the minor has chosen to make the list public instead of private.
The EU, has, for years, targeted social media giants for their addictive designs, recommender system feeds and child safety measures with its landmark DSA that carries a hefty penalty for offenders.
The bloc is now considering age-gating sites as a means to address the wider concerns surrounding social media usage by children. France, earlier this week, became the first EU country to ban social media for under-15s.
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