They might not quite have theh Apple ‘cool factor’, or compete with Google and Amazon’s marketing muscle, but the Roku streaming players have still managed to pass the 10 million sales mark in the US, since launching in 2008.

The news comes from Roku CEO Anthony Wood, who writing in a blog post today said that since launching in 2008, they have sold 10 million streaming set-top boxes in the United States.

Although the figure is impressive it still looks a little tame compared to Apple’s sales of 20 million units for the Apple TV, revealed back in April.

But the Roku users are engaging more with their box say the company. Quoting an NPD survey, Roku say that users of it’s devices are streaming double what other users are with 37 million hours weekly compared to 15 million hours for Apple TV owners, 12 million for Chromecast, and just 6 million hours for Amazon Fire TV.

And their sales figures are mightily impressive with little marketing compared to big hitting rivals such as Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast. The future is looking bright for Roku with both the launch of their streaming stick, and a deal in place to integrate it’s platform in Hisense and TCL TV sets.

Everyone is getting connected, and more and more devices you can buy have that capability. And a new report says that by 2017, connected devices such as TV’s, streaming boxes, consoles and more will more than double.

NDP researched the market for their Connected Home Forecast predicts that by 2017 there will be 204 million devices that can connect to a TV and be able to deliver apps to viewers in US homes. This is more than double the number predicted.

Pushing the market will be Smart TVs and streaming media players, which NPD predict will account for the majority of growth during the next three years. The report says that the adoption rate will rise from 60% this year to 76% by 2017 of installed units.

The rise in connected devices will be driven by consumers upgrading hardware, along with the increase in streaming and app services from TV networks.

Speaking about the report, executive director for NPD Connected Intelligence, John Buffone said, “The evolution of hardware and digital content distribution is constantly changing the TV viewing experience. Over the coming years, the consumer’s preferred device for apps on TV will be shaped by the next generation of video game consoles, smart TVs, and a new wave of streaming media players.”

Humax have launched a new slimmer, faster Youview box called the DTR-T2000 with 500GB hard drive which will bring faster start-up times and a smoother UK catch-Up service.

The box replaces the higher priced DTR-T1010 and will cost UK £199 and offer a combination of live, on-demand and catchup TV using a revolutionary EPG that lets viewers scroll back in time.

The hardware which offers a free option to watch online TV supplies the same 70 plus live broadcast channels as a Freeview HD box, along with online based content from the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD, Demand 5, it also offers content from Dave, Yesterday, Really, S4C, Sky Store, Milkshake!, and STV in Scotland.

The DTR-T2000 also comes equipped with a 500GB hard drive offering 300 hours of standard definition recorded TV or 125 hours of HD content.

The Youview service was launched 2 years ago, and has suffered a number of problems culminating in being sued for using another companies name.

Youview say that the new box, along with lower price tag, will “give customers an affordable and easy-to-use experience to find and enjoy the TV they love.”

Speaking for Humax, Commercial Director Graham North said, “The Humax DTR-T2000 brings the seamless YouView service to the masses, with its attractive price point enabling even more consumers to benefit from this sophisticated TV service.”

The Humax YouView DTR-T2000can be picked up from Humax direct as well as retailers that include John Lewis, Tesco, Argos, and Currys PC World.

The WebOS Smart TV range from LG Electronics has proven to be a major success. Since launching in March this year the simpler Smart TVs have racked up sales of over 1 million units.

The new operating system is a result of LG’s purchase of the WebOS system from HP which was designed for the palm range of smartphones. LG revamped the system to use in television sets, it was developed to simplify the display of web content on a TV using an ‘intuitive’ and ‘uncomplicated’ interface.

Currently for sale in 45 countries, sales hit 320,000 in North and Latin America. The Korean company said that the million sales are just the start, and that they plan to ship 10 million webOS TVs by mid 2015. LG’s senior VP and head of TV, In-kyu Lee said, “Reaching the one million mark in just three months is a significant achievement in the TV industry.”

LG say that the new OS which is represented on screen by a scrolling menu of colored cards makes it simpler for the user and easier for developers to create software and apps.

The UI shows the scrolling cards across the bottom part of the screen, so that users can interact and launch content and switch between TV and the web whilst having an uninterrupted viewing experience. Apps available on the system include Netflix, Youtube, Skype and Amazon.

LG’s impressive sales could be affected by competing products that are due for release soon. They will have to compete with similar new Smart TV operating systems like the new Android TV from Google, set to launch later this month.