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.

The little Roku media streamer that packs thousands of channels into it’s small frame has always had one serious flaw, the omission of any official Youtube channel on some models.

Depriving it’s users access to the biggest video website in the world was always going to suck big time. But not any more, after Youtube officially and finally comes to Roku’s full range of boxes.

You will need to own a Roku that was launched after July 2011 and will work on the Roku LT, Roku 1, 2, & 3, as well as the Roku Streaming Stick.

The Youtube channel supports streaming in HD, and runs playlists just like it should. If users also own a smartphone or tablet, the mobile device can be used to search and send to the Roku box using the casting icon.

Before the official channel release, Roku had a native Youtube app and casting function that worked on the Roku 3 and Roku Streaming Stick, but now it is available for all current models of the device which boasts around 1,500 channels including Netflix.

Roku users used to bemoaning the fact that Youtube was not available can now head over to the Roku Channel Store from your device.

The Chromecast streaming stick is now available to a whole new market, as the dongle goes on sale in the UK complete with Netflix and iPlayer support for £30.

The launch was announced by the mighty Google in London on Tuesday, along with the promise that many more streaming apps will be coming soon. The dongle will also be simultaneously available in Canada, and European Countries – France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

The Chromecast dongle which has proved popular in the US since launching in the US last July, plugs into any TV HDMI socket and connects via Wi-Fi, allowing users to wirelessly stream content from any iOS or Android mobile device, or the Chrome web browser.

At launch UK streamers can watch Netflix, YouTube, iPlayer and any online video purchased from Google Play Store. It does not yet offer other UK catch-up services such as ITV, 4oD and Demand 5, but they will obviously be added soon enough.

Interestingly it does not offer Amazon Prime Instant Video, and Amazon could soon have a direct rival to the Chromecast with their rumored streaming stick set to launch anytime now.

The stick which is available to buy from outlets that include Currys & PC World, Amazon, and Google Play store, will join a growing number of media streamers available to UK internet TV viewers, joining the likes of Roku, Apple TV and Sky’s Now TV box.

Speaking about the launch, Google’s British director of global business development, Suveer Kothari said, “Chromecast is all about speed and simplicity. It’s about making it really quick and easy to access the content you want on the big screen. Chromecast is really driven by second screen devices like mobile phones and tablets, which consumers are already comfortable with, and allow you to do things that would not be possible with a regular remote.”

Speaking for the BBC, Head of iPlayer, Dan Taylor said, “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to add Chromecast support to BBC iPlayer, providing viewers with another convenient way of getting the BBC programmes they love to watch on demand on the biggest screen in the house.”

The launch is expected to spread around the globe with Google planning to launch the stick in many more Countries soon.

Although Amazon like to run a closed shop, and they have their own dedicated streaming services with Instant-Prime. It has been reported that their new TV media set-top box will offer rival streaming services at launch.

The set-top box which hade the working name Cinnamon, is rumored to launch later this month and is expected to not only offer online TV, but also double up as a games console. Although Amazon would probably rather not, offering rival streaming services will be demanded by the consumer.

So rather than just having access to Amazon’s library of streaming video products, the stb will also open up the world of rival services and apps from the Android development community, so says the hardly surprising news from GigaOM.

The Amazon TV Box will run on a forked version of the Android operating system, just like the Kindle Fire tablet range, although the report says that because of this Google may not allow YouTube to run from the hardware.

The box which will compete with similar offerings from Roku,  Apple TV, and Google’s Chromecast, is also said to be getting a dedicated Bluetooth gaming controller as Amazon push the gaming capabilities of the device. The report shows the leaked image looking similar to the Ouya console controller, the device has triggers and buttons hat would make a PS4 or Xbox 1 owner happy.

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A new kickstarter offering from Mohu promises to combine the best of web TV and traditional into it’s new little set-top box. The company previously known for selling Mohu Leaf antennas for digital TV signals, are looking to appeal to cord-cutters looking for low cost TV.

The box is a combo of an over-the-air (OTA) tuner, and a streaming media box. The company will try, just like Google before it, to bring the two services together.

The box looks like an over-sized plug in dongle that comes with a qwerty keyboard/remote, with connections for a HDMI cable as well as an antenna slot giving the box traditional TV, streaming services and the web.

It will present users with a Channel Grid that integrates live TV and streaming services, and web bookmarks in a TV guide style. The device will be based around the Android OS so that it has access to plenty of apps from the Google Play Store at launch.

The Mohu box will come in different packages, just the box and remote and HDMI lead for $89, an antenna included in the second, and a signal booster added to the third.

Although it may just seem like another Android streaming box, the Mohu does have an antenna input, and will win or lose by the software that combines internet and OTA TV without the need to change inputs. Will it be a cord cutters dream, or another Android box destined for obscurity?