Roku may have a worthwhile competitor on its hands. D-Link has has just announced an addition to its media-player line, the D-Link MovieNite Plus.
The MovieNite Plus, also affectionately referred to as the DSM-312, carries on the tradition of a small set-top box designed specifically to stream media from the 
Internet. D-Link introduced its MovieNite player (DSM-310) earlier this year at a surprisingly low $49, sold exclusively through Walmart. At the time of its release, the MovieNite struck us a potentially strong competitor to the wildly popular Roku box, but we had some concerns over the MovieNite’s limited content resources.
That’s where the “Plus” in the MovieNite Plus comes in. While the $49 MovieNite player is limited to streaming media from six providers (Vudu, Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, Picasa, and mydlink) the MovieNite Plus will source content from up to 130 different channels and play it back in 1080p resolution (when available). The most interesting additions to channel line-up include Flickr, Crackle, Facebook and Twitter. D-Link also indicated Hulu Plus would be on-board “later.” Amazon Instant Video does not appear to be on the roster for the moment.
The MovieNite Plus will run buyers $80 and is slated to hit both virtual and brick-and-mortar shelves in July. For now, pre-orders are being accepted at Amazon.com.
It remains to be seen if the MovieNite Plus has enough going for it to lure away would-be Roku customers. The Roku, for now, still offers access to more desirable content and it can play games, to boot.
