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A recent interview with Tim Twerdahl, the VP of Consumer Products for Roku shed some more, and slightly interesting details on the recently released, and still hard to get Netflix Player.

The player is powered by an NXP processor, and is running a customized (although unstated) version of Linux. The Roku development team also choose to use flash memory as opposed to a hard drive for a few reasons. The flash memory will have less failure issues, it was more cost effective and they also wanted to avoid putting in a fan, quite simply because feedback from home theater enthusiasts stated “they don’t want to hear fan noise.”

The fan noise is very understandable, however the interesting (at least to me) part is that the device is running Linux. I am sure there is a logical reason, but how come I cannot stream the movies at my house on a Linux or Mac computer because of compatibility issues, but they can with this device. While I imagine it has something to do with that previously mentioned customized version of Linux, but this also tells me that there should be a work around for home Linux users.

In the meantime, my Roku Netflix Player has been collecting dust, mostly due to the lack of available content. There are an estimated 10,000 movies currently available, which is low considering the total Netflix has to offer, but high compared to the less than 3,000 they were offering a year ago. I am still holding out hope for more to come soon, because the player is actually a nice box that does work well. Sadly, for those who are still looking to make a purchase there is still about a two week wait for any new Roku Netflix Player orders.

Via [Hot Hardware]