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Amazon Instant Video recently updated its Roku channel, improving the user interface that has been a source of many complaints. There is still no queue management feature, except for videos already purchased or rented, but the UI is a good improvement over the original version.

Fans of IMAX films can watch three free titles through the Lost Worlds Nature Films Lite channel on their Roku digital video player. If you want more, you can purchase the full channel with even more titles, but try the Lite channel first to see how IMAX translates to the small screen.

The Roku Yule Log is back! The Roku Holiday Fun channel was launched in the Roku channel store today, and it carries lots of Christmas music and other holiday-themed content in addition to the yule log. Get more information and read the full RokuGuide review here.

I thought that the new NBC News channel on Roku was a good sign from an old-school media outlet. I thought that NBC's release of a Roku channel signaled that the news network was going to embrace alternatives to cable and satellite. Unfortunately, NBC's one step forward was paired with the proverbial two steps back, as we found out today that all NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC content has been pulled from the Roku Newscaster channel.

A new game was added to the Roku Channel Store today: Global Trade. The goal is to "achieve the greatest prosperity" by investing, hiring workers, producing commodities such as food, textiles, weapons, energy, and technology, and then selling or shipping those commodities. Read the full review on our Global Trade Roku channel page.

For the month of December, Roku channel developer Flickstream is offering two of their channels at no charge. Drive-In Classics streams classic sci-fi and horror films and is currently featuring titles such as Attack of the Puppet People 3D (1958), It's Alive (1974), and Encounter with the Unknown (1973).