Roku exec Anthony Wood:
Personally, I think they call it a hobby not cause they’re not trying–they’re putting a lot of effort into Apple TV–but because they haven’t been that successful compared to the iPhone and iPad. So it’s a way for them to keep working on it but not look bad because they haven’t sold that many for the Apple world.
This sentiment compares with Apple/Cook’s opinion on Siri — they are really investing in the technology but haven’t lifted the beta terminology quite yet… because they wouldn’t want to look bad by fully releasing an unfinished product.