On a similar note, Samsung updated a bunch of apps on my dad's s7 and pushed a bunch of notifications to him, trying to get him to join some Samsung rewards club and suspended use of his phone until he clicked next. He's 67 guys. The madness needs to stop.
My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
111–120 of 448 posts
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am quite angry that my PS4 is full of ads. I paid money for that box. What I want is a law that requires a product to clearly indicate if it has ads or not in the software, and it cannot change at any point in the product's life. So I know what the price tag actually is. Edit: I want to be clear. I am not against advertising or the freedom for a manufacturer to decide that advertising is their business model. What…
Let's assume that rule is implemented. What are you going to do, not buy a PS4? Your alternatives would be xbox, which has different set of games and likely will also have ads, or Nintendo, which has even more different set of games.
If I knew how annoying that stuff was, I sure wouldn’t have bought my ps4. Absolutely.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or, the "smart" TV is cheaper than a technically comparable flat screen that just comes with HDMI-In.
How is the current situation possible? Shouldn't some company be able to buy the same panel, put minimal electronics and casing around it and sell it cheaper?
What if... Work with me here... The "Smart" TV company is paid by malicious hackers to include malware that snoops on its customers.
That would allow them to lower the price of the TV to below the cost of the dumb TV. Mind you, they might have to call the malware "apps" and call the hackers "partners."
Ok, snark aside, what if the makers of Smart TVs call them "platforms," and they get a subsidy for bundling apps, and maybe even a revenue stream from people who sign up for things like Netflix through the TV?
Again, they will be able to make a cheaper TV if there's more money in apps than margin on hardware.
This is analogous to the situation with phones. For most companies, there's more money in the telecommunications service than in the hardware margin, so most phones are subsidized by the service providers.
So-called television is going there: It's just a platform for advertising, tracking, and services that generate revenue on subscription. This is going to relentlessly drive hardware margins deep into the negative, which makes it impossible to sell a "dumb" display for a reasonable price.
I fully expect that it won't be long before leaving a smart TV unconnected to the internet won't be an option: They won't work unless they can phone home.
Samsung's partners don't want you hooking a 4K TV up to an AppleTV and routing around their platform in favour of Apple's app store, not if you bought that TV at a discount thanks to their subsidies.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or, the "smart" TV is cheaper than a technically comparable flat screen that just comes with HDMI-In.
How is the current situation possible? Shouldn't some company be able to buy the same panel, put minimal electronics and casing around it and sell it cheaper?
Presumably, the issue is scale.
If most people prefer the TV with 'more features' then they'll take it. The savings of using a dumb TV are probably not a lot, I'd ballpark it at $50. How many consumers are going to think "$50 dollars more to get netflix straigt on my TV? Great!".
Besides, that $50 advantage could well be lost in the smaller scale costs.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
I plug my "smart" TV into ethernet now and then to get firmware updates, then unplug it the rest of the time.
2008: plug the TV into the power outlet and you're done 2018: your TV needs internet access because updates What the hell happened? This is ridiculous.
2008: Manufacturer finds a defect in the firmware code that causes excessive processor usage, thus causing the internal electronics to fail earlier than anticipated. No fix available.
2018: defect in firmware found. New version deployed to internet connected devices and lifespan extended.
Both of those are made up scenarios, but I would argue that there are legitimate reasons for devices to be connected to the internet. Along with a bunch of terrible reasons, of course.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#116I would like to see a TV with the following attributes:
1. 8 Inputs, with at least four HDMI and one HDMI accessible from the front panel. The remaining inputs would have at least two composite inputs. There would be no cable input since most cable companies, around here anyway, require a set-top box anyway.
2. An optical audio output, for those who wish to hook up a proper audio system. Those who don’t would get ok-ish built in speakers.
3. An always-on power outlet or two, to make hooking up the obligatory set-top box, Apple TV, etc easier. It would also have two USB power outlets, which are also always on, which would make hooking up a Raspberry Pi, Chromecast, etc easier. This requirement is optional, but desirable.
The remote on the TV would have a button for each input, a power button, volume controls, and a couple of buttons to support the on-screen settings menu (things like picture adjustments, activate/deactivate/rename inputs, etc). The TV would respond to HDMI CEC controls from attached devices, but would have the option to ignore these on particular inputs.
In the end, the TV provides the appropriate infrastructure to hook up whatever devices meet my needs. It also doesn’t try to solve problems that TV manufacturers aren’t good at solving.
Why does nobody make a TV like this? Assuming this was price-competitive with a regular TV, I’d buy two.
EDIT: I found one that’s pretty close[0].
[0] https://www.costco.ca/Haier-49UG2500-49-in.-4K-LED-TV.produc...
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#117Slightly odd that the final tweet for the OP is a wish for Google to release a Pixel TV. I'm sure a Google TV wouldn't spy on you at all.
I can see OPs point. I'm slightly less concerned about Google than some scrappy little upstart still trying the "growth at any cost" thing. I actually will probably trust Facebook again once they have been suitably thrashed over past deeds and have had time to reflect on what went wrong. Both companies will eventually become privacy conscious by necessity and have the resources (hopefully) to enforce it internally. I…
It's ironic that "growth at any cost" is now being used as a stick to beat scrappy little upstarts with - when that is literally Facebook's phrase.
What Facebook and Google lose in (pretty much entirely self-imposed, for now) regulations, they gain in the ability to index against all of your other activity, everywhere.
The scrappy startup has only one data point on you, and has to work with others to make it useful (which, with GDPR will be a lot harder to do).
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#118We are recent "cord-cutters" with a brand new Sony 4K, Android-enabled TV. On our other TVs, we have a Roku and an Amazon Firestick. We use the builtin Sony apps because they were (essentially) free and are the only way we currently have to get 4K content.
I noticed the Samba nonsense when I set up the TV and have declined to participate -- but guess what? The TV still regularly connects to the domain flingo.tv, which is Samba's old name. It also connects to other strange things, like playstation-related domains. (and what is ndmdhs.com?)
I've set our WAN router to block samba/flingo and few other things, but my wife is (rightfully) concerned that I'll disrupt the Android update process, so I'm being careful.
It would be useful for someone with the skill, time and tools to investigate what places these Internet TVs are contacting, aside from the actual video content providers. If someone is doing that, I'd love to hear what they find.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#119You can't really buy a high quality TV anymore without having em try to shove extra garbage down your throat. I own an old Samsung TV, and it has terrible UX. Giving it a chance to connect to the internet was a horrible mistake. My TV is around +5 years old, and I don't see myself buying a new one any time soon.
During the last 2 or so years I've drastically changed the kinds of media I consume. Now my primary sources of entertainment are a mix of books and audiobooks. Last year I think I read somewhere between 200 and 300 books.
Books don't include any tracking bullshit. If you stick with digital you can at least buy DRM-free copies in a few online stores. But even cooler, we actually have tons of huge buildings all across the US, each with thousands of books, and you can grab any one you want and read it for free!
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#120I would like to see a TV with the following attributes: 1. 8 Inputs, with at least four HDMI and one HDMI accessible from the front panel. The remaining inputs would have at least two composite inputs. There would be no cable input since most cable companies, around here anyway, require a set-top box anyway. 2. An optical audio output, for those who wish to hook up a proper audio system. Those who don’t would get ok-…
Because this world is suffering.