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My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

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Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#261

Post by y4mi »

EpicEng wrote: post #254
babalulu wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a 32-inch dumb TV just a couple of weeks ago. It was only $77US, on clearance at Walmart from $129US. The brand is Element, which I'm unfamiliar with, but it works nicely and has absolutely no smart capabilities. So you can find dumb TVs on the low end these days if you look for them.

This one? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Element-ELEFW328-32-720p-60Hz-Cla... So, a small, 720p TV? In other words, a TV most people don't want? I fail to see how that's an alternative when I'm looking for a 60" 4K model, not to mention I have no idea what the quality of the device will be.

Ive heard great things about swedx, never had one myself however. Theyre also not IPS/HDR. Also, its important to use the pixel policy 1, there are some dead pixels otherwise.

http://swedx.se/index.php?cPath=133_149&language=en

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#262

Post by majewsky »

friedman23 wrote: post #170
buro9 wrote: post #55

I'm the author and linking to my tweets is a bad idea because they auto-delete after 14 days. For future HN context, as the author I'm reproducing them here in full: My @Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app from https://samba.tv and boy oh boy... this is worse than recent @facebook stuff. From their own privacy policy: https://samba.tv/legal/privacy-policy/ … they track what you w…

I just want to understand how people believed all these services worked previously for example, did you know that when you purchase an ebook using kindle software amazon knows exactly what page you've read to and how long you've stayed on each page. They also know exactly what books you have purchased. Or Did you know that whenever you use a smart tv app that every time you "hover" over a tv show an event is logged t…

> these services could not function without this information

Why does Kindle NEED to know how long I've stayed on each page?

Why does a smart TV NEED to store hover events in a persistent DB?

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#263

Post by DavideNL »

friedman23 wrote: post #170
buro9 wrote: post #55

I'm the author and linking to my tweets is a bad idea because they auto-delete after 14 days. For future HN context, as the author I'm reproducing them here in full: My @Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app from https://samba.tv and boy oh boy... this is worse than recent @facebook stuff. From their own privacy policy: https://samba.tv/legal/privacy-policy/ … they track what you w…

I just want to understand how people believed all these services worked previously for example, did you know that when you purchase an ebook using kindle software amazon knows exactly what page you've read to and how long you've stayed on each page. They also know exactly what books you have purchased. Or Did you know that whenever you use a smart tv app that every time you "hover" over a tv show an event is logged t…

> did you know that when you purchase an ebook using kindle software amazon knows exactly what page you've read to and how long you've stayed on each page. They also know exactly what books you have purchased.

Yea :'( That's why i always purchase ebooks with my Laptop, then use Calibre + DeDrm plugin to send the ebook to my Kindle through usb. Also, my kindle is ALWAYS in airplain mode and has never been connected to any wifi.

It's so sad we are forced to do these things, and most people probably don't even realise they are being spied on and have their info/profile sold...

By the way, i hope my Pi-hole blocks all the smarttv trackers... but i'm not sure.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#264

Post by _bxg1 »

buro9 wrote: post #55

I'm the author and linking to my tweets is a bad idea because they auto-delete after 14 days. For future HN context, as the author I'm reproducing them here in full: My @Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app from https://samba.tv and boy oh boy... this is worse than recent @facebook stuff. From their own privacy policy: https://samba.tv/legal/privacy-policy/ … they track what you w…

> And this is where I wish that dumb panels were all the rage, and that the only "smart" functionality was external to the display itself.

Could you not simply turn off WiFi on your smart TV and use an external device anyway?

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#265

Post by social_quotient »

Maybe over simplifying but could you filter the network traffic for the spying chatter and while letting it still get major updates? I’m assuming there would be a way to see what spy traffic is and then route the requests to a dead DNS host file.

I’ll agree in advance you shouldn’t have to secure yourself from inside the home network like this but I also assume there will be more and more smart devices exfiltrating data that you didn’t really want.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#266

Post by BoorishBears »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #235
BoorishBears wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is if you slap the term gamer on there and put a 200% markup on mediocre panels... so they’re coming soon: https://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/bfgd-big-format-g...

Doesn’t the inclusion of the SHIELD just turn it into another Smart TV-type device?

If the gaming focus is as strong as implied, odds are the SHIELD interface will just be another input rather than the driver.

NVIDIA isn’t manufacturing the TVs themselves, they’re probably just going to do what they do with GSync, give OEMs a box and say “Hook it up to this type of connection and we’ll certify it”

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#267

Post by digi_owl »

vetinari wrote: post #259
friedman23 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ha Android does not track you less than iOS and google can infer who you are using your ip address

And you have to 'activate' an iOS device with a SIM card. No such need for any android device.

And Apple is in the forefront of pushing for a integrated "SIM", effectively going back to the CDMA days...

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#268

Post by freedomben »

userbinator wrote: post #228
buro9 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try it. I did. I couldn't find a non-smart TV. They are everywhere. If you want the 4k, then you have a smart TV. The best alternatives were super large monitors (way over the price of a TV, and with no decent sound built in), or corporate display panels (for advertising, signage, etc) whose prices are also way above a TV and include no sound system at all.

The best alternatives were super large monitors (way over the price of a TV, and with no decent sound built in), or corporate display panels (for advertising, signage, etc) whose prices are also way above a TV and include no sound system at all. I wonder how big the market is for "dumb" TVs priced lower than smart ones --- given that the development costs, if any, for one would be much lower since you're basically ju…

What you say makes sense, but I wonder if the amount of money they make re-selling our data would allow them to actually undercut the cost required to produce a "dumb" TV. So it's possible it would cost more for a dumb TV because it isn't subsidized by data reselling (I'm purely speculating here. I would guess dumb TVs would drive down the cost of smart TVs as they eat into their profit margins to maintain market share, which is important to the value of their data).

Nevertheless, a dumb TV marketing to me like that evokes an immediate "take my money!" response.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#269

Post by steve_musk »

drewmol wrote: post #209
bobwaycott wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can then avoid connecting it to the internet at all, providing you a TV with all the beautiful looks and dumb insides.

The problem I've run into: the buggy software that's 3-6-9 months+ out of date by the time you get it out of box. Offline sofware update is not always an option. Maybe update once and then disconnect? As someone mentioned, only until they have autoconnect built in through partnership with mobile providers

I remember hearing about some smart TV that remembers your WiFi password even if you tell it to forget the network.

I plug my TV into Ethernet to update it and disconnect it immediately.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#270

Post by delecti »

BoorishBears wrote: post #202
Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #116

I 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-…

Mentioned it in a comment below, but they’re very coming soon: https://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/bfgd-big-format-g...

Those have smart features embedded.
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