Have boycotted Sony ever since their [rootkit DRM][1] in 2005.
Seems things have not changed much at the company.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...
My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
271–280 of 448 posts
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#272I 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-…
You've mostly described modern AVRs, except the optical audio out is the second worst option available.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#273Earlier 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…
Google does this too with Android. Maps now pops up ads for local businesses every time I open it. I paid money for a phone which did not have ads on it, and now they have added ads via a software update. It's infuriating.
Maps is not part of Android. It's a separate app that can be installed on Android. Google requires phone manufacturers to license their apps.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you could provide some packet captures from the TV, analysis is pretty straightforward...
My WAN router only offers a short snapshot logging capability. I suppose I could look at using Wireshark or something, but I'm not too experienced in this area. If I decide to go "deep techie" on this, I'd probably pursue an alternative DNS approach. "Pi-hole" looks very interesting in this regard. I wish I hadn't just gotten rid of my old laptop. (smile)
tcpdump is a cli program that can output a file that Wireshark can read. It's a matter of copying an invocation from somewhere and having room to store the dump (external storage recommended, it might be a lot of data).
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
Does open smart TV software exist?
Kodi?
Disregarding the fucking awful campaign against them because some 3rd party developers make piracy-focused add-ons, as someone who never owned a smart TV, Kodi seems pretty feature-compatible.
I could be totally off though.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#276Earlier 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.
Are the updates needed? Was anything broken?
If you ever read some av forums, you'll find that modern TVs are about as reliable as modern computers, i.e. it's amazing they even turn on when requested. Features are DOA for new lines and need multiple updates to be useful, sometimes they're completely disabled and only get enabled after a year, e.g. Dolby Vision on 2017s Sonys.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#277I 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-…
sounds like the TV industry needs some indiegogo or kickstarter projects to add new competition
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#278The meme of "if you're not paying, you are the product" is, of course, true, but it doesn't acknowledge the host of cases when you are the product even if you're paying . This guy basically paid to be spied on.
Which is why this meme is a half-truth. Other examples include old-world companies like magazines and banks selling our data despite us paying for the service. Even in areas other than privacy, my bank mistreats me far worse than Internet companies like Google and Twitter. Not to mention that in a multi-sided ecosystem, Internet companies need to keep both users and advertisers happy, so even if you're not paying, yo…
>"if you're not paying, you are the product"
Read it again, you are falling in a logical fallacy. The phrase is only saying that "if you are not paying", it doesn't make any claims to what happens when you are paying.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 intern…
>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.
There is a fix available - return it to the store.
Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right! Ok this makes sense. Any clue on why content owners do this? It seems a bit arbitrary. Fortunately I'm the opposite of a videophile - I don't even know how High the Definition of our TV is. But I see your point, so indeed, a 4k dumb TV won't be able to show most Netflix content in 4k, correct? That's a major shame and pretty ridiculous. edit : I just noticed that Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10…
> Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10 app and on Microsoft Edge Still a closed platform :) It's the DRM problem. They insist on these limitations as an anti-piracy measure. Fundamentally the only way to decode 4k in real time is to pass it fairly-unmodified to the video hardware, and at that point in a non-closed system a driver could steal it. Or just record it off the screen from the inside.
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