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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

#431

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

jakobegger wrote: post #304
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-…

Regarding point 3: Most USB ports don't provide enough power for a Raspberry. You're going to need a separate power supply.

The intent here is to build that into the TV, though I didn't state that in my original comment. These ports should both be able to deliver 2.1A.

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

#432

Post by Crespyl »

scarface74 wrote: post #339
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I went with Roku TV. They are the only platform with a consistent track record of supporting old hardware. You also don't suffer from the single vendor lock-in of Tizen or WebOS or the wild west of Android.

if you are going to get a smart TV, definitely get a Roku TV. While the interface for controlling the settings is much better than any other TV, the remote app is nice and the private listening is awesome, the hardware is slower than AppleTV 4K, and it doesn't handle fast forward and rewind as well. The right half of the home screen is used for ads and the remote buttons for quickly going to other channels isn't cust…

The ads are obnoxious and the way every "app"/service implements their own interface with quirky behavior (Does the "up" button show the timeline, pause, or take you back out to the episode/series selection screen?) is annoying.

Fortunately it's possible to fix the ads at least by blocking doubleclick and the roku ad/tracking domain at the router level. Doing this leaves a blank "empty poster" graphic instead of an ad, but doesn't seem to break anything else. Updates, search, and content all continue to work fine.

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

#433

Post by SlowRobotAhead »

Fnoord wrote: post #430
SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OpenElec/Kodi, RPi2, never once a stutter

I don't use Kodi, I find it terrible. I use Emby. More important though, is the ffmpeg version and compile options.

Ok, but you're telling me you have studder and performance issues. So... Kodi then.

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

#434

Post by Fnoord »

SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #433
Fnoord wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use Kodi, I find it terrible. I use Emby. More important though, is the ffmpeg version and compile options.

Ok, but you're telling me you have studder and performance issues. So... Kodi then.

We don't know why. I use Raspbian; not Openelec.

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

#435

Post by Spivak »

CalRobert wrote: post #301
skrebbel wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain this tweet to me? > But when @netflix and other content providers decline the use of their apps outside of integrated devices this is the hell we live in. I don't understand. I can just open a web browser on a little media center PC, connect it by HDMI, point it to Netflix and play a movie, right? (Admittedly I haven't tried because our Panasonic has Netflix and no ads or spy apps that I've notice…

You have just hit upon why HDMI is stupid. If you used a DVI cable you could indeed do that. But HDMI was pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed despite no real benefit (having sound and video separate is an ADVANTAGE if you want to easily handle sound with different hardware..) and now, well, you can't.

Huh? If you're coming from a PC you can definitely direct the audio separate the video. If you're using a set-top/streaming box you typically just send the audio back out the TV.

The number of people with dedicated audio equipment is too great for any TV manufacturer to break this.

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

#436

Post by natch »

dapearce wrote: post #139
natch wrote: post #14

Looks like they have nepotism on the executive team, too. Sketchy.

Family members co-founding a company isn't nepotism.

Family members co-founding a company is a perfectly natural thing that sometimes happens, but that doesn't magically make it not nepotism, and a setup that over time will cause problems. It creates a company where anyone below knows that the opportunities for upward mobility are severely curtailed by the family interests that generally override company needs when push comes to shove.

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

#437

Post by tome »

tome wrote: post #13
sparkling wrote: post #12

This is the problem with putting logic into the TV. Keep it Unix-y. Do one thing, but do it right. A TV should be just a panel, nothing more. A $50 player box does everything better than the built-in player hardware and software.

> A TV should be just a panel, nothing more. Don't we have such things, called "monitors"?

To respond to all my respondents: perhaps we should all be using projectors for TV then :)

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

#438

Post by anavin »

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…

@buro9, I'm Ashwin Navin, co-founder of Samba TV. As a company, we start from the principle of putting the consumer in control of the data he/she shares, and how it can be used. Samba TV’s analysis of viewership data follows a clear opt-in prompt when you setup your TV and settings to disable at any time from within your Smart TV settings.

By opting out of our service, we will no longer collect your TV viewing information, and our functionality we’ve built to enhance your TV experience – like content recommendations – will be disabled.

We believe there is a need for more guidance to discover new shows or be notified when a new season of your favorite shows come out. We also believe there is a need for better insights to guide the media industry, which is stuck with an antiquated system of measuring TV broadcasts. Our apps may not be for everyone, so when you disable Samba TV, your viewership data is not used in our media research or ad targeting offerings.

As far as advertising, we like the privacy model Apple has for iOS: If you want to continue using the functionality, but prefer your data not be used for advertising, you may reset your advertising ID and/or choose to limit ad tracking at any time through your TV settings. Your Samba TV advertising ID is a device ID used to serve targeted ads. By resetting this advertising ID, we will remove the link between your Samba TV advertising profile and the content you previously watched, so interest-based advertisements will not be served based on such content. Limiting ad tracking will opt your Samba TV Advertising ID out of receiving targeted advertising based on your TV usage.

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

#439

Post by ChickeNES »

mclehman wrote: post #351
digi_owl wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Would this be similar to the eSIM in my Pixel 2 XL?

Yes

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

#440

Post by mousebender »

anavin wrote: post #438
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…

@buro9, I'm Ashwin Navin, co-founder of Samba TV. As a company, we start from the principle of putting the consumer in control of the data he/she shares, and how it can be used. Samba TV’s analysis of viewership data follows a clear opt-in prompt when you setup your TV and settings to disable at any time from within your Smart TV settings. By opting out of our service, we will no longer collect your TV viewing inform…

As your product shares its name with an open source product that was created in 1992, will you be renaming your product? Assumedly there are no barriers to going to your prior name, Flingo.
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