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Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

news.samsung.com

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Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#451

Post by kuschku »

bob1029 wrote: post #45
CedarMadness wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wait until they include Amazon Sidewalk, so the TV can connect using your neighbor's internet connection to download the latest ads.

Physically eliminating the RF capabilities of a device without impacting the rest of its functions is usually feasible with enough patience. Your options include blocking external radiation (add copper mesh/foil), or destroying the device's antennas.

Modern TVs come with remotes that only work via Bluetooth, not via IR, and which are required for using the TV.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#452

Post by jandrese »

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #430
jandrese wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ice makers are notoriously flimsy. Serious race to the bottom by the manufacturers. The good news is that they're easy to replace (undo a couple of bolts and unplug a cable and they usually come right out), bad news is the replacements are ridiculously expensive, like $100 each and come with all of the same design flaws the original had. There is also surprisingly little standardization which makes the replacements e…

I have never heard about anyone having trouble with an ice maker until I read this. My ice maker has been working fine for over 15 years. My mother's ice maker has been working fine for about 25 years.

You have old ones from before the manufacturers stopped caring. It seems like ones made in the past 5 years have gone precipitously downhill, especially the GE ones.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#453

Post by jandrese »

yardie wrote: post #302
hellbannedguy wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most were up to a few years ago, but the big players went out of their way to make dependable ice makers--I thought. The last two refrigerators I bought had dependable ice makers. I just overheard an installer talking to a neighbor while installing his refrigerator. The tech said most modern refrigerations only last 10 years at best though.

10 years is actually quite good for major appliances. If you're warrantied for 3 and manage to get 10 years out if it you've exceeded the design parameters. Environmentally, replacing a broken fridge is usually the only time someone will even research something more energy efficient.

Meanwhile my Grandmother still uses her fridge from the 60s. It still has the kind of handles where you can get locked inside and almost die if you are on a very special episode of any 80's kid show.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#454

Post by kuschku »

mminer237 wrote: post #166
flanbiscuit wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This! I'm never buying any kind of smart TV again. I currently have one those TCL TVs with Roku built in and it sucks. All of the apps on it are slow, the menu/home/OS is slow. This could just be a overall Roku thing but I'll never buy either a Roku or a "smart tv" again. I mainly use Apple TV and PS4 to access all of the streaming services. They are slick, fast, and responsive.

If you don't want a smart TV, you are pretty much limited to bargain bin Sceptre and Best Buy TVs or finding a business signage TV.

Gaming monitors come up to 48" size. That's TV enough IMO

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#455

Post by lmilcin »

I worked for Samsung. Let's just say, I am not letting any "smart" TVs in my home.

Given choice of "smart" TV vs no TV, I choose no TV.

Currently I have an old 30" monitor filling the function of the TV.

I would love to have nice shiny screen, but the price is just too high.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#456

Post by kazinator »

kuschku wrote: post #454
mminer237 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't want a smart TV, you are pretty much limited to bargain bin Sceptre and Best Buy TVs or finding a business signage TV.

Gaming monitors come up to 48" size. That's TV enough IMO

How bright are these large monitors for viewing from a distance?

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#457

Post by capitainenemo »

coconut08 wrote: post #374
pessimizer wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is everyone so confused that smart TVs are popular? Also the real reason that they're popular: there are no non-smart TVs available.

the next logical question is why are they the only tv's available? the reason is the same reason that phones are getting bigger and laptops are getting thinner. (hint it's not some grand conspiracy to ruin your life or to fuck the consumer) the answer is because that's what people buy.

The last TV I purchased I had to spend a $10-$20 premium over the smart model with similar specs (from a slightly more reputable manufacturer at that) just to get a non-smart model.

The data mining definitely plays a huge part.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#458

Post by alacritas0 »

lp0_on_fire wrote: post #437
tshaddox wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It stretches credulity to suggest that the lack of non-smart TVs on the market causes the popularity of smart TVs. Would you also suggest that the lack of black and white TVs on the market causes the popularity of color TVs?

Color TVs superseded black and white because it was objectively an improvement for the customer. There wasn't any benefit to the manufacturer besides selling a new unit. the "Smart" TVs of today are riddled with spyware and telemetry that provides a second revenue stream to the manufacture since 95% of the population is too lazy or uninformed or doesn't have the time to turn it off. Yes, there benefits to the consume…

The average customer doesn't even know what spyware or telemetry is. I'd even argue that broadcast TV is dying making some form of video streaming service necessary which the smart TV accomplishes in a nice form factor.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#459

Post by p2t2p »

setr wrote: post #411
coconut08 wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the next logical question is why are they the only tv's available? the reason is the same reason that phones are getting bigger and laptops are getting thinner. (hint it's not some grand conspiracy to ruin your life or to fuck the consumer) the answer is because that's what people buy.

Remember 3DTV’s? For like 5 years, all TV’s being sold had 3D support. Not because consumers wanted it — it was because the industry believed consumers would want it. Industries don’t turn on a dime.. Market forces don’t correct small issues in short timeframes — and smart TV’s are not problematic enough to meet their immediate demise (but sufficiently awful that they eventually will — alongside car infotainment syst…

> alongside car infotainment systems

I don't know if market has corrected those or Apple did.

I couldn't care less about my car's infotainment system as long as the screen is 7+ inches and capable of Apple CarPlay.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#460

Post by userbinator »

pcurve wrote: post #209
akira2501 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What good was served here? The products are still stolen and are still going on the books as a loss. Since they can't be used, they're likely going in a dumpster. And none of this apparently led the arrest of any perpetrators. Hard to imagine what purpose was served here, other than Samsung broadcasting what kind of power they have over devices you own.

I think it's more about prevention going forward, and devaluing its worth in secondary market. Sure, it might still be worth something, but only in parts. Given how rapidly TV models change, parts = basically worthless.

Look at the various online stores selling parts, and the poorer regions of the world (this includes South Africa), and you'll see that is not true.

Especially if they are only killing the "smart" part, the panel is still worth quite a bit. You can get a "universal scaler" board to turn them into dumb but working TVs.

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