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Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

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Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#571

Post by lmm »

andrewon wrote: post #470
lostlogin wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New Zealand has a bit of legislation called the Consumer Guarantees Act, and it specifies something to the effect of ‘the thing should have a lifespan commensurate with the price, free of defects or faults’. It’s really great - the downside is that we pay more for things than people overseas do. I vastly prefer that we have it.

" the downside is that we pay more for things than people overseas do" Isn't that they just force you to buy extended warranty on everything?

A warranty that's legally enforced, though. Part of the reason there are so many jokes about extended warranties is that it's very hard to make the seller actually honour them.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#572

Post by crackercrews »

iso1210 wrote: post #315
fulafel wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a missing feature in your console, Ethernet over hdmi (hec) is a thing and who knows what you need to prevent this (hdmi firewall?)

Convert HDMI to SDI and back, but you'll need a HDMI-to-SDI converter that ignores HDCP (i.e. either pages of forms explaining how you've got a legitimate reason for doing it and an expensive converter, or a cheap Chinese one)

If it ignores HDCP, doesn't that prevent you from using it to play Netflix and Amazon Prime content?

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#573

Post by crackercrews »

anonuser123456 wrote: post #148
wait_a_minute wrote: post #36

I bought one of Samsung's smart televisions a couple years ago. I think I paid $1500 for it. Anyway, it started showing me ads and the TV eventually became sluggish less than a month after owning it. Returned it as defective. Ever since that experience, I swore of all smart televisions and will never buy another Samsung television or smartphone again if I can help it.

You can't really avoid smart TVs these days. Any model that has a good picture quality will have a higher end chipset, and with that higher end chipset TV manufacturers are just rolling Android since they largely don't have to worry about the UI etc. Technically, all you should have to do is not enable Wifi/Ethernet and you're good to go. But I wouldn't put it past Samsung to look for open APs or connected Samsung pr…

It would be trivial for them to cut a deal with Comcast to use their xfinity mobile base stations, for example. Frightening!

Coming soon: movie rooms housed inside faraday cages.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#574

Post by loonster »

hackerfromthefu wrote: post #531
CrazyCatDog wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do the smart ones in possession of a smart TV do? Because I constantly bleed time fine tuning pi-hole to limit telemetry and retain functionality…

Don't give it network, and use it as a dumb terminal connected via hdmi to a secure pc

Eventually they will all likely have cellular modems.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#575

Post by darawk »

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…

99% of the market does not even know about telemetry and spyware. And then about 90% of the 1% who does does not actually care. Smart TVs are popular because they offer a far better user experience for the average person. It really is that simple.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#576

Post by fy20 »

darawk wrote: post #575
lp0_on_fire wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

99% of the market does not even know about telemetry and spyware. And then about 90% of the 1% who does does not actually care. Smart TVs are popular because they offer a far better user experience for the average person. It really is that simple.

This is why I got a smart TV. We watch Netflix, YouTube and Plex. We don't even have our TV connected to an antenna (and it reminds me that every time I turn it on). Compared to the alternative of getting a non-smart TV and plugging in some kind of dongle I think this was the better choice because:

- When I got the TV 4K was only just becoming mainstream and most dongles didn't support it. My TV natively supports 4K, HDR and Atmos on Netflix and Plex. (Does YouTube support HDR and Atmos?)

- My TV is 5 years old. The manufacturer (LG) hasn't introduced any new features that shove more ads down your throat [0], and all of the original features still work [1].

- Everything is controlled by 1 remote, so no need to explain to my wife you need to turn this on then this on (yes with HDMI CEC this should be possible, but the key word is "should").

- Using a dongle would have exactly the same privacy concerns - unless you run Netflix on a Linux laptop, but then you are stuck with 720p.

[0] https://www.consumerreports.org/streaming-media-devices/what...

[1] https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/roku-youtube...

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#578

Post by kumarvvr »

arduinomancer wrote: post #287

This thread feels very...Hacker News Bubble? Why is everyone so confused that smart TVs are popular? Being able to just turn on your TV and open Netflix without messing around with inputs/other devices is a huge benefit for non-technological people. And it probably costs <$50 for the manufacturer to include whatever chip is running linux in the TV, its a no-brainer.

I own a smart TV. I am very well aware of the data and privacy issues.

However, my wife and kid love it. The main reason, as pointed above, is extreme convenience and user experience.

Sit on the sofa, grab the remote, shout out a programme name and it starts up.

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#579

Post by tsjq »

Igelau wrote: post #577

> Should a customer’s TV be incorrectly blocked, the functionality can be reinstated once proof of purchase and a valid TV license is shared What the hell is TV license?

"In the British Islands, any household watching or recording live television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast is required by law to hold a television licence. This applies regardless of transmission method, including terrestrial, satellite, cable, or for BBC iPlayer internet streaming. The television licence is the instrument used to raise revenue to fund the BBC; it is a form of taxation"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_Un...

Re: Samsung remotely disables TVs looted from South African warehouse

#580

Post by jen20 »

oblio wrote: post #563
jen20 wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what will you do when there are no TVs to buy that do not contain LTE transmitters to force more spying upon you?

Do most of them contain LTE transmitters? Is their share increasing?

I don’t know, but it’s not long ago that TVs did not spy on you or serve you personalised ads, and now they all do, so it’s not exactly a huge stretch.
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