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Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

arstechnica.com

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Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#151

Post by FridayoLeary »

FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #116
kstrauser wrote: post #12

This guarantees I'll never buy a Samsung appliance. If they're this willing to screw with their customers today, they'll do it again tomorrow. Sadly, I'm including their TVs in this. I have one today, displaying the output of an Apple TV and not directly connected to the Internet because hah, no way, but I'll be shopping around when it comes time to replace it. Pity. They make nice stuff. Not nice enough that I'm wil…

My house came with all Samsung appliances and I can't wait for all fo them to die. The dryer already went (8 years old). I've been replacing with mid-range LG on advice of the local repair company and been happy so far. Quirky and very few features but seems well built. Can't wait to replace the massive refrigerator and swap the gas range for inductive. Fridge is slowly going (cracked and leaking ice maker, condensat…

My parents fridge started it's life in the mid 1990's, and their freezer is probably a decade older, at this stage nobody knows. I don't think they were expensive models.

Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#154

Post by javier2 »

kstrauser wrote: post #12

This guarantees I'll never buy a Samsung appliance. If they're this willing to screw with their customers today, they'll do it again tomorrow. Sadly, I'm including their TVs in this. I have one today, displaying the output of an Apple TV and not directly connected to the Internet because hah, no way, but I'll be shopping around when it comes time to replace it. Pity. They make nice stuff. Not nice enough that I'm wil…

hah, I also keep the samsung tv cut off from internet. It was bad enough they come pre installed with clearly sponsored apps (because they were absolute trash).

Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#155

Post by commandersaki »

nerdsniper wrote: post #120

There's a $30,000 bounty set up for anyone who can patch the firmware to eliminate the ads. Please consider contributing additional donations against the matching funds. https://bounties.fulu.org/bounties/samsung-familyhub-refrige...

I recall Louis saying that some (or all?) solutions to these bounties cannot be revealed to the public due to being liable under DMCA circumvention measures. IANAL.

Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#156

Post by fwip »

steve_avery wrote: post #51

Why would I ever connect my fridge to the internet? I cannot fathom any feature on a fridge that would incline me towards giving it the wifi credentials.

I don't think it's worth it myself, but here are some of the features of the Samsung Bespoke fridge that use wifi:

Notifications and Alerts: If the door is left open, or the fridge temperature is leaving safe temps, or the water filter needs changing, it can send a push notification to your phone. (Useful if something fails; or if a kid/guest leaves the fridge open by mistake).

Remote control and monitoring: You can use the camera to see the contents of the fridge. You can also adjust the temperature remotely. (Useful if you're at the grocery store and can't remember if you have milk?) It looks like they also have "AI" try to categorize these for you.

Built-in tablet: The touchscreen is basically a builtin tablet. You can use it to display photos (pulled from your online albums), show the weather, or control "smart home" stuff like playing some music on your speakers. I imagine you could also try to put recipes or cooking videos on there. You can also easily order groceries from it or add to your shopping list (with your voice).

I'd rather have a separate device for most of this, but I can understand the appeal, especially if you're not privacy-conscious.

Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#157

Post by FridayoLeary »

denkmoon wrote: post #142
maerF0x0 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wait till you have to watch N adds before the door will unlock. And good luck getting it open in a power/internet outage :lol:

Millions of people sit through minutes of the worst ads I've ever seen to watch mr beast exploit homeless people. We're boned.

How does anyone watch youtube these days? I wouldn't mind seeing an ad or even 2, but it feels like youtube is singling me out for special treatment. I'm not going to watch anything if i'm scared a 30 second ad will interrupt the video.

Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#158

Post by donmcronald »

Fwirt wrote: post #25
kstrauser wrote: post #12

This guarantees I'll never buy a Samsung appliance. If they're this willing to screw with their customers today, they'll do it again tomorrow. Sadly, I'm including their TVs in this. I have one today, displaying the output of an Apple TV and not directly connected to the Internet because hah, no way, but I'll be shopping around when it comes time to replace it. Pity. They make nice stuff. Not nice enough that I'm wil…

Samsung appliances have among the worst reputations for ease of repair and lifespan. Sadly most other brands are rebrands of Chinese conglomerates or not much better on the quality chain. But honestly it's also a lottery. We bought a fridge on sale for $500 as an emergency stopover when our expensive fridge was delayed by a month during a move, and it's still plugging along out in the garage, a hostile environment fo…

I wonder if those expensive fridges are any more serviceable. I'm guessing someone with $10k to spend on a fridge doesn't care how easy it is to fix because they'll never do it.

Re: Samsung makes ads on smart fridges official with upcoming software update

#159

Post by Fwirt »

noir_lord wrote: post #74
Larrikin wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most modern TVs are fully controllable via their HDMI inputs. My shield and gaming systems are perfectly capable of turning my unconnected to the Internet TV on and off. The shield also has a HA integration. There's no need to risk an update that puts ads on the TV.

Yep, HDMI-CEC is pretty common these days, Samsung call it Anynet+ for..reasons I guess.

Yes, but good luck finding a way to integrate CEC with Home Assistant, or anything else for that matter. Even modern GPUs don't support it. You usually have to buy a USB dongle that MITMs the connection for a disgusting amount of money. It looks like Raspberry Pis support it, but then you have an SBC and its power source dangling off of your TV just to run a single lightweight daemon that may not even fit your use case. CEC is not designed for total control, and on many TVs it's even a bit flaky. I had to disable it on mine because misbehaving devices would randomly turn the TV off and on when I didn't want it.
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