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Android-Based Smart TVs Aren't That Smart When You Install Malware On Them (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Smart TVs running older versions of the Android operating system are being infected with malware that was specifically built to target smart TVs. Infections occur via applications downloaded from a series of sites ran under the H.TV brand. These are websites that offer applications specifically built for Android smart TVs that allow users to watch TV channels from other regions of the globe. As usual, these apps are side-loaded from unofficial app stores. Fortunately, it's not a smart TV ransomware.
For a moment I was hoping the "malware" just removed the manufacturers cruddy adware/malware, transforming the device into an old-fashioned "dumb" just-works television.
Perhaps next time you could come forth with a technical solution beyond "dumb the fuck out of it", which only makes you look like a moron.
There's actually a good reason for that without even getting into security issues: Odds are those "smart" features will be obsolete before your TV is, so instead of paying extra for "smart" features, it's probably better to pay less for an STB that you can replace every so often instead.
Even if they don't go obsolete, chances are your TV manufacturer won't provide any feature additions as they come. If you want them, you'll have to buy next year's model, which is dumb.
The problem with smart TVs is that they get designed and build and sold and then the market changes and you're stuck with all these build in apps that are pointless. Whereas if you just get a really nice TV for a cheaper price then attach a Roku, Fire Stick, Chromecast, etc, then you can update that device and get new applications and technologies far more cheaply. Especially true with the first generation of smart TVs that were impossible or very difficult to upgrade or add new channels to. Another example, the smart TV might only do 802.11b, whereas most media players under $100 are much faster and more flexible.
The bells and whistles in some cars become obsolete very quickly. Built in satellite radio service, for a service that became defunct before the auto was less than a year old... An iPhone connector but you decided to get an Android instead. Better for the auto to have some generic common or standardized connectors, then attach your own navigation system, radio system, media player, etc.