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Android TV Update Puts Home-Screen Ads On Multi-Thousand-Dollar Sony Smart TVs (arstechnica.com)
Google is testing a new "Pilot Program" that puts a row of advertisements on the Android TV home screen. XDA Developers, which was the first to report the program, says: "We're currently seeing reports that it has shown up in Sony smart TVs, the Mi Box 3 from Xiaomi, NVIDIA Shield TV, and others." Ars Technica reports: The advertising is a "Sponsored Channel" part of the "Android TV Core Services" app that ships with all Android TV devices. A "Channel" in Android TV parlance means an entire row of thumbnails in the UI will be dedicated to "sponsored" content. Google provided XDA Developers with a statement saying that yes, this is on purpose, but for now it's a "pilot program."
Sony has tersely worded a support page detailing the "Sponsored channel," too. There's no mention here of it being a pilot program. Sony's page, titled "A sponsored channel has suddenly appeared on my TV Home menu," says, "This change is included in the latest Android TV Launcher app (Home app) update. The purpose is to help you discover new apps and contents for your TV." Sony goes on to say, "This channel is managed by Google" and "the Sponsored channel cannot be customized." Sony basically could replace the entire page with a "Deal with it" sunglasses gif, and it would send the same message.
Sony has tersely worded a support page detailing the "Sponsored channel," too. There's no mention here of it being a pilot program. Sony's page, titled "A sponsored channel has suddenly appeared on my TV Home menu," says, "This change is included in the latest Android TV Launcher app (Home app) update. The purpose is to help you discover new apps and contents for your TV." Sony goes on to say, "This channel is managed by Google" and "the Sponsored channel cannot be customized." Sony basically could replace the entire page with a "Deal with it" sunglasses gif, and it would send the same message.
iOS for life!!!!
Those of us that bought the original sony google TVs and were abandoned by both sony and google have never forgotten. Pretty sure none of us will buy Sony again - definitely not TVs at least.
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The TVs are no longer "smart" if they simply shovel Google adverts into your face like you're some kind of ad-hungry maggot. (For once I'm glad I have a dumb smart tv... aka, Panasonic.)
Ethernet disconnected. At least I don't have to deal with this crap if I HDMI out of my PC to it.
Why are people surprised that companies are NOT interesting in your time, space, and money? All they care about is selling you out in order to make a few bucks.
Is Sony, etc. going to stop? No, all that will happen is that a few people will complain about how disrespectful this is and absolutely NOTHING will change. :-(
Boycotting these companies won't stop this stupidity. Most people just don't care.
I'm not sure what a good (or practical) solution is to get this to stop. While banning ads would solve the problem too many people just don't give a fuck about blatant (commercial) propaganda.
As soon as I unboxed my Sony XBR 75 and just after I got it set up I plugged in my Roku Ultra4k. I only use the internet to update firmware on the TV never the smart features.
The way this was sneaked in is alarming.
AC comments get piped to
Sue them seeking some amount of civil damages and criminal prosecution under the computer fraud and abuse act.
They are doing things on your system and allowing others to have access to your system without your explicit permission.
This is why you shouldn't connect your TV to the internet. In fact, you should generally avoid connecting things to the internet.
My sig doesn't address Anons, sigs aren't visible to them.
Trust me, buy whatever TV looks best, but do NOT put it on the network. Buy something like a ROKU, then you are in control of channels, ads, etc. The roku client is better than the smart tv client for many services like HBO and network. On top of that you can replace your roku without replacing the entire TV. It also lets you view local content with Plex or similar software.
The connected TV and BluRay devices from Sony and other manufacturers have had a selection of commercial services pushed by default in the menu system already before the time of the Android TV. That doesn't hamper the use of the device though.
"This channel is managed by Google" and "the Sponsored channel cannot be customized."
This way the manufacturers put a part of their user experience in the hands of a company that doesn't understand consumer electronics based on their past behaviour.
1) Never EVER give your TV direct internet access
2) If you want a “smart tv”, use an external box which serves content to the TV via HDMI
3) See #1
These devices aren’t supported more than two or three years anyway - if you give them internet access, you’re providing a nice easy way for bad guys into your home.
Think of a smart tv as just another badly designed IoT device.
#DeleteChrome
and if you already have one reset it to factory settings and see if it forgets your internet configuration, it is does not then either unplug the ethernet or change the wifi password and dont update your TV, i dont let my smartTV connect to the internet because i dont trust it
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Can they be Pi Hole'd?
What is the deal with scroll bars? It's bad enough that they collapse width just like Windows 10 does. But now clicking on the empty space brings the page position to where you clicked. It used to scroll one page. A real pain in the ass if you're dealing with a 1000 page long pdf document. Why would you change functionality that has been the same for decades? Who asked for this?
"You have to expect this and then react appropriately instead of just adhering to some blanket statement like yours."
Mmmmm, yes. So how's that working out so far? Appropriately is simply never buying any display device that calls itself, smart.
That is really it. If we techie/hacker types want to live in a society we believe in, now is the time to say 'This is ENOUGH! THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR!', leave the country, renounce your citizenship, and band together anew, whether squatting territory that is technically another's, pretending there is still Terra Nulla and colonizing it, or building a seastead and finding the goods and services that will allow you the purchasing power to collectively own what you want.
Why is this necessary? IP Laws, followed by collective bargaining/purchasing power, followed by a direct democracy of your peers (hint: the average citizen in your country is *NOT* one of your peers. Hell, many of us can agree the majority of our family members are not either. If you disagree, consider yourself lucky. You have either have a smart family, or are suitably average yourself!) With those three issues out of the way hardware can be purchased tailored to the market, or sufficient dedicated individuals will be collected to rapidly reverse engineer, exploit, reflash, or redesign a device to meet the needs of the domestic public. Anything short is simply pissing unwind and wondering why you're wet and reek of piss afterwards.
Your display might be good for 10 years. The "smart" part is going to be good for 2. Plugging a smart device into HDMI makes about 1000 times more sense.
Bruce Perens.
Can someone tell me when "pilot program" started to mean "will the people flip the fuck out because we're doing shady shit"?
Seriously, it's like they'd invent screens small enough to be in the back of our eyelids mostly so we can be advertised to in our sleep...
Your mind is like a parachute. It works best when it's been opened.
I figure 10,000 per advertisement payable to the victim of the bandwidth theft by the advertisements.
The purpose is to help you discover new apps and contents for your TV.
What if I don't want help? What if I don't want to be forced to discover new apps and content?
In any case, 99.9% will probably be crap and the other 0.1% I won't want anyway.
Your sense of "improved experience" may not be mine.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
You have to disable all the spyware ? In a TV. Fuck no I paid for it. Go away.
I've got a Samsung Smart TV, but it keeps trying to switch me to their online Korean channels. Everytime it starts, by default, its on their channels, trying to show me k-pop or some such. I got sick of it, unplugged it from the internet and use a TV box instead. The TV still switches to its default channels every-time, but they don't get the benefit of forcing me to watch the channels they control, instead it just shows an error message.
It's not just the TV, Bixby! It pops up, to use it you have to agree to an invasive EULA, to turn it off, you have to start it up, agree to the invasive EULA, then it only turns the button off, not Bixby or the invasive snooping it does. That cost them a smartphone sale on the last upgrade.
The TV shit will cost them a TV sale on the next upgrade of TVs.
Dear Samsung, Fuck You.
An ex-customer.
'Google is testing a new "Pilot Program" that puts a row of advertisements on the Android TV home screen.'
Google is becoming more and more abusive.
Was supposed to be a fucking satire, not a "how to do things now"
What a nifty feature.
Now if you were one of the unlucky ones who happen to have failed this test by attaching your television to the Internet ... don't despair. You can retake the test at any time.
If enough of us ask smart TV manufacturers for our data perhaps they will have second thoughts.
We should however be prepared to pay more for TVs if they do.
These guys seem to have a decent howto:
https://www.datarequests.org/blog/sample-letter-gdpr-access-request/
I'm thinking about replacing my 16 years old Sony projection TV - which has performed like a champ, but is getting a bit long in the tooth. Sony was the top contender - not only because they have some pretty good offerings, but specifically because they didn't put ads on my screen.
Now Sony is also out, joining Samsung, LG and Visio. I'm starting to think the issue is actually with Android. Everywhere you get Android, ads will follow sooner or later, like a rash. Not to mention that you have to sign on with Google every bloody time.
Can we break Google in an Android company that makes and sells the software, and an add conglomerate that can FOAD?
Sony basically could replace the entire page with a "Deal with it" sunglasses gif, and it would send the same message.
Sony could also change the home screen to remove the advertising, could they not? I mean, like any mobile phone maker they have their own special "customized experience" on their Android smartphones, are they not able to make the same changed on the Android TV UI?
So is anyone making custom firmware for any smart TVs, similar to how OpenWRT works for routers? I'd prefer my TV to be 100% dumb, but if that's almost impossible these days then I'd at least prefer to replace the "smart" bit with a kodi distribution. But perhaps TVs are all too locked down and it's impossible.
I bought a 60 inch Sony Android TV in 2016. It's had ads on it since I got it. Every app would add stuff to the home screen with ads. Ads for Netflix shows, ads for Sony Games, ads for TV shows. I managed to turn them all of turning off notification permission for nearly every app. No idea why Android TV uses notification permission to gate putting ads on the home screen.
In any case next time I buy a TV I'll just order a monitor from Dell or something like that. It will be more expensive but I don't want a "Smart TV" ever again.
I have a theory that a few years from now, somebody will write malware or ransomware that affects a very large number of "smart" TVs -- perhaps all of a particular brand, or all running a particular firmware. On that day, every one of us who never gave their "smart" TV the wifi password will be able to say "I told you so."
Install a pihole on your land and laug hat all the suckers that have to watch ads!
However, it should be illegal to present ads on a device you paid the full price for. Would a class action lawsuit help to curb rhis behavior?
Crossing Sony TVs and Android TV devices off the list of products I'd consider buying
All I want from my TV is several fully capable HDMI ports and stunning display and a trivial way to switch between the inputs (heck my audio receiver probably will be handling that function anyway, so not so many HDMI inputs). Definitely no "smarts". Would likely live without speakers (sound provided by external receiver system) and tuner. I'll attach an AppleTV or Chromecast or even a laptop with my own selection of software when I want "smarts".
A monitor is like a TV but no android OS, no network connectivity, no tuner, basically just a bare display.
It costs more despite less tech and smaller size for some odd reason, but it's better than putting up with all that "smart" crap
Not both. If you want to build ads into my TV, you're giving it to me for free, not thousands of dollars.
However, it should be illegal to present ads on a device you paid the full price for.
Such a law would have to define "full price" in such a way that a company can't claim that full price is half the company's market cap. What would be, say, the "full price" for a year of Google Search service? I'm interested to read how you might approach writing that law.
Wow! PIece's of shit!
The purpose it to make money for someone else and using your property to do.
This is like Tesla getting their auto drive to work and then adding an update so your car will go out and work for Tesla's version of Uber when you are not in it.. and 1 update later, when you are in it.
We have a Sonia Bravia 65" smart tv. I reluctantly attached it to the internet for updates.
I don't watch much TV, but my wife does.
I rented 2 DVD's recently, Creed and Avengers: Infinity War.
My wife is watching her full-blown stream of solved/unsolved murder investigation programs and she starts yelling at me about Jason Momoa's picture and ad promotion of Aquaman that keeps popping up on the entire screen every 5 minutes.
I have no idea what the heck she's talking about, but I was taking heat for what kept interrupting her tv watching. She was truly annoyed, and I correctly surmised that ad's were being injected, but didn't know by who. But the correlation to "super hero movie ads" and my rare use of the TV for watching action/super hero movies makes me wonder if HDMI traffic from the DVD player is being tracked as well.
I'm seriously upset about this ad injection crap, and I'm about to try factory refreshing this tv and removing any semblance of internet connection from it.
Sony, your bed-buddy choice is going to make you some serious enemies that your ad revenue isn't going to replace.
Stay. Out. of. OUR. TV. Viewing. Choices.
Android TV, not Android. It's a different OS.
My bad, fixed it.
"And these devices will receive software updates long after the SmartTv has been abandoned
And you can upgrade or swap you preferred smarts as you want."
This is precisely why i refuse to buy a car with an infotainment center in the dash.
10 years from now itll still be married that pitiful lil quad core computer that hasnt received a software update in 9 years.
"The purpose is to help you discover new apps and contents for your TV."
Fuck you, I DO NOT want your 'help' to find more shit to watch.
Face it
you WILL watch ads
or else...
actually, there is no 'or else'
Any company will push for what bring them money. The time to push back is now while it's still a pilot. Some people with cheap access to lawyers looking for full refunds on their Sony smart TVs because of admitted malware installation. Organized boycotts of the companies. Charges for theft of services of internet access for unwanted ads. I'm sure there's more ideas, which regardless of individual merit have a nuisance factor that will signal to Sony and the others this is not acceptable.
It is natural for companies to try to make new & increased revenue streams. If it's in a way that you find intrusive you need to be willing to push back otherwise it will happen.
LITTLE GIRL: But which cookie will you eat FIRST? C. MONSTER: Me think you have misconception of cookie-eating process.
this is the evidence https://pasteboard.co/I8KMamT....
Do you guys not know that if they coiuld make a smart TV that instead of watching you right back, listening in on your private and intimate conversations, learning everything it can about you and your habits to try to tailor and target ads that will be most likely effective in altering and shaping your behavior, subverting your will and getting you to patronize their advertiser,s businesses, ultimately to maximize their profits, could rather just rob you at gunpoint, they would?
I have an older Sony Android TV which is now sort of functional. I simply bought a Firestick to replace the awful interface that kind of works.
Sony used to be a big player and made quality gear, no longer, they are just a giant turd covered in burnt hair. Just stop buying their products.
So what. Sony put an advertisement on their home screen. What's the big deal?
You're getting updated. What's wrong with that? Nothing's free after all.