By contrast, the cheaper Fire and Chromecast devices have always felt much more sluggish. I really want an nVidia Shield but I'm not dropping $200 on outdated hardware when I already have a fantastic HTPC hooked up to my TV.
Fwiw, I've managed to not accept a bunch of license agreements on my C9 and have avoided anything too egregious. It is a glorious panel though and I hope they don't monetize it to the point that you can't use it without an active internet connection.
However, a lot of other brands sell OLED TV sets including Sony, Vizio, TCL, etc. Maybe they're referring to manufacturing the physical OLED screen? I don't know what impact that would have on privacy concerns, though.
It's a combination of the Quantum Dot technology from QLED and OLED.
I am just skeptical of something like the Stick+ being snappier or as snappy as the C9 processor. And if I'm looking at dropping $100 on the Roku Ultra, again, I'd rather wait on a Shield update to HDMI 2.1 and then pick that up for $200 in a year or so.
You might change your mind once you see what LG have done with webOS 6.0. [1]
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/11/22223767/lg-webos-6-tv-so...
> LG says "the new home screen provides faster access to the most frequently used apps and streamlines content discovery with the ability to receive recommendations based on the user’s preferences and viewing history". You can see a big "sponsored" slot in the top left there, so yes, you can expect some ads and paid placement recommendations on the home screen of your future LG TV.
As a user
I want to see relevant partner content on the home screen
So that my content is more targeted to my needs
”
Hopefully it fails like DIVX, but given there are 4G radios in most cars today, it probably will succeed.
Soon appliances and other IoT will no longer be reliant on your say-so on what data it collects and when...
5G offers greater throughput but I don't think that tracking applications are only now enabled by 5G. Most 5G deployments are small cells in ultra dense areas and most snooping manufacturers would prefer the range of LTE.
It is still quite unusual to have embedded LTE modems and the like in consumer devices. Outside of a few relatively expensive product types, like cars and of course phones/tablets, I think most people would be surprised to find independent wireless connectivity in their consumer products and a lot of people would probably ask why it was there if it had no obvious purpose.
With 5G looking like it's going to be mainstream in most developed countries within a few years and promoted extensively as a technology for connected devices and applications using inter-device communication, it feels much more credible that both the infrastructure networks and the component manufacturers involved could offer pricing models that make incorporating connectivity cheaply into any device you feel like a realistic outcome.
My concern is that we drift into a situation where including local network communications, possibly sensors, and independent remote communications all in the same devices becomes routine, without anything close to adequate protections for security and privacy to go with it. Given that governments around here (UK/Europe in my case) are only just beginning to act on issues like right to repair and online privacy and have barely touched numerous other issues raised by modern tech and its capabilities, I'm extremely wary of a relatively uninformed public accepting a lot of hostile measures because they either don't know any better or (possibly correctly) assume that by that point there is nothing they can do about those measures even if they don't like them.
I think the reason why we haven’t seen more of this vector being used isn’t because it is technologically unfeasible, but rather that there are easier ways to get a device connected.
This is true, but it's also something that right now consumers can at least do something about if they are well-informed, as noted by many commenters here referring to not allowing "smart" devices access to home WiFi networks and the like. I think the danger with 5G, and I'm including the surrounding culture and marketing under that umbrella here, is that the channel for remote communication becomes independent and so potentially impossible for consumers to detect, monitor or prevent, even if they are otherwise relatively well-informed about the technology.
Really just need to make the dark patterns illegal or costly though.
But shielding is just fine and is mentioned elsewhere in this thread.
There's another option: Buy and hook up a dumb hdmi converter to the panel. Taobao has these (low latency, niche gamer market)
We are effectively helpless against those tinier and tinier SoCs and the only option is not to buy.
Can anyone cite a user manual or something official that talks about this feature?
I've heard that repeated but never seen anyone actually test it and it would be shocking if true.
It seems more likely that in these cases, a family member or friend connected to the WiFi instead, without the owner being aware.
And if it were actually true and verifiable then surely journalists would have written articles on it by now.
BUT ... since we're talking about it ... are the network lines on HDMI reserved for that purpose such that you could create an "HDMI condom" ? I have USB condoms that I use to charge phones with, etc., and wonder if the same concept works with HDMI ...
HEAC utilizes two lines from the connector: the previously unused Reserved pin (called HEAC+) and the Hot Plug Detect pin (called HEAC−).
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#HDMI_Ethernet_and_Audio_R...
So if you don't need ARC, it should be possible to make a simple filter that blocks both HEC and ARC. Older HDMI cables that might not connect the Reserved pin might also block HEC+ARC. And it also seems like you can get ARC-only by disconnecting the Reserved pin.
I'd guess HEC is most commonly going to be used in situations where you'd also want ARC -- to provide network access from an A/V receiver to a smart TV, and then get the audio back into the receiver.
Additionally, there are some models that come with nearly-stock Android TV that are easy to remove creepware from (just plug into laptop and remove with ADB) should one feel inclined to use built-in smarts.
Personally I’ve been using an Apple TV and it’s served me well.
Whether the actual firmware update binaries are readily available to non-commercial end users is another matter entirely (and of course equally important!).
In the case of my recent-ish LG model, they are, and offline USB updates work fine.
Is the goal here to avoid any metrics being transmitted? Is it to avoid aggregate metrics across all of our apps and devices being transmitted?
It seems like the original objection in the article is that it's the advertising that's the problem, not the data collection and metrics, and the suggestion of Roku and Apple TV seems a poor solution for two of those three problems.
Roku is the noisiest device on PiHole, constantly trying to phone home, Amazon Firestick is up there too.
Why does a TV need a software update? If it can't show the output of HDMI out of the box, it's not fit for purpose and should be returned.
Damn TV!