TV is bricked by Android malware and LG wont disclose factory reset

Re:TV is bricked by Android malware and LG wont disclose fac... by wccrawford on Wednesday December 28, 2016 @09:52AM (#13270796)

I've had smart TVs for a while, and wasn't a big fan because they tend to be slow and clunky.

But the Sony TV with Android that we bought last year has been amazing. Having everything built in (instead of a second box) has been great and simplifies some things.

The hardware clearly is faster, and the apps tend to be a lot better because they're generic Android apps, instead of one-offs produced just for that year's TVs.

I'm sure I'll eventually end up having to buy an external box to get all the new hotness for it, but until then, I'm really enjoying having it all in 1 piece. (Obviously I'll unplug it from the network when it comes to that, thanks to this story.)

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Re:TV is bricked by Android malware and LG wont disclose fac... by soylentcola on Thursday December 29, 2016 @01:35PM (#13279056)

Agreed. I had little to no interest in a "samrt" TV but when I was shopping for a new HDTV, I really liked one particular Sony model for price versus performance. It ran on AndroidTV but there was no similar "dumb" model for less money. The same went for other brands.

In the end, being an Android user I said what the hell and bought it. So far it's been great. Built-in Chromecast functionality fills in any gaps in the supported apps or platforms (such as how Comcast refuses to authorize the HBOGo app on AndroidTV so I need to cast from my phone).

I'd have preferred a dumb TV for $100 less plus an nVidia Shield or whatever. But in the end this has worked out quite well and as you say, once the version of Android is too old and no longer updated, I can just unplug the ethernet cable, leave WiFi off, and continue using either my PC as the main input or pick up some other box to do all of the "smart" stuff.

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