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50 votes
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Marketing company claims that it actually is listening to your phone and smart speakers to target ads
34 votes -
Philips Hue will force users to upload their data to Hue cloud
72 votes -
A vast majority of people in the US and Canada suspect their smart speakers can eavesdrop on their conversations, and just over two-thirds think they’ve gotten ads based on that snooping
21 votes -
Amazon devices in the US will automatically join the Amazon Sidewalk mesh network and start sharing internet with neighbors on June 10th, unless opted out
30 votes -
A hardware mute button for Alexa
6 votes -
Google announces Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G phones, new Chromecast, and Nest Audio smart speaker
13 votes -
Amazon Alexa for Residential will let the voice assistant power apartment complexes
15 votes -
Wink smart home users have one week to subscribe or be shut off
16 votes -
How IoT betrays us: Today, Sonos speakers. Tomorrow, Alexa and electric cars?
19 votes -
Finland launches data security guarantee label – certification symbol serves as a guarantee to consumers that a device's basic information security features are in order
12 votes -
Smart TVs collect data for political-advertising use
16 votes -
How do you turn a smart TV into a dumb TV?
I've been lamenting the death of the dumb TV for years now, but I'm finally in the market for a new set and trying to plan my next purchase carefully. I've come to grips with the fact that any...
I've been lamenting the death of the dumb TV for years now, but I'm finally in the market for a new set and trying to plan my next purchase carefully.
I've come to grips with the fact that any late-model TV I buy is going to feature some or all of the following:
- Internet connectivity
- Slow, janky menu screens with awful UIs
- Pre-installed apps (all of which I consider bloatware)
- Ads incorporated into the built-in menus or overlaid on my content
- Alexa / Google Home integration
- Automatic content recognition and/or other data collection techniques
- Microphones or cameras, purportedly for voice/gesture control
My goal is to take a stock smart TV and completely neuter all of the above, resulting in an otherwise fully functional dumb TV. All of my content will be delivered over HDMI from external devices.
As I understand it, basically all modern TVs are running one of five operating systems: Android TV, webOS, Tizen, Roku TV, or SmartCast. Not knowing anything about these platforms, where should I begin? Which are most susceptible to rooting? Are there any good custom ROMs I could install that would achieve what I'm looking for? Surely others have asked these same questions before me, but I can't find the answers online.
Yes, this is a companion post to my other home theater question earlier today.
37 votes -
Hackers can use lasers to ‘speak’ to your Amazon Echo or Google Home
10 votes -
Announcements from Amazon's 2019 hardware event: Echo Buds, Frames, Loop, Eero, Studio, Ring camera, and Alexa updates
5 votes -
Best Buy is discontinuing Insignia smart home line
8 votes -
Apple globally suspends program in which humans review users' Siri queries
11 votes -
Google employees are systematically listening to audio files recorded by Google Home smart speakers and the Google Assistant smartphone app
23 votes -
GE's smart light bulb reset process is a masterpiece... of modern techno-insanity
24 votes -
Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019
19 votes -
Google is shutting down the "Works with Nest" API on August 31, 2019
5 votes -
Amazon workers are listening to what you tell Alexa
16 votes -
The microphones that may be hidden in your home
23 votes -
DeathHacks
6 votes -
Nike’s self-lacing sneakers turn into bricks after faulty firmware update
22 votes -
Amazon sends 1,700 Alexa voice recordings to a random person
17 votes -
Google Home (in)security
11 votes -
Alexa, should we trust you?
10 votes -
Amazon is invading your home with micro-convenience
13 votes -
How smart TVs in millions of US homes track more than what’s on tonight
17 votes -
Banking by smart speaker arrives, but security issues exist
2 votes