topic Lets boycott SOny Android TVs? in The Lounge Room

Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

cgreen2015 — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:00:04 GMT

Seriously man, I have been a big fan of Sony TV (i hope still!). The picture and sound quality are second to none... but now due to the stupid Android softrware, there are just too many bugs to be content with...

Before this latest firmware update on the 10 Dec, the screen tends to go blank without picture but only audio. However, after the new firware update, there is only BLCK screen without even any audio! The TV keeps crashing... !

I think it is time to move on to Samsung and boycott Sony TV until they get their acts together...

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

dobooth13 — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:16:10 GMT

It's already happening. Sony TV market share has dropped to 6% in 2014.

I have other Android devices that work perfectly well, it is just what Sony have done with it on their TVs.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

smiffy2 — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 15:45:34 GMT

Got to be honest..... I've lost count of the number of times I've had to turn my set off at the wall and turn it back on again to get things working properly.

I'm now suffering a frozen EPG.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:53:08 GMT

@dobooth13 wrote:

It's already happening. Sony TV market share has dropped to 6% in 2014.

Thats 2014 - before Android TVs, so largely irrelevent to thread title. Besides, I dont think Sony is concentrating on market share.... One could always flood the market with 100s of models under different umbrella brands...

FY Q2 2015 Finance

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/fr/15q2_sony.pdf

Awards:

http://presscentre.sony.co.uk/pressreleases/sony-celebrates-six-wins-at-2015-eisa-awards-1201279

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

dobooth13 — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:00:28 GMT

A best tv award from EISA, who are EISA? answer: bunch of druken hacks funded by Sony ROFL

Also you draw attention to a (likely) temporary increase in profit in 1 quarter arising from cost reductions (which means staff redundancies) These staff were probably software developers which would explain a lot

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

cgreen2015 — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 14:06:35 GMT

Yea, lets tell all our fmaily and freidns to bocott Sony untill they get their acts together. Let'smake this a movement!

I hope Sony people are paying attention to this thread?

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

MiCal1967 — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:15:27 GMT

They must give an option to all Android Televisions owners of selecting another Operating System like Linux or Windows.

I wouldn't mind to pay for Windows an extra fee in case of a stable expensive Sony Television with everything working as it should.

Android is finally the worst.

Sony must reconsider.....

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:32:50 GMT

Why must Sony give a choice on OS's? Its your choice to purchase a Sony Android TV. Just like your choice on LG's WebOS or Samsungs Tizen

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Caledonian_TV — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 19:13:23 GMT

@Quinnicus wrote:
Why must Sony give a choice on OS's? Its your choice to purchase a Sony Android TV. Just like your choice on LG's WebOS or Samsungs Tizen

Actually... It's NOT!

I requested that Sony replace my 2015 Android with a slightly larger (by way of compensation) 'Android Free' model from the 2014 range... Had I the CHOICE I would have never have purchased the Android set. Indeed, had I known that the Android OS was so deeply embedded in the set that it could not be 'ignored' and effectively crippled the unit such that it could not reliably be used as a basic domestic TV receiver - not in a million years would I have made that 'choice'...

So, I'm afraid your argument Quinnicus is an entirely 'straw man' one! - Most people are buying a TV set to watch TV programmes; not a giant tablet to fiddle with an OS. Most viewers couldn't give a rat's aspidistra about 'OSs'... They're there to drop a grand or so on something that will be the centre of their living room for the next half-decade or more...

As I've said before... Sony were once the 'Gold Standard' in television. For DECADES they build the de-facto standard machines in broadcast... They invented the U-Matic and BetaCam (not the same thing as Betamax) standards that dominated broadcast production for over three decades. - And even now, their old portable Trinitron monitors are highly prized by many broadcast cameramen... Their kit was legend..

People buy Sony based on their old reputation won over many decades... People trust Sony...

THAT is why they choose Sony...

And how is that trust repaid?

You CANNOT even plug an aerial into the back of one of these things, plug it in, and expect to watch basic off-air TV programmes on one of these things without problems...

- In a race to the bottom Sony have enlisted an hapless and unknowing public as their 'Beta Testers' for something they CANNOT have tested to any credible standard! - Support? A forum 'staffed' with barrack-room 'experts' who are very clearly completely untrained, unqualified and unknowing about much of what they speak!

- Some of these sets seem to have power supply issues; is there an actual engineer monitoring these boards to step in and take charge? - No!

It's bad enough that people are having their time and money wasted by Sony... That they're selling sets that are no better (and in many respects much worse) that Chinese Junk you could buy off a barra... That there is no PROPER support for people having issues with them.

But what will it take 'till THEY take full responsibility for this debacle? One of these damned things to set light to a family home?

Again... As I've said many times before... If Sony had an ounce of integrity as a company they'd recall these things immediately. Or better-still never have sent these unmitigated disasters to market in the first place. - The designers, developers and marketers behind this mess deserve their jotters.

As for the plastic Awards? Muttley Medals! No more no less! - I'm a PAYING customer; not a pie-fed lapdog! And it's the PAYING customersthat count!

Sony need to be restoring face... Until then?

Well in my case Sony... Sony Broadcast... Well they won't be getting any business from me in this year's tranche of new 4K kit. And we'll have the Jury well-out for the future. How we go from there will have much to do with how they recover from this mess.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

dobooth13 — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 19:21:41 GMT

@MiCal1967 wrote:
They must give an option to all Android Televisions owners of selecting another Operating System like Linux or Windows.
I wouldn't mind to pay for Windows an extra fee in case of a stable expensive Sony Television with everything working as it should.
Android is finally the worst.
Sony must reconsider.....

I doubt there is much wrong with Android itself, I think it's much more likely that we are experiencing problems with the way Sony have integrated Android into its hardware. It was likely a rush job to try to be one of the first to market.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 20:25:06 GMT

@Caledonian_TV

What im getting at is that it is still your choice on which TV to purchase. If one is so dead against Android, it is still your choice not to purchase a Sony TV that has Android on it. There are some 2015 non-android Sony TVs, on the more budget end or you choose another brand.

Anyway, i am unsure if you are interested or watched Sonys CES speach, but Sony agrees with many on what Sony used to stand for. Premium brand, quality et etc. It appears that their long term strategy is going to change. By not competing on market share and that race to the bottom - focusing back to thier core of premium brand with quality products.

A short read:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/sony-x930d-x940d-x850d-4k-ultra-hd-tv-premium-strategy/

I too agree that in many ways, Sony lost some of its premium brand - as some of the tvs appear quite plastically to me.

Is this change of direction something you agree with?

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

MiCal1967 — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:09:21 GMT

Why shouldn't all kind of devices have the choise of Operating System? Phones, tablets, Televisions.

The same way that a Personal Computer has.

I don't believe I said something bad.

I don't blame only Sony for that.

What I see is an Operating System having problems and Sony uses that on expensive Televisions. This is not an 80 euros android tablet. It is thousands of euros and it should work.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Caledonian_TV — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:30:38 GMT

It's still a completely straw-man argument...

I wasn't in the market for a 'low end' set... This wasn't for some obscure corner of the house... I wanted an upper-middle range large-ish 4K set; and I went for what I believed to be the most reliable manufacturer on the market. Next in line is Bang & Olufsen, and they're just a wee bit too-much style over substance for my wallet and sensibilities; at least not for this place (a secondary home).

Given CHOICE - which I really think Sony should have given me - I'd have bought the set I have now. And nobody CHOSE or expected to buy something so badly crippled that not only do the bells and whistles not work, it doesn't even function reliably at a basic level.

From that article...

"Moreover, these new TV’s will feature Sony’s very best processing, which has always set the company apart from others."

Given that the 2015 was BREATHTAKINGLY incompetent in its execution... From the design and implementation of the UI to the coding and underpinning hardware; it's amazing they could write this with a straight face!!

The (2014) X90B is a behemoth of a set; its (in my setting superfluous) speakers are something of a taste I'm working hard at times to acquire... Very heavy too... And mine is the 'baby' of the family! Even the most technologically ignorant walk-in, notice it and know they're in the presence of something very very diffierent from that on sale in Sainsbury's! -But physically the Android was just another black square - could have been something I'd borrowed from work for all anyone would notice it.

They may have gone too far with the smaller-thinner styling - time will tell. But stylistically, these too look to be nothing remakable... They'll sound awful too; the laws of physics being something they can't change.

If Sony are looking to the upper slopes here they are...

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/collection/tvs/beovision-avant

But then Sony are no longer building something that's not only a TV set, but a piece of furniture... So there's that USP gone... Performance? reliability?

A 'main set' isn't something most people replace lightly or often; and Sony's reputation in implementing Android is one of complete and utter incompetence. Even if by some miracle these later ones are rock-solid, the jury will be firmly out for at least two years untill the current Android disaster is dealt with...

They would really NEED to provide a Non-Android 'basic smart' alternative to gain any sort of trust. What they should have done is build the basic display to end all basic displays; built for performance and longevity... Coupled it to a range of modular accessories - bundled as necessary - upgradeable and kept cutting-edge...

'Profeel II' would have been an aspirational and inspirational product...

This?

"Sony agrees with many on what Sony used to stand for. Premium brand, quality et etc."

And yet they're sticking dogmatically to the very thing that has destroyed them... It's all very 'Emperor's new clothes' I'm afraid. And really, they still need to sort out the 2015 mess properly. - It's a long time 'till spring!

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

purnet — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:25:26 GMT

In my opinion is it just Android causing the problems on Sony Android TV´s , the basic TV is OK.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Caledonian_TV — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 18:34:35 GMT

@purnet wrote:
In my opinion is it just Android causing the problems on Sony Android TV´s , the basic TV is OK.

Not in my experience it isn't...

I never used the Android 'features' on my set... Didn't even have it connected to a network. Still my set kept freezing and rebooting, it had SERIOUS lip-synch issues on HDMI sources, the satellite tuner kept deleting the channels i wanted and adding back one I very definitely didn't want! - And every now and again it would switch itself on at random!

The day after I got rid on mine I happened to be in Curry's in Livingston... A set identical to the one I'd just got shot of was sitting 'frozen'... As I walked around another from the range radomly rebooted... Many many people are reporting similar problems...

I can't, for the life of me see how this sort of thing is 'basically ok' or even remotely acceptable. - And I suspect it's the way Sony have implemented Android rather than Android itself that is the problem... It seems to work fine on many other devices!

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Kenny324410 — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 04:20:06 GMT

Are you nuts because android os is the best thing to happen to Sony or any tv for that mater try its there no limit to what can be done meen you want to run kodi on it you can you want to run any android app that's on the android App Store can be you just have to go get the apk and put it in ur self just waiting for someone to get the balls to root one and it open new doors to what can be done there is so much patenchal

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

purnet — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 06:22:56 GMT

That´s your opinion, my is that Sony TV is OK but Android OS destroys the TV.

Re: Lets boycott SOny Android TVs?

Kuschelmonschter — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 16:30:09 GMT

While I do think that Android TV is premature I would still blame Sony for the bad overall quality of their TVs for several reasons:

we are 1-2 Android TV iterations behind (Nougat is out, mine is still Lollipop)
quite some bugs and instabilities are caused by bad MediaTek drivers (Sony has to push fixes in that regard)
all Sony custom software on the TV is aweful, especially the TV integration (British YouView might be better though)

If you are interested in my view, you can read my full review here.