Android TV ... Work in progress!!

[angelacr]

Well, I suppose it's a start. Android on phones wasn't up to much when first released. But I have to say that whoever designed the interface needs to go back to first design principles. Make the USER centre to all functions not the developer's ease of writing software routines.

Why are all the reviews of Sony's implementation of Android TV so glowing in general?  To me it seems very much like an early iteration not intended for release.

Changing channels on the TV is so   s...l...o....w.  The speed is unacceptable. I have a linux satellite box that has very little lag between keypress and action; why can't the Android box do the same?

I have a wireless mouse, Thank God I have a wireless mouse! Without it I would not be able to navigate some apps. 

Opera is really the bees knees on a PC, (or it used to be). The Android TV version sometimes needs an input from the controller; at other times, when pop-up windows on a web page appears, the only method of shutting the pop-up is a mouse click. And then there is the home page! Who in their worst nightmare could imagine that users wanted the Sony website (Hello aren't we Wonderful), to be their homepage. There is NO WAY it can be removed. So Every bl--dy time I open Opera I land on the Sony Homepage. I bought a TV. I don't want a lifelong relationship with you! *****

The keyboard: When entering text the pop-up keyboard inserts a space after a full stop. When writing web addresses you'll need to remember to back space twice. Twice because the space only gets inserted after the keypress that follows the full stop. Crazy! Then on good on-screen keyboards serving a basic remote there are better solutions.  XBMC or whatever it's called these days, has a wrap type keyboard. If you are chasing letters using the up/down left/right/ buttons then keep pressing past the edge and you 'wrap' around to the opposite edge. It just makes navigation faster. This present design has got to go.

On, perhaps, a useful note for others. I found that ES file explorer lets me do lots of things. Its browser is better than Opera. Secondly It has access to the cloud and can download apks to your deivice from Google Drive. This is documented on the web ... a search will find it..Popcorn Time runs nicely. VPV.ht runs nicely and Mobdro works well. You can open these Apps from ES Explorer as they don't show in the official app list. Or you can load Chainfire's Sideload Launcher from the Play Store.

How can I root this device? I want to add an advert blocker? Any one done it yet?

[angelacr]

At the moment my brand-new TV fails to get past the set-up screen. It happened like this. Yesterday some Apps stopped working; BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport never initialized. Having three other Android devices I knew that a system restart, effectively clearing the cache often corrects software problems. So that is what I did; only it didn't. So I did a factory reset. (Supposedly!)
That made no difference either. So I opted to re-setup the machine from fresh. Then my problems started. The installer seemed already to have my Google account details - how could that be? I had done a factory reset. (When I sell the TV will my Google account details still be on it??) The machine starts; it entices you to accpet the Google account stored; you get asked to select a language and it STOPS. If I go back and select another language, the machine crashes."

I dispair. Once Sony had a brand-name to be trusted... but no longer it seems.

I contacted support and get told someone will call me; no time time frame. Nothing. So curretly I have a very pretty TV sitting on my wall that does nought.

[johayne98]

I dont know how everyone is knocking Sony Android TV , has anyone tried WebOS or Tinzen  ? 

This TV knocks spots of the other 4K's I have tried , maybe you guys need to get out more

On a serious note though I cant beleive Sony would completely ignore the issues here 

[angelacr]

4K TV? Why? why-ultra-hd-4k-tvs-are-still-stupid and 4k-ultra-hd-uhd-vs-1080p-full-hd-tvs-and-upscaling-compared

And yes all us complainants have shares in Panasonic and are really, really trying so hard to drag the company down. 

On a more serious note; if you've bought a 4k TV then your judgement maybe seriously impaired, so I'd watch what you say!

[johayne98]

Well It took a lot of debate for me to beleive in 4K . However this is an arguable debate , it is correct that many will not notice the difference however the trained eye will 

It is the same debate about MP3 vs CD  or Higher frame rate 120 FPS  vs 60 FPS , many say that the human cannot percieve the differences in technologhy  . And for some time I did not either 

However after analzing and comparing  I can truly appreciate higher  4K resolutions  much the same as CD quality ( with good hardware ) and 120 FPS monitor refresh rate . It may not be allways be a concious difference , however I noted :

Higher framerates will give a more slick smoother fluid apperance on quick moving scenes 

Higher relolution made images life like and gave a feeling of awe more than anything 

CD quality has more depth in sound producing a cleaner and clinical sound 

If you have the money by all means get one , hell I am dumbfounded on the quality compared to my 6 series Samsung HDTV 

People should lighten up , at the end of the day these things are for entertainment and thus should be enjoyed 

[angelacr]

Mmm. If I'd paid a lot of money for a TV then I'd want to believe it was better too!

But I understand Human perception is a stange and fickle thing. And then there's the psychology of it all; people do tend to believe what they're told to believe; if told with enough authority, that is.

I'm minded of a story I used to read to my children. Something about an Emporer and clothes, as I recall.

[johayne98]

Hey 

If we all started buying these then the price would drop down eventually , I agree they are expensive but also justified if you really get the most out of it 

For example I am using a Video Card which drives the panel at 4K 60 FPS , which is vert very noticable on certain games ( Games which are optimised to work on 4K - not upscaled )  , even the missus noticed it when asked for her opinion 

 I partially  agree that imarketing hype is phycological , however  look past the hype and gear up the TV  with suitable resources and media  it wont take long  to understand  the benefits 

To the average person a 1080p TV will do just fine , hell even 720p would do . However those who want true immersion  make no mistake , this will do wonders , the image and motion rate is life like 

[angelacr]

Aaah! You're playing games on it. That probably means you're sitting quite close to the screen. Then you WILL see a difference. You'll see the difference in the sheds as well because they use aisles to corale you close up to the screens. Now I wonder why they do that? What do you reckon?

At normal sittting room tv viewing distances, as explained in the links in my post above, people see no difference. Close up to the sand, sitting on Blackpool beach, you can see every grain in fine detail. Go up the tower and look again at the beach and all that lovely grain filled detail has gone.

But you pay your money; you make your choice.

[angelacr]

Update: I still have a TV that fails to get past 'select a languge' on the set-up screen.

Today I asked my retailer to take the TV back as it is unfit for purpose.

They initiated a call to Sony "support" and I've been promised a call from a TV repair person within '48 business hours'. (not sure what that means, exactly). I wait with eager anticpation. I use inverted commas around support for I really believe it should be wrritten as "lack of support". Much like the UK Government's policy for 'Care in the Community' really means 'lack of care'. But I digress...

I also recieved a request, 2 days ago, to add feedback to Sony's web site about my experience with Sony's product. I wrote a full, frank appraisal of both the TV and Sony's lack of support. It devolved down to 'nice picture... absolute rubbish Sony implementation of Google's Android TV software product.

Today I received an email to say it had been 'moderated' and rejected for publication. SO now I know, with certainty, the Sony review system is worthless. They simply omit critical reports and everything in thee Sony garden appears rosey..

Finally, if anyone at Sony with responsibilty for software engineering reads this .. If the Sony bootloader allowed USB reloads of the current software; my problem would be solved. So some Sony developer made a bad choice and I'm paying for it.

[sonipatel]

I think, all of you can find the relavant answer of all your queries related to Mobdro here. Thanks for solving everything.