Author: DA Gadgets

Samsung
has
big
news
for
TV
buyers.
From
2025,
it
will
be
unifying
all
of
its
product
lines,
including
its

best
TVs,
under
the
banner
of
One
UI.
If
you’re
not
familiar
with
Samsung’s
Android
phones,
One
UI
is
its
flavor
of
Android:
this
design
sits
on
top
of
the
operating
system
to
give
every
phone
a
distinctive
Samsung
personality.

If
you
are
familiar
with
Samsung’s
Android
phones,
though,
you
may
understand
why
we
have
distinctly
mixed
feelings
about
this
announcement.

One
UI
on
Samsung
TVs:
the
good

We
have
reviewed
endless
models
of
Samsung
TVs
over
the
years,
and
while
Samsung
makes
really
good
televisions
we’re
less
enthusiastic
about
its
TV

operating
system.
Tizen.

We’ve
put
together
an

in-depth
comparison
of
the
various
TV
operating
systems
here,
but
the
short
version
is
that
Tizen
is
the
weakest
link
in
Samsung’s
televisions:
it’s
fine
in
terms
of
what
it
does,
but
what
it
does
isn’t
done
as
quite
as
nicely
or
in
as
user-friendly
a
way
as
some
of
its
rival
operating
systems,
especially
webOS
or

Roku.

According
to
Samsung
(via

FlatpanelsHD),
with
the
move
to
One
UI
you’ll
get
a
“cohesive
product
experience”
across
your
various
Samsung
devices
as
well
as
“software
upgrades
for
seven
years”.

It’s
important
to
note
that
One
UI
isn’t
an
operating
system
but
an
overlay,
so
it’s
entirely
likely
that
it’ll
sit
atop
Tizen
rather
than
Samsung
switching
to
Android
TV.
But
whatever’s
underneath,
One
UI
should
deliver
a
very
different
and
hopefully
better
TV
experience.
And
it
could
be

very
different:
Samsung
says
One
UI
7.0
will
have
a
“brand
new
UX
[User
Experience]
design”.

One
UI
on
Samsung
TVs:
the
not
so
good

We
like
One
UI.
We
really
do.
But
we
don’t
always
like
what
Samsung
does
with
it.
In
our
reviews
of
the

Samsung
Galaxy
S24
and

Samsung
Galaxy
S24
FE,
we
noted
that
Samsung
has
a
tendency
to
hide
important
features
and
to
be
a
little
over-complicated:
system
settings
in
particular
could
be
“tough
to
track
down”.
In
our
Galaxy
S24
review
we
scored
its
software
just
two
out
of
a
possible
five
due
to
problems
that
“were
starting
to
feel
like
laziness”
in
an
operating
system
that
was
“pushing
me
to
do
more,
to
buy
more,
and
use
more”
when
we
just
wanted
simplicity.

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up
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news,
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tech
deals,
and
more.

Hence
the
mixed
feelings.
One
UI
can
be
great,
but
Samsung
can
also
make
it
not-so-great
–
so
while
we’re
absolutely
on
board
with
the
idea
of
an
improved
interface
on
Samsung
TVs,
we’ll
reserve
final
judgement
until
we
see
what
Samsung
actually
delivers.

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might
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Your
smart
TV
is
a
“privacy
nightmare”,
a
new
report
claims,
suggesting
that
the
streaming
industry
has
created
a
sinister
surveillance
system
that’s
undermining
our
privacy
and
our
consumer
protection
too.
That’s
according
to
a
damning
48-page
report
by
the
Center
For
Digital
Democracy
(CDD),
which
has
been
passed
to
the
Federal
Trade
Commission
(FTC).

According
to
the
report,
the
price
of
streaming
isn’t
just
in
its
ever-increasing
subscription
fees.
It’s
in
its
“connected
television
media
and
marketing
system
with
unprecendented
capabilities
for
surveillance
and
manipulation.”
And
thanks
to
AI,
it’s
about
to
get
even
worse.

What’s
so
sinister
about
streaming?

You
can
read
the
full
PDF
report

here,
but
here
are
some
of
the
key
points.
What
the
report
calls
“connected
TV”
is
now
the
dominant
way
for
US
consumers
to
watch
TV,
and
it
says
that
the
manufacturers
and
streamers
have
collectively
turned
connected
TVs
into
“a
sophisticated
monitoring,
tracking
and
targeting
device.”

In
the
report’s
introduction
it
uses
Tubi
as
an
example.
“Tubi’s
fundamental
business
model
is
based
on
harvesting
rich
and
detailed
information
from
its
viewers”
using
advertising
tech,
and
that
tech
can
then
be
used
to
change
what
content
is
recommended
to
you
and
even
what
products
are
featured
in
your
shows.
And
Tubi
is
far
from
alone
in
this:
the
report
goes
into
a
lot
of
detail
about
technologies
it
says
are
used
by
Disney+,

Amazon,
Netflix
and
many
more
of
the

best
streaming
services.

The
CDD
report
says
that
the
streaming
industry
“has
deliberately
incorporated
many
of
the
data-surveillance
marketing
practices
that
have
long
undermined
privacy
and
consumer
protection
in
the
‘older’
world
of
social
media,
search
engines,
mobile
phones
and
video
services…
millions
of
Americans
are
being
forced
to
accept
unfair
terms
in
order
to
access
video
programming,
which
threatens
their
privacy
and
may
also
narrow
what
information
they
access
–
including
the
quality
of
the
content
itself.”

The
report
paints
a
bleak
picture,
and
the
CDD
wants
the
US
Government
to
take
action.
In
particular
it
wants:

Robust
privacy
protection

Digital
marketing
safeguards
covering
politics,
health
and
children

Regulation
of
anti-competitive
and
monopolistic
behaviors

The
CDD
has
written
to
the
FTC,
FCC,
the
California
attorney
general,
and
the
CPPA
demanding
an
investigation
into
the
US
connected
TV
industry.
If
you’re
feeling
cynical,
the
size
of
the
companies
involved
and
the
size
of
their
political
donations
may
make
such
an
investigation
unlikely
–
and
the
result
of
the
Presidential
election
may
make
the
likelihood
of
an
investigation
is
even
slimmer.
However,
it’s
clear
that
to
have
such
a
massive
and
influential
industry
effectively
self-regulating
may
not
be
the
best
way
to
protect
our
privacy
or
save
us
from
corporate
misbehavior.
You
need
only
look
at
the
many
lawsuits
facing
the
likes
of

Google
to
see
that.

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breaking
news,
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top
tech
deals,
and
more.

Should
this
put
you
off
buying
the

best
TVs
today,
which
are
all
smart
and
connected?
Well,
you
don’t
have
a
ton
of
options
–
unless
you
want
to
use
a
basic
PC
monitor
to
watch
TV,
everything
is
setup
for
the
new
world
of
data
collection.
You
could
switch
to
one
of
the

best
projectors
and

best
4K
Blu-ray
players
to
keep
things
more
offline,
though
they
won’t
be
for
everyone
due
to
their
size
–
and
you
can’t
get
them
for
the
same
cheap
price
as
today’s
TVs.

As
is
often
the
case,
we
don’t
have
quite
the
range
of
choice
in
the
market
that
you
might
think,
considering
just
how
many
TVs
are
available.

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