Comcast wants to buy Roku

Jimbo

SatelliteGuys Master
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 14, 2005
70,626
9,078
NW Ohio - Buckeye Country
Roku is my favorite..I have " upgraded" several times when software upgrades cameout that crippled the box

I have a original firetv..has taken years worth of software upgrades..never crippled

Roku only $50... firetv was $200.. you get what you pay for
Since I've had my Sony TV, I really have no need for my Roku anymore.
I can load the same apps (and more) right on my Sony.
 

CyberSpock

SatelliteGuys Pro
Feb 8, 2017
419
350
US
Roku has risen from 350 to nearly 450 a share in the last 10 days. It started going up before the Comcast news hit 5 days ago which tells me wall street may have known about this already. That's a hefty price. Either they made a huge offer or the buyers are already making this deal too expensive.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
 

Jimbo

SatelliteGuys Master
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 14, 2005
70,626
9,078
NW Ohio - Buckeye Country
Sony will stop software updates eventually
Sonys not doing the updates for the Apps, the Apps are...
They are updated when Sony does thier updates, which is every few months it seems.
As long as they are using the Android OS, I don't see them falling behind or not updating.
 

Juan

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Sep 14, 2003
33,585
10,745
Moscow Russia
Sonys not doing the updates for the Apps, the Apps are...
They are updated when Sony does thier updates, which is every few months it seems.
As long as they are using the Android OS, I don't see them falling behind or not updating.
Sony has to update android os
 

Juan

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Sep 14, 2003
33,585
10,745
Moscow Russia
Google owns Android OS, so I see no reason why it wouldn't continue to be kept up to date.
Obvioulsly Sony and Google have a good working relationship...

Who does the updates on Roku and Firestick ?
Sony has to send software updates to the tv..eventually they stop software upgrades and updates...that way you buy a new tv
 

ncted

SatelliteGuys Master
Pub Member / Supporter
Jul 4, 2004
6,165
4,416
Durham, NC
Eventually, the SoCs that Sony uses in their TVs (MediaTek most likely) will be unable to handle the new codecs required by the Android TV platform. At that point you will not be able to update Android or the Apps. At another point beyond that, the older Android and App versions will stop being supported at all and not work. It won't happen all at once. Certain apps will drop support for your old TV first, and then one by one the rest will stop working, until you eventually have to get a new TV or add a streaming device. The same thing will happen to all SmartTVs eventually, not just Sony.

This is stupidity of SmartTVs IMHO, but there are very few dumb TVs available anymore, so what's a person to do? My answer is to not use their "Smart" features, so they cannot monetize me with ads and use an external streaming device instead. This is really just a bonus as the external sticks/boxes generally provide a superior experience to the built-in apps which is my primary reason for choosing to do this.
 

Jimbo

SatelliteGuys Master
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 14, 2005
70,626
9,078
NW Ohio - Buckeye Country
Sony has to send software updates to the tv..eventually they stop software upgrades and updates...that way you buy a new tv
With the current situation with Streaming That would be Suicide to Sony, they wouldn't do that to themselves.
I can see that happening with OFF brand TV's, but not the Major makers.

Btw, Rokus and the other Streaming boxes would also keep updating as well.
There are new versions of Each every year, that don't mean that an older unit won't work ...
If my current OLED doesn't get supported any longer, maybe I will WANT to invest in a newer one, as of right now I have one of the best out there and I'm quite happy with it.

Yes, even with how well I like my current TV, I would upgrade if the right situation came up.
 

Juan

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Sep 14, 2003
33,585
10,745
Moscow Russia
With the current situation with Streaming That would be Suicide to Sony, they wouldn't do that to themselves.
I can see that happening with OFF brand TV's, but not the Major makers.
They have done it on every other tv...the fix is simple...buy a streaming device..you don't throw away the tv because they stopped updating software. Its not really a huge deal
 

Jimbo

SatelliteGuys Master
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 14, 2005
70,626
9,078
NW Ohio - Buckeye Country
They have done it on every other tv...the fix is simple...buy a streaming device..you don't throw away the tv because they stopped updating software. Its not really a huge deal
They have Not done it on any TV's that were capable of Streaming as of yet, I don't know why you think they want to abandon what has worked well ....
why would they want a 3rd party involved when they are doing it themselves until it cost themselves more than the 3rd party charges.

Sony was a Great TV company for a LONG time, then they decided to be like OTHERS awhile back when they were bringing out 10 different TVs a years, then they WOKE UP ... in the last 5 years or so they are back on the top of the business.
 

Bilbo1

SatelliteGuys Pro
Jan 31, 2020
233
69
Somewhere
If thats the case (and it sounds right) then Google updates the Android OS and when they do so Sony (and whoever else is using the Android system) sends out thier next update along with any other improvements.

What concerns me about Android is the tendency of OEMs to add a custom layer on top of it. Hopefully that isn't an issue.

Eventually, the SoCs that Sony uses in their TVs (MediaTek most likely) will be unable to handle the new codecs required by the Android TV platform. At that point you will not be able to update Android or the Apps. At another point beyond that, the older Android and App versions will stop being supported at all and not work.

I'm not sure I'm as worried about that with newer units… past 3 to 5 years. I think the SOC are pretty stable… heck Roku used the ARM Cortex A53 since 2017, now moving to the A55.

I am running the latest version of Windows 10 on a 2015 HP Laptop.

Heck, even phones receive upgrades beyond 2 years nowadays, particularly iPhones (he types on an iPhone 8 running the latest version of iOS).

You can take that argument back to 2010 where it belongs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

navychop

Reunite Pangea! Stop overfishing Panthalassa!
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 20, 2005
63,214
32,023
Northern VA
Agreed about the ease of YT etc on Sony, even with some YT features missing or inoperable (comments, deleting). So I moved that Roku to another TV. When the Sony stops hosting YT effectively enough for me, I'll slap a Roku Next on it. But it is nice and easy to just use the Sony UI.
 

ncted

SatelliteGuys Master
Pub Member / Supporter
Jul 4, 2004
6,165
4,416
Durham, NC
What concerns me about Android is the tendency of OEMs to add a custom layer on top of it. Hopefully that isn't an issue.



I'm not sure I'm as worried about that with newer units… past 3 to 5 years. I think the SOC are pretty stable… heck Roku used the ARM Cortex A53 since 2017, now moving to the A55.

I am running the latest version of Windows 10 on a 2015 HP Laptop.

Heck, even phones receive upgrades beyond 2 years nowadays, particularly iPhones (he types on an iPhone 8 running the latest version of iOS).

You can take that argument back to 2010 where it belongs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My 6 year old Sony TVs stopped running current apps a couple of years ago. Google and Netflix have already indicated required AV1 support is forthcoming, and very few SoCs support it in silicon. A handful can support it in software, but most of them are not in Sony or anyone else's TVs.

How is your 2015 HP Laptop gonna do with Windows 11 BTW?

Obsolescence is a fact of life. Yes, hardware is now good enough that the life of "smart" features in products like TVs is longer than it used to be, but time and technology march on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TNGuy84

comfortably_numb

Dogs have owners, cats have staff
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 30, 2011
22,441
36,728
New Mexico
What concerns me about Android is the tendency of OEMs to add a custom layer on top of it

That is exactly why I don't use any devices running Android anymore. The bloatware often installed by carriers and OEM's clutters up the interface. Then there's the fragmentation between different versions of the OS. Folks can say all they want about iOS, but I don't have any of these issues with it.
 

Sinclair Aiming for $23/Month Streaming Plan for Bally Sports in 2022

Tablo adds remote access to the Apple TV box

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)