How your smart TV is spying on every other gadget in your home

Smart-home gadgets are quietly sweeping through homes across the United States. Whether it’s a Google Home on your kitchen counter, an internet-connected door lock, or a robotic vacuum that talks to your phone, it’s hard to buy a home appliance these days without the option of tying it in to your home Wi-Fi network.

One of the first things to be swept up by our always-connected overlords were TVs, since people enjoy watching YouTube and Netflix without needing a separate box. But as a new report from the New York Times points out, smart TVs are collecting far more data than we probably realize.

The report looks at one provider of smart TV tracking services called Samba TV. It puts tracking software on smart TVs from Sony, Sharp, TCL and Philips, among others. It’s an opt-in service, but like most things, it seems that people just click OK to enabling it during the set-up process, as the company says that 90 percent of people choose to opt in, and its software runs on 13.5 million smart TVs in the US alone.

For consumers, Samba TV tracks on-screen content and uses that to recommend new content, apps, or better-targeted adverts. But for marketers, it scoops up far more data:

( The big draw for advertisers — which have included Citi and JetBlue in the past, and now Expedia — is that Samba TV can also identify other devices in the home that share the TV’s internet connection.

Samba TV, which says it has adhered to privacy guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), does not directly sell its data. Instead, advertisers can pay the company to direct ads to other gadgets in a home after their TV commercials play, or one from a rival airs. Advertisers can also add to their websites a tag from Samba TV that lets them determine if people visit after watching one of their commercials. )


In practice, this is like the real-world version of cookies that track users’ browsing habits from one website to the next. It means that rather than treating your smart TV as a standalone device, it sees it as part of a wider network of smart home devices, and enables companies to track you from your TV to your iPad to your Google Home, making the arm of the digital advertiser just that little bit longer.

3G smartphone demand declining, handset makers like Samsung, Micromax and others to launch only 4G phones

Third-generation (3G) smartphones are headed for a quick exit in India, with prices of the more advanced 4G devices plunging and plans by large manufacturers to completely withdraw from the segment in six months.

Samsung Electronics, Oppo, VivoBSE 0.00 %, Lenovo-Motorola, HTC, Micromax Informatics and Panasonic have decided that they will now launch only 4G smartphones and some of them are clearing out their 3G smartphone stocks, four senior industry executives said.

Retailers said demand for 3G smartphones has been declining over the past two or three months, in the run-up to the launch of services by Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Jio, which started commercial operations earlier this month, is offering 4G data and voice services free with almost all major smartphone brands until the end of the year. It has also cut the price of its entry-level 4G Lyf smartphones to Rs 2,999 from Rs 3,999.

Other smartphone makers may follow suit, bridging the gap with entry-level 3G smartphones that are priced upwards of Rs 2,500.

"We are not placing any new orders for 3G smartphones. Manufacturers are not importing any new 3G phones," said Subhash Chandra, managing director of south-based retailer Sangeetha Mobiles.

Samsung, the country's largest cellphone maker, has only three 3G smartphones in its portfolio and the remaining 22 models are all 4G. While the company did not confirm when it will exit 3G handsets, it said 4G phones are becoming the mainstream.

Sales of 4G devices are picking up because there is already a large base of smartphone users using 3G/2G smartphones, said Manu Sharma, vice president (mobiles business) at Samsung India Electronics.

"Hence, they would want to take advantage of the 4G offering with higher speeds and reduced data tariff plans. The ecosystem of content, services and applications has evolved significantly, which is fuelling adoption," said Sharma.

Chinese rival Oppo India will transit to a completely 4G portfolio from 2017 by discontinuing its sole 3G model, company president Sky Li said. HTC president (South Asia and India) Faisal Siddiqui said with 4G smartphone prices plunging in India, it will exit 3G smartphones by March.

Handsets that support 4G accounted for 65 per cent of smartphone shipments in India in the quarter ended June and are projected to reach 90 per cent of the market by the same period next year, according to Hong Kong-based tracker Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

Counterpoint's senior analyst Tarun Pathak said a maturing component ecosystem will lower the pricing of entry-level 4G handsets to about $40 (about Rs 2,600) by the end of 2016.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is popular globally.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was the most popular smartphone globally in the first half of 2016.

Xiaomi's budget smartphone Redmi Note 3 has emerged as the most popular smartphone in India, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is popular globally.

Antutu, the popular mobile benchmarking app has announced its list of popular smartphones. According to the release, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is the most popular smartphone globally, while Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 ruled the popularity index in India and China.

Samsung dominated the list of Top 10 popular smartphones in the world with six of its devices in the list. Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was followed by Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S7. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge was the sixth most popular device.

Samsung recently reported significant profit growth on the back of Galaxy S7 sales. The Korean smartphone giant is set to launch next Galaxy Note smartphone on August 2.

While Samsung topped the list, the surprise element was Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 3 was the fifth popular Android device, and was the most popular device in India, China, Hong Kong, Russia, Vietnam and Russia.

Antutu uses its benchmark data to rate the devices. The popularity rating is for the first half of 2016. Antutu is currently the most popular benchmarking tool used by both enthusiasts as well as average user.

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SAMSUNG Galaxy Note 5