ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
kuyttendaele: Got a reply from BeoCare: Thank you for your request. Below is a summary of your request and our response. Subject Good morning, I bought a BV14-40 last week. Yesterdayevening the tv requested to... Response By Email Dear Karel Uyttendaele, Thank you for writing Bang & Olufsen Customer service with your request - and congratulations on your BeoVision 14. Netflix will not be implemented as an integrated feature inBeoVision 14, which the software update yesterday reflected. However, we shall of course offer you an alternative solution in form of a complimentary Apple TV, that will easily integrate in the back of the television and which you can of course control by means of your BeoRemote One. As your dealer will provide you with the complimentary Apple TV unit and help you further in this matter, we kindly refer you to contact the store at your convenience in order to obtain further assistance. We are sorry for the trouble and wish you many superior viewing experiences with your new Bang & Olufsen television. Kind regards,Customer Service Bang & Olufsen A/S | Peter Bangs Vej 15 | DK-7600 Struer | Denmarkwww.bang-olufsen.com| www.beoplay.com
Got a reply from BeoCare:
Thank you for your request. Below is a summary of your request and our response.
I agree with BeoGreg, the 4K netflix feature is what is interesting. Most people probably already have an Apple TV.
Beolab 50, Beolab 8000 x 2, Beolab 4000 x 2, BeoSound Core, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound Century, BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, BeoPlay P2, BeoPlay H9 3rd Gen, BeoPlay H6, EarSet 3i, BeoVision Eclipse Gen 2 55", BeoPlay V1-40, BeoCom 6000 and so much else :)
Anyway... with all current info it seems that we do not have to blame B&O but Netflix...
kuyttendaele: Anyway... with all current info it seems that we do not have to blame B&O but Netflix...
According to B&O. Very convenient. I don't always trust the information I receive from a dealer - the same dealer who won't want you to return the TV.
Why would Netflix remove an app which generates money for their company? Anyone who uses the app pays their company money and it's only a generic Android app anyhow, so there's no specific development for B&O TVs. There's no reason why Netflix would want it removed or demand it removed.
If anything, it could be that the TV doesn't meet Netflix's own requirements for including their app: https://devices.netflix.com/en_gb/recommendedtv/2016/
Which would mean it's B&O issue, with B&O blaming Netflix.
moxxey:According to B&O. Very convenient. I don't always trust the information I receive from a dealer - the same dealer who won't want you to return the TV. Why would Netflix remove an app which generates money for their company? Anyone who uses the app pays their company money and it's only a generic Android app anyhow, so there's no specific development for B&O TVs. There's no reason why Netflix would want it removed or demand it removed. If anything, it could be that the TV doesn't meet Netflix's own requirements for including their app: https://devices.netflix.com/en_gb/recommendedtv/2016/ Which would mean it's B&O issue, with B&O blaming Netflix.
would like to think this sort of thing wont happen once the B&O/LG panels come out, but not filled with confidence.....
guess its just a reminder of (a) how 4K has yet to settle down with respect to standards of distribution (AV1 for ex) and (b) what a mess TV the streaming landscape is (no one universal platform agnostic subscription etc)..........regardless of blame, panels from other brands will not be completely be immune from all this.....
and to think, people deride Apple for its protective ecosystem behaviour....seems like there are many other culprits in their own ways.....Netflix, Apple, Google, Amazon, cable and satellite companies.....they wont make nice(r) with each other until regulators get involved, which they probably wont until consumers are more obviously harmed......
my main set up (12-65) ain't going nowhere for years, thats for sure.....
KMA
B&O product history since 1991: Ridiculously long to list in a signature.
moxxey:Why would Netflix remove an app which generates money for their company? Anyone who uses the app pays their company money...........
Licenses, licenses and big money. B&O is a to small player to throw big money at Netflix.
"Believe nothing you read and only half of what you see, let your ears tell you the truth."
Chris: moxxey:Why would Netflix remove an app which generates money for their company? Anyone who uses the app pays their company money........... Licenses, licenses and big money. B&O is a to small player to throw big money at Netflix.
Nothing to do with that Chris. Netflix don't charge for their app, but they do have requirements for TV manufacturers to adhere to, and B&O haven't met them.
You don't need to pay "big money" to integrate an Andoid app. Have you looked in to this before making this comment?
the odd thing with all of this is that, having not put a huge amount of effort in their own smart TV environment, B&O surely opted for Android TV to have a more credible environment, one which is expandable as the selection of apps and services grows over time, and lower maintenance in the long run for B&O...........from what i understand ( posted earlier about this) it is Netflix that has pulled the app....the email traffic my dealer saw suggests B&O senior management are very unhappy about this, implying again that it was Netflix's doing......
as for Netflix's reasons, i dont know.....while an Android TV app shouldn't require much B&O specific maintenance, companies like Netflix and their ilk tend to have lots of conditions....some of which B&O may have found difficult....but again, it would be weird in the extreme to release a tv advertising Netflix 4K as a feature, only to pull it pretty much on release........
anyway, i'll hide an Amazon Fire 4K box in the back of 14-55 and move on......not as if there is reams of 4k content anyway.....
moxxey: If anything, it could be that the TV doesn't meet Netflix's own requirements for including their app: https://devices.netflix.com/en_gb/recommendedtv/2016/ Which would mean it's B&O issue, with B&O blaming Netflix.
From the requirements page: "TV Instant On" and "Netflix button"
Since "TV Instant On" is part of the requirements, it's likely Netflix found out that a BV takes ~40 seconds to boot ... at least that's the case on my BV 10 & 11, I hope the start up time (from low-power stand-by) has improved on the 14.
Personally I do not care because I tend to favour external boxes for media playback, but it's definitely a self-goal (as we say in Italian) for B&O who marketed Netflix as a selling point for the TV.. and judging from Beocare's answer above it does not look like it's coming back in a future software update. Oh and the 1080p Apple TV is a joke, they should have offered an Nvidia Shield which supports 4K. I think there is unfortunately some confusion in Struer R&D department..
Marcello:From the requirements page: "TV Instant On" and "Netflix button" Since "TV Instant On" is part of the requirements, it's likely Netflix found out that a BV takes ~40 seconds to boot ... at least that's the case on my BV 10 & 11, I hope the start up time (from low-power stand-by) has improved on the 14. Personally I do not care because I tend to favour external boxes for media playback, but it's definitely a self-goal (as we say in Italian) for B&O who marketed Netflix as a selling point for the TV.. and judging from Beocare's answer above it does not look like it's coming back in a future software update. Oh and the 1080p Apple TV is a joke, they should have offered an Nvidia Shield which supports 4K. I think there is unfortunately some confusion in Struer R&D department..
Ah, you know... A little B&O here, a little there
bit cryptic no? wouldnt surprise me if it re-appeared, though not sure why you are so confident?
BeoMegaMan:Nothing to do with codecs, nothing to do with HDR or the like. No licensing issues either. Relax, winter is coming. You will very likely have it back then. Ah, you know... A little B&O here, a little there
Michael:As I asked you before, give us a source or stop making stuff up.
moxxey: Chris: moxxey:Why would Netflix remove an app which generates money for their company? Anyone who uses the app pays their company money........... Licenses, licenses and big money. B&O is a to small player to throw big money at Netflix. Nothing to do with that Chris. Netflix don't charge for their app, but they do have requirements for TV manufacturers to adhere to, and B&O haven't met them. You don't need to pay "big money" to integrate an Andoid app. Have you looked in to this before making this comment?
It's actually very simple and the solution would be: Netflix needs to sort out its content and offer a universal service.
The biggest VDSL provider in my country provides us with Netflix, but purely content for my country. There is no possibility to change that to another foreign Netflix account, but a smart app would gives you more freedom in this and its fairly easy to create a workaround for it.
TV providers paying a lot to earn the rights to bring us exclusive series on their channel and you are not supposed to view them first on Netflix in using a, per example: US account or any other foreign account. Did you hear that Netflix blocked VPN services and proxy's for that reason ?
I made myself not very clear with writing B&O gives money to Netflix, it's about spending money for development to block the app for foreign accounts.
Not sure if it is that simple at all - content rights are unbelievably complicated, and divided up geographically, so its not within Netflix control to offer a universal set of content......
in the UK for example, Sky have exclusive rights to a lot of HBO material - thats why there is little or no HBO material on Netflix UK - whereas in the US, HBO has its own cable channel, app, and they give Netflix US the content........similar problems exist everywhere.....
lets assume Netflix wanted everyone everywhere to have all the content, they can't - deals that content makers have cut with other distribution channels get in the way......Apple have struggled (and not succeeded) to persuade the cable companies to let them have access to their full content range - that should tell you something.....its not going to happen any time soon, we are stuck in a highly fragmented world......and now its getting worse, with smart TV platforms also fragmenting...depending on which TV you buy, you will get either Android TV, webOS, Tizen, Firefox TV OS, all different platforms with different app availability...........
so i'm with you on what would be nice, its just not going to happen....
mjmedlo:Michael:As I asked you before, give us a source or stop making stuff up.His source is john snow.Please tell me there's a game of thrones fan on this board????
BeoNut since '75
I really do not see it as a problem that the new B&O TV's do not offer Netflix. Surely every B&O TV customer will own even a basic blu-ray player which offers Netflix or a Apple TV box or Roku or Amazon Fire?
Netflix is great for many but many more equivalents will pop up over the next few years. Amazon Prime for example with its programming. A £59 Amazon Fire 4K box will allow 4K Netflix along with 4K Amazon Prime and 4K Vimeo. Maybe the person who spends £5K on a TV will also buy a UHD 4K Blu Ray player with the 4K Netflix built in.
BeoMegaMan:If you know me, you probably wouldn't doubt me. If you don't know me, then you should doubt me. For you, time will tell. Ah, you know... A little B&O here, a little there
True BV7 but the person who spends £5K on a TV isn't a 'normal' customer. Chance are that they watch a lot of TV and have the boxes for their services. It's a real TV person that spends this kind of money and the chances are that they use other services just as much as much.
i'm with you more or less.....its a clumsy outcome between B&O and Netflix, but there is the simplest of workarounds - an Amazon Fire costs very little, and it fits in the back of the 14.....so no big deal at the end of the day practically.....just a poor read across PR / strategy wise for both companies.....
at the end of the day, external boxes will always be required for most, the TV manufacturers simply dont build the OS's that are future proof.....they're not good at it, its best out sourced to software companies who are better at this sort of stuff.....fine for the big panel makers, given deeper pockets, will always be difficult, though hopefully not impossible for B&O.....
On the very same subject, the linked article is well worth reading.......more of less exactly the problem we have been discussing!
literally just popped up in my inbox as i wrote my previous msg.......(many) SONY Bravia's losing access to Youtube.....
https://9to5mac.com/2016/09/02/apple-television-set-opinion/?pushup=1
the most salient paragraph is this "This is the problem with the single-box approach to smart TVs: when you combine an extremely expensive display panel with built-in smarts, you’re at the mercy of tech changes. In the online TV space, these are pretty fast-paced. When a change as small as a shift from http to https can rob you of access to a channel, a series of individually small changes can quickly render your once cutting-edge television obsolete over the course of just a few years."
just been reading uhd an d Netflix in uk
have to pay extra for uhd 8.99 per month
not a lot of content at this stage
Netflix recommend min 25mbts to watch it so wonder how many people couldn't receive it even if the tv had the app
malcolm
@kuyttendale
Would you be so kind to make some comments to the following questions?
What is in the 'Source List' (of the BV14)?
It is divided in 'Audio' and 'Video' - I know - which makes sense, since the remote/BT works that way.
Can you add something from your apps to the List(s), just like it previously was possible with the BV11 etc?
E.g. Spotify, Deezer and Youtube could be added, which was quite handy - especially because you could map these to a specific 'button' on the remote.
Does it work this way too on the 14?
What is possible to make your day easier - I would not want to scroll through some apps just to find Spotify or TuneIN....
Of course you can use the 4 MyButtons - but that is not what I meant....because these are 'nameless'.
All in all - how does the BV14 do its everyday-work?
Are you using it in a NL-setup?
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
B&o should own the problem! It is there customers who they promised to have a up to date smart TV, with android interface being pushed.
The whole point of a smart TV is to get rid of extra boxes and clutter and use the TV interface for YouTube, Netflix etc.
My Sony smart TV works flawless with Netflix, Amazon etc and with kodi build installed I have done away with subscription to.
This reminds me when I bought a new 7-40 mk2 and was told it was Dolby digital surround sound when I could not even get 2 channel pcm and one dvi socket, this was a breach of Dolby standards, they then try and fob you off with a 1080p Apple TV on their new 4k TV ???.
I am watching HDR 4k film now and believe me there is a difference, and I still have numerous beovisions in the house.I am struggling to buy another at this rate.
elephant:Yo Bro of da Watch BeoNut since '75
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
Chris Townsend:I drove past one of their sets up here in deepest County Durham, just yesterday.
Millemissen: @kuyttendale Would you be so kind to make some comments to the following questions? MM
I'll come back to you in a couple of days.. Didn't have that much time.
In the mean time I can tell you that (per Netflix support by phone) "If the TV didn't come with Netflix pre installed then you can install it from Google Play.. but it won't work" (Du'h!)
I haven't found a way to add additional sources to "Audio" or "Video" ... but maybe I'm overlooking something...
But.. I'll come back with a more detailed write-out
Karel.
Thanks Karel - for getting back.
Looking forward to your 'details' ;-)
Always a pleasure to hear from someone, who 'lives' with a new product.
With the removal of native Netflix app I find "Netflix" button on BeoRemote One quite puzzling.
What is supposed to happen if you press it?
I had my BV14 installed yesterday - had some connectivity issues, seem to have just resolved themselves of their own accord....strange, but anyway....
This is how i think it works :
Remote source lists are managed on the BV14 menu system and then applied back to the remote. Seems to work well enough to me. Not sure about adding apps as sources - think its possible, managed to do it somehow for Youtube, let me see if can progress. There's something in the user guide / help under Personalise Your Experience which suggests it is possible, though haven't fully explored.
Remains to be seen how good the apps are - just downloaded the TuneIn Radio app from the Android TV store, and its very poor. The TuneIn app on the Fire TV is excellent, light years apart. The Spotify app seems pretty good on the Android TV though, which is encouraging.
Anyway getting used to the new BV14 - the 4K looks pretty good from both Netflix and Amazon Prime. Sound seems very good too, though my use case is my bedroom, and a world away from my lounge set up of course.
And for those who had asked previously, Amazon Fire TVs can be controlled using the BeoRemote, i have that up and running now.
Also nice that the new BeoRemote will switch to IR automatically if you change the device to an IR BV from the device list.
Will update later.
S.
Sandyb:I had my BV14 installed yesterday - had some connectivity issues, seem to have just resolved themselves of their own accord....strange, but anyway.... This is how i think it works : Remote source lists are managed on the BV14 menu system and then applied back to the remote. Seems to work well enough to me. Not sure about adding apps as sources - think its possible, managed to do it somehow for Youtube, let me see if can progress. There's something in the user guide / help under Personalise Your Experience which suggests it is possible, though haven't fully explored. Remains to be seen how good the apps are - just downloaded the TuneIn Radio app from the Android TV store, and its very poor. The TuneIn app on the Fire TV is excellent, light years apart. The Spotify app seems pretty good on the Android TV though, which is encouraging. Anyway getting used to the new BV14 - the 4K looks pretty good from both Netflix and Amazon Prime. Sound seems very good too, though my use case is my bedroom, and a world away from my lounge set up of course. And for those who had asked previously, Amazon Fire TVs can be controlled using the BeoRemote, i have that up and running now. Also nice that the new BeoRemote will switch to IR automatically if you change the device to an IR BV from the device list. Will update later. S.