Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.

This way, when an owner of a Roku TV takes a short break from playing a game on their Xbox, or streaming something on an Apple TV device connected to the TV set, Roku would use that break to show ads. Roku engineers have even explored ways to figure out what the consumer is doing with their TV-connected device in order to display relevant advertising.

  • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Any company trying to use the HDMI-CEC protocol in such a subversive manner should lose their license to the HDMI standard IMO.

      • SmoothLiquidation@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m mad that they did their broken implementation of sending control codes between devices that never works. I have to disable it on everything so that the correct input gets set.

        And then they are killing the universal remote industry so there is nothing to replace it with.

    • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You know HDMI is not some big secret they can use it without the license and ship from overseas like 90% of shit shipped from China.

      • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        For cheap gizmos I can see a chinese seller getting away with it (rebranding under another weird name like AWOYO or something, in a sea of identical devices under different brand names), but not a large business like Roku.