As the title suggests, Samsung holds the ability to block any Samsung TV around the world.
Samsung revealed this tiny little secret themselves after several Samsung TVs were stolen from a distribution centre at the KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on 11 July 2021. The TVs, of course, are now useless as Samsung has blocked all of them.
The lead that we take from this statement and its practical manifestation is astonishing. Samsung can do this to any of its TVs around the globe. It does not matter where the TV is on the planet. So Samsung can effectively put it to rest, render it useless, and the Tech Giants have officially acknowledged this much.
The technology is dubbed as TV Block, and it’s “pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products.” Whenever a TV is stolen for sure, Samsung logs the serial number of the TV and then waits for it to be connected to the internet. Whenever the TV is connected to the internet, it is automatically blocked, effectively turning it into nothing more than a piece of plastic. Samsung states, “the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions.”
Mike Van Lier, Director of Consumer Electronics at Samsung South Africa, explained:
“In keeping with our values to leverage the power of technology to resolve societal challenges, we will continuously develop and expand strategic products in our consumer electronics division with defence-grade security, purpose-built, with innovative and intuitive business tools designed for a new world. This technology can have a positive impact at this time and will also be of use to both the industry and customers in the future.”
In the current scenario, the TV Block can be viewed as a positive tech, but it may put thousands of Samsung users worldwide knowing that their TVs can be remotely disabled without them even knowing. This feature is also prone to a takeover by hackers, and just imagine if that happens. Thousands of users around the globe being unable to access their own TVs. That would be some news.
