When will LG have the Spark Sport (RWC 2019) app?

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#2307466 28-Aug-2019 19:39

hio77:
https://help.sparksport.co.nz/device-support/watching-on-lg-tv

This should help.

No - doesn’t help at all. SS have broken their promise to support lG Smart TVs 2017+. Ratbags.

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hio77

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#2307508 28-Aug-2019 20:00

eracode:
hio77:

https://help.sparksport.co.nz/device-support/watching-on-lg-tv

This should help.

No - doesn’t help at all. SS have broken their promise to support lG Smart TVs 2017+. Ratbags.

if you read the page, there is an offer you can look at for that..

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

kiwiharry

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#2307513 28-Aug-2019 20:21

2018 LG owner here. Acquired it in October. Have emailed Spark this afternoon to cancel my RWC Tournament Pass.

Will make do with the delayed Free To Air games or find a pub.

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JaseNZ

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#2307532 28-Aug-2019 21:25

Just from a tech point of view how could a 2018 ( I have the 65" E8 ) not run the app but a 2019 could , There is really no difference between the two models. I don't follow rugby so does not bother me just curious is all.

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#2307534 28-Aug-2019 21:27

hio77:

eracode:
hio77:

https://help.sparksport.co.nz/device-support/watching-on-lg-tv

This should help.

No - doesn’t help at all. SS have broken their promise to support lG Smart TVs 2017+. Ratbags.

if you read the page, there is an offer you can look at for that..

It’s a ridiculous offer. I have a 2018 LG OLED Smart TV purchased in July 2018.

SS promised to support LG Smart TVs for model years 2017+. When SS RWC went on sale, I subscribed on Day 1 as a Super Early Bird - based on the promise of the LG TVs support.

Now SS make an offer which is only available if you bought your TV after 20 Dec 2018?

That’s BS.

Oh, we can watch on 2017 or 2018 LGs if we go out and buy an ATV or a SmartVu - where the cheapest option costs double what we paid for our SS subscriptions?

That’s even worse BS.

How can SS delude themselves that they’re doing something to support the people who paid for the service based on the promised LG 2017+ support? Ridiculous.

Utter ratbags. Welcome to Amateur Hour!

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Senecio

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#2307535 28-Aug-2019 21:36

I know this has been said before, and most people here don't want to hear it. But you really need to think of TVs as nothing more than a display panel that is fed source material from an external box. If you buy a TV under the expectation that the manufacturer and App developers will continue to support it then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

eracode

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#2307536 28-Aug-2019 21:40

Senecio:
I know this has been said before, and most people here don't want to hear it. But you really need to think of TVs as nothing more than a display panel that is fed source material from an external box. If you buy a TV under the expectation that the manufacturer and App developers will continue to support it then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Maybe - but that’s not the situation here. SS made a promise, took our money - then reneged on the promise. Very different.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

JarrodM

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#2307540 28-Aug-2019 21:49

eracode:
Senecio:
I know this has been said before, and most people here don't want to hear it. But you really need to think of TVs as nothing more than a display panel that is fed source material from an external box. If you buy a TV under the expectation that the manufacturer and App developers will continue to support it then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Maybe - but that’s not the situation here. SS made a promise, took our money - then reneged on the promise. Very different.

Hmm from the facts it seems that you bought the tv before they announced lg tv support though? In that case there was no promise, and I thought spark sport were had a quite generous refund policy aswell?

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#2307547 28-Aug-2019 21:57

Just to be clear here is the pertinent release bits:

Spark Sport will launch shortly on 2019 LG TVs. However, despite extensive collaboration between Spark Sport app development and the device manufacturer, the Spark Sport app experiences significant issues playing on 2017 and 2018 LG TVs, so the app will not be made available on these devices before the Rugby World Cup.

People with older LG TVs can still watch Spark Sport on their existing TV, by using a streaming device such as an Apple TV, a Google Chromecast or a Freeview Smart VU. This is the same situation as pre-2017 models of Samsung TVs, Sony TVs and Panasonic TVs and any model of smart TV that are not one of the four brands that Spark Sport supports.

The Spark Sport team has a range of options in place to help customers who have purchased a 2017 or 2018 LG TV since 20 December 2018 (the date Spark Sport announced that LG TVs would support Spark Sport) and who also hold a Spark Sport subscription or RWC Tournament Pass. These customers should head to https://help.sparksport.co.nz/device-support/watching-on-lg-tv for more information.

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Senecio

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#2307548 28-Aug-2019 22:00

eracode:
Senecio:

I know this has been said before, and most people here don't want to hear it. But you really need to think of TVs as nothing more than a display panel that is fed source material from an external box. If you buy a TV under the expectation that the manufacturer and App developers will continue to support it then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Maybe - but that’s not the situation here. SS made a promise, took our money - then reneged on the promise. Very different.

It's not different at all. They didn't make a promise, they released a press statement that they intended to make the app available on those older TVs. If you then went out and bought said TV since the date of that press release they will ensure you can still watch it on your TV at no additional cost to you. If you already had that TV in your living room then you really have no-one to complain to as you didn't buy for the express purpose to watch RWC on SS.

JaseNZ

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#2307550 28-Aug-2019 22:03

Whats the device they are going use ??

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Senecio

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#2307552 28-Aug-2019 22:11

They don't state, they only refer to it as a supplementary device. Surely it will be the cheapest device that's compatible with SS. Most likely a chromecast. However they also state that if you don't want the free device on offer you can get credit towards the streaming device of your choice.

Honestly I think Spark should be recognised for going this far to ensure people who have bought these TVs since the announcement was made are looked after. It could be a cheap way to put an Apple TV in your living room and once you have I doubt many would go back to using the built in Apps.

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#2307590 29-Aug-2019 08:15

So I’ll repeat a comment from earlier,

LG TVs, great hardware, software not so much.

Why are TVs from Panasonic, Sony and Samsung capable of running an adequate app despite being years old, yet LG TVs running the most up to date version of WebOS incapable? Surely the problem must be WebOS? Is it so processor inefficient that there is no headroom available to run a streaming app? Obviously not because it runs Netflix, Amazon PV and Lightbox quite happily. Just not enough time and resources put into developing the app. Embarrassing for both Spark Sport and LG.

They can swap out the driver module / soundbar on my $12000 W8 for a W9 one if they want (tongue in cheek). Likewise, I would want to stream via Ethernet cable rather than wifi, a standard Chromecast isn’t good enough, it would need to be an ultra. But in the end it is moot, because;

I bought prior to December,

I didn’t buy the TV specifically to watch the RWC,

I have a chromecast ultra and ATV4K connected to the TV,

I will probably watch the important games on the projector anyway.

And to top it all off, Spark Sport refunded my earlybird payment because I have coverage included with Spark BB.

I am still not convinced that I’m not going to have to use the TVNZ fallback when the pressure comes on anyway.

Like the lack of support for Alexa/GA here when it has been available in the US for almost two years is just another example of how LG treats this market.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#2307593 29-Aug-2019 08:22

Senecio:
eracode:
Senecio:

I know this has been said before, and most people here don't want to hear it. But you really need to think of TVs as nothing more than a display panel that is fed source material from an external box. If you buy a TV under the expectation that the manufacturer and App developers will continue to support it then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Maybe - but that’s not the situation here. SS made a promise, took our money - then reneged on the promise. Very different.

It's not different at all. They didn't make a promise, they released a press statement that they intended to make the app available on those older TVs. If you then went out and bought said TV since the date of that press release they will ensure you can still watch it on your TV at no additional cost to you. If you already had that TV in your living room then you really have no-one to complain to as you didn't buy for the express purpose to watch RWC on SS.

No.

I have a 2018 TV.

SS launched a RWC app and promised it would work on my specific TV in due course.

Based on that promise, I bought their app in good faith and waited for the promise to be fulfilled.

After I bought it, they said ‘Nah, we’re not going to support that TV now’.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Naekyr

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#2307605 29-Aug-2019 08:41

JaseNZ:

Just from a tech point of view how could a 2018 ( I have the 65" E8 ) not run the app but a 2019 could , There is really no difference between the two models. I don't follow rugby so does not bother me just curious is all.

The only difference on paper is the 2018 model uses the Alpha 9 gen1 processors, the 2019 uses Alpha 9 gen2 processor.

I don't know whats the difference between Gen 1 and Gen2.

Not that it matters, because Sky Sport app will be launhced on low end IPS LG panels that use Alpha 7 which is way weaker than 2018's Alpha 9.

What I suspect has happened is that either WebOS is hard to work with and they don't want to develop for multiple versions OR LG has told them no because LG only wants the latest software on it's currently for sale TV's because that's what theyve done in the past.

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