New user with an old H.TV unit

Hello all,

Somebody in my apartment building had an H.TV box and put it out to recycling. I decided to pick it up and look at it. I was able to restore the unit, set it for English and put in the updated software. It runs like a champ. I like it. I think it's a fascinating piece of equipment.

This unit appears to be quite old. It's running Android 4.4.4. I took a picture of the serial number sticker. The sticker gives me the impression that this unit departed from the factory on July 22, 2003. I'm not 100% sure if that's possible . If anybody can point me in the correct direction on how to get more info on this unit, it would be greatly appreciated.

It seems I can't post the image, so here's the SN: 8e.02_07.22_200334326

Comments

  • Lol! Android wasn't around in 2003, nor was wifi.

    But if it works well for you, that's great. If you've read some of the posts in this forum, seems like The company HTV went out of business and the developers of the app and streaming content is making changes.

    It will be stuck on that old version of Android though. Shouldn't affect it too much because it's limited by the apps ability to stream video.
  • edited January 2019
    Hello Madman,

    I kinda figured that it would be trapped at 4.4.4. That wasn't my primary concern. I was kinda' surprised by how many apps in the Google Play Store won't work on it. It also had some interesting quirks. Inside the unit, it said I can install Netflix (NF). I knew this wasn't true. In the Google Play Store, the promotional information for NF says that an Android device needs at least V5 , so I didn't even bother trying to install it.. I have two phones and a PC and Playstation 3 that can all run NF. An app that downloads porn off of the Torrents?? O.o? Phew... Wow... Are you kidding?? I'm guessing that the original dev team never intended this unit to be a replacement for a Windows desktop/laptop.

    Besides Netflix here some others that wouldn't work:
    Google Chrome Browser
    PlutoTV
    I Heart Radio
    RadioNext
    Ccleaner
    Speedway (Gas Station app)
    7-11 (Convenience Store)

    Cheers,
    Bill N. - New York



  • You probably can't install straight from the playstore because the box thinks it's in China. We don't know the inner workings of the box but I suspect that it's somehow VPN to make it look like you are in China. Also, the playstore is an old version so little hope of updating officially.

    What you can do is sideload the apps. If they are compatible with that version of Android, the could work. Copy the apk files to a usb drive and launch the built in file manager. Or you can use something like es File Explorer.
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