- Lawrence Ng
Stolen Samsung TVs Made Useless With Blocking Technology
After thieves stole Samsung television sets from the Cato Ridge distribution centre in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa on 11 July 2021, Samsung remotely disabled the looted appliances. By applying the Television Block function pre-loaded on all Samsung TV sets, the electronics firm was able to detect if the stolen TVs were being unduly activated and make sure that they can only be used by their rightful owners.
Samsung explained that the purpose of having this technology in all of its TV products is to protect the company against the formation of illegal goods businesses in various markets.
“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,” said Samsung South Africa’s Director of Consumer Electronics Mike Van Lier.
Seeking to help retailers in South Africa offset losses from the theft, Samsung activated the TV Block feature. In a statement, the company explained how TV Block works. First, a TV blocking system will be activated on Samsung TV sets swiped from a company warehouse. An appliance will be remotely blocked when a user of a stolen TV set connects to the internet. Once this happens, Samsung will be able to identify the serial number of the TV on the Samsung server and block the device, disabling all of its functions.
While the technology has its benefits, it could also inconvenience consumers if TV Block will be wrongly applied to their devices. Samsung informed customers that if such an incident occurs, then owners of the TV sets can restore their appliances’ functionality by sending their proof of purchase and a valid TV licence to serv.manager@samsung.com. They can also visit this website for more details.
Wqritten by Sophia Lopez