how do i change to canada setup, also how do i get it to read my 1tb external usb hdd

I have one of the nsz-gs7 boxs from sony pre release party at the google i/o. i live in toronto but i cant seem to get the device to let me enter a canadian postal code, and i can not use it without entering a us zip code so i opted for 10001(new york) so now when i try to do the cable integration it only shows me us service providers. second how can i get my device to read my seagate 1tb usb hdd. it reads my 8gb usb stick fine.

 

I don't believe that GTV has officially launched in Canada yet. According to this article it will launch in August:

Sony Internet Player With Google TV(TM) Launches in Canada - MarketWatch

I think the best thing to do would be to call Sony support and see if they have a solution available yet.

I'm not an expert about your hard drive question - but according to this thread (see link below) the first generation Sony GTV blu-ray player can only read a Fat 32 drive:

http://www.googletvforum.org/forum/sony-blu-ray-set-top-box/4885-external-hard-drive.html

By the way I think the forum readers would be interested if you could post some of your personal experiences about how well (or not well) the new Sony GTV box functions. It would be appreciated. Good luck!

 

thanks for the links. personally since i set it up i haven't been able to put it down. over the last 2 weeks i been reading reviews on how bad they thought this product was, had me really hesitant on getting the device. personally i have been caught up in the apple ecosystem since the first iPhone and bought all their mobile products besides the mac books. i never owned a Google tv before nor an apple tv. i decided to make the jump when i realized that this Sony product had hdmi pass through. this was a major selling point for me because all 4 hdmi inputs on my Samsung 3d led smart tv were already accounted for. many features on the sony device was already present in my smart tv, but gtv put them all together seamlessly, or so i thought.

things that i expected but never got:

1. i expected to plug in my hard drive or USB stick and be able to search movies and tv shows that are on it from the universal search (This might be possible... Sony has blocked the standard media player on the device and left it with a "coming soon" tag) so one can assume when the block is removed it might be possible. i am not sure if the block is because the device is not running the release date software or other reasons...with that being said i had to download a gtv player for 2.99

2. i expected the universal search would also search my plex content, it doe not... so i have to open up plex to then search the content via the plex search.

3. I cant change my locale to outside us. but this is not a Sony problem since as stated earlier i believe i am running pre release software and the device does not get released in Canada for another month

4. i expected to see a vevo app, but there was not one, but i found a work around via plex by subscribing to the vevo channel. but as stated earlier it does not show up in the universal search.

5. i expected gtv to read all HDD formats not just fat32. (because that means i would have to copy 625gb of data off the hdd then reformat it to fat32 then copy back over all the files that meet the 4gb limit. and many of my blu-ray rips hover around that limit) my Samsung smart tv reads from my 1tb hard drive perfectly fine.

6. i expected to see a hulu app or a free alternative (probably dumb of me to expect that)

7. setup can be a hassle if you do not know the exact model numbers of your tv, cable box, speaker system. i had to look at the back of each device for the model numbers.

things i love:

1. Sony entertainment company has provide their unlimited music and movies section, which is also search able, and has offered about 150 tv shows and movies free of charge. as well as a lot more for a cost.

2. i can search all video services at one time (except plex and local drives) therefore i can choose which service to play from and watch them in sequence

3. airplay from my iPad 1 and able remote from my galaxy 8.9 lte make watching my personal media seamless or sending a YouTube video from my iPhone 4s easy

4. besides plex and gtv player i haven't had to open up a single app myself to watch what i want, everything happens from within the universal search.

5. the remote is by far one of the main reason i opted for the device, many reviewers didn't like it. i grant it is a bit wider than my tv remote but for what it offers it is worth it. best advice unless surfing the web use the remote in a landscape mode. the directional pad on the qwerty side is more than adequate enough to scroll and select through the OS.

6. i love that the tv and movies section has a filter for free content only

7. the YouTube videos appear high quality on a 55" screen even when sent via airplay

8. the ir blaster controls my tv, my cable box and Logitech surround sound perfectly


overall i do not regret this device one bit. it is almost everything i would want and more from an integrated tv. this is what i wanted apple tv to be years ago. and what i hope apple's itv will have if it expects to be a mainstream success. for those that are waiting for this device, Sony gave 500 away to i/o developers last week. so there should be quite a few for sale. i bought mine from a developer on kijiji for $180 who was trying to recoup the cost of his trip there. i seen one more on eBay and one more on Kijiji, so check your local sites if you cant wait for the release date.

i am hoping once it gets released in the states or more of you acquire them you guys can fill me in on things i missed or don't understand and maybe then my list of things i don't like may disappear with help from more knowledgeable Google tv users.

 

When you get time Caines check out Sony Spotlight under all apps It has a lot of shortcuts to other stuff that you may not know about - in example it has stuff like mediawall.tv - MediaWall.TV that allows you to search for an artist and have their music streamed to your device. If you don't have it you can always bookmark it at Spotlight Gallery - Google TV

 

Caines thanks for your comments. How does the new new Sony GTV box work for general web browsing? For streaming Flash videos from web sites? Do pages load fast and do you notice any "freeze-ups" or Flash "shockwave crashes"?

 

I haven't used the web browser for flash based sites. But I used it for many other sites and it was very smooth for a set top browser. Very comparable to a pc browser. I love the device so much I picked up another one of kijiji for my living room. Something i did notice today video sent from google tablets And phones are far smother than ones via apple product and AirPlay.

 

I also need someone work a us google account to test one of the redeem codes sony gave me. It's not working for me on my Canadian account on a us DNs server I use to access American content. I will send one code to the first user who say they want to test it out for me.

 

I'd be glad to test anything out. I'm in the USA - however I'm on the Logitech Revue GTV box - so perhaps this redeem code only works for Sony products?

 

i checked out the spotlight section, i didnt download the app you mentioned because it seemed quite similar to Pandora.

catfishrivers i sent you the code please let us know if it works. i have 5 codes left to give away in case i can not access them via another route. plus i already have all those movies on plex except the first and second spiderman

 

Hi. Here's what happened. I selected a movie and entered the code. The screen indicated the movie was $9.99 and that there was a $9.99 deduction for the coupon code (and hence there would be no charge) - however subsequently a pop-up came on-screen that said I needed to complete the transaction in Google Wallet. I clicked the button for Google Wallet and then it instructed me to enter my credit card information.

I'm sorry but I wasn't willing to enter all my credit card information.

I had read that Google was going to make movie purchases/rentals from Google Play & YouTube available on Google TV by the end of the summer with an additional update. Plus I'm still stuck on the 3.1 update (I couldn't get my Revue to update to the new 3.2 update). So I'm thinking that perhaps movie purchases still aren't supported on my Revue.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Hopefully somebody else can test it for you also.

 

okay. if someone else is willing to try the with codes please let me know. catfishrivers did you do all this from your computer or your google tv device?

 

I did it from my Logitech Revue. (I have no computer). I noticed that on that Sony YouTube page it said that after a movie is paid for - that Google TV users should go to their YouTube app and find the movie in their "purchases" section to view it. Unfortunately I have no purchases section on my YouTube app - probably because I'm still stuck on the 3.1 update.

This is what the Sony YouTube page said:

"Playing your movie

On Google TV:
Sign in to the YouTube app and find your movie in Purchases.

On YouTube:
Sign into YouTube and find your movie under your account in Purchases.

On Android:
Sign in to the Google Play Movies app, and find your movie in "My Movies"

 

i tried it last night on google tv and it still gave me the movie is not available error when i clicked redeem. i did get a bit further with the mib movie but when i went to enter the code it said my code is not valid for this movie. so i guess it will only work for US citzens

 

Hey Caines. I just wanted to reply and say that I redeemed the codes that I received with my GTV box last night and they worked fine. If you want a specific code tested, I'd be more than happy to help.... But I'd be willing to bet that it's an issue with your location. I'm in California, U.S. btw.

 

I figured it was location based. Did you have to enter your full credit card billing info including address?

 

I already had multiple cards in my Google Wallet account, so I'm not sure on that one.

 

@ caines

Hi,

The offer “terms & Conditions” stated “…only available to address in US …” .