The netflix reason is something which I don’t really understand. Several other projectors which use Android TV have Netflix (XGIMI, Xiaomi, Anker, etc). Admittedly, these are all unofficial Netflix apk’s but that’s also true for the ppm 
What exactly is the benefit for Netflix on the PPM?
There are many projectors there that chose normal Android over Android TV so I guess they have the same reason(s) as Philips. Not sure what’s the point of knowing the reason. It’s most likely a business decision more than technical. It is what it is. If ever we get GMS officially in the future then good, if not, let’s wait for someone to do it “unofficially” 
Can you please point me to a Netflix TV version apk download for one of these projectors? I would like to test this. You can PM me.
Hi Prashant, I do not have any of these projectors myself unfortunately. I have the information from reviews and xgimi itself.
However, from what I understand from those reviews. It’s the same phone UI like you are using with the ppm. No real difference (except that it runs on Android TV)…
@kugiigi Didn’t you say on Telegram that there was a patched Netflix TV apk floating around? I did a quick search on telegram but could not find it 
That’s what I mean, there’s no Netflix TV apk which works without whitelisting on Android TV. The tablet version would, but that’s not what people expect, it worsens the situation because with officially certified Android TV we can’t make modifications easily, can’t preload a patched version etc. My quick search says you can’t even launch it from the home screen, need a separate launcher. Is that better than PPM where you have preloaded full HD netflix working out of the box?
Yes there is. I got one from xda but it’s a very old version. It works well when it works but somehow causes a crash with the playback which break any Netflix playback in any app until reboot.
@Philips_Support_P You’re right about this. I decompiled the Netflix APK and based on about an hour of peering over the code, it seemed like the reason it doesn’t load the right interface is that they’ve built in experience maps into the APK that are loaded based on what device the person is running. They have multiple kinds of checks for this. If you can change your system manifest to emulate information from a TV, fire stick or a clearly whitelisted device. It could potentially work. The other workaround seems to be to override these checks in the app itself. Perhaps unofficially float around the idea to some talented devs in your circle who are up for the challenge. 
I want to know - who cares about modifications to the projector? Making this an Android TV based Projector would allow more consumers the freedom to have a high resolution projector without the nerd degree needed to operate it.
This seems to echo with a lot of the other guests on this site. The fact that backers have to resort to using Fire Sticks, Roku Sticks or Chromecast Sticks to use the projector really diminishes the value of it. It seems it would have been better to remove the Android portion from the product to make it a basic high resolution projector.
I’m actively modding my projector. It ran Google services for a while quite well, until i upgraded to 1.0.26 (and didn’t get around to modding it again).
I’m quite sure all the tools needed to build our own version of Android TV are available online. I’m currently trying to build a custom twrp recovery (with mixed results, since i’m learning as i go), which would make modding a lot easier.
Also decompiled the Netflix apps. Patching it to enable widevine L1 is easy, but the recent versions have a tamper detection. Too much work to circumvent 
Too bad I only have the attention span of a goldfish, with too many hobbies and too much work…
I’m already looking forward to the alternative firmware thread! 
Thats really great seeing that people have already started modding. I haven’t got mine PPM yet so can’t verify, but have you tried using magisk and below module for this issue.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/magisk-liboemcrypto-disabler-drm-t3794393
Magisk can help you avoiding tons of patching and system changes and you might find some already available module like above, see if that helps.
Be careful guys, removing or rooting the device won’t allow you to have the Widevine L1 working anymore.
Epson seems to be able to support Android TV on their lower cost laser projector. Can we have a real reason why this Pico projector cannot have it.
I looked at the EF-100, as I’m I big fan of the laser no focus.
It was my understanding that the EF100 had no smart operating system at all, they had opted to make a simple ‘dumb’ projector that accommodated streaming sticks. I think you’ll find that image is a bit misleading. You have to buy a Roku stick or similar and plug it in the back to achieve Android TV.
Apparently it comes with an HDMI Android TV Stick - which again begs the question, why can’t this be installed in our projector… aTV
theu don’t support Android TV: they sell a dongle that you can plug at the back.
If you buy a Xiaomi box or Apple TV; this is exactly the same
You can of course buy an Android TV dongle and plug it into PicoPix Max.
Always take a good look on small text with Epson, I had some disappointment in the past!
Just to explain you how to get Android TV inside a product:
1: Get a supplier which signed MADA and Google certified for Android TV (there is a list of 20 suppliers)
2: check the right CPU: only approved CPU from MSTAR, AMLOGIC, QUALCOMM, MTK, HISILICON are approved (Some RK)
3: Make a business proposal to Google And Netflix. If you are under 500K units, Netflix won’t agree to give you the certification
4: Certify the entire product with your brand
Easy Way:
There is a very tiny dongle I suggest you guys to check: it’s Called DISH. SmartVU X Android TV Freeview Netflix 4K Dongle the SV 10 is around 4cmx4cm and works with our USB 3 and HDMI. For sure we cannot use this internally in our PicoPix Max because of certification.
I take it I still wouldn’t get Bluetooth sound as it’s an external source ?
