SONY Dash Re-purposing Project

INTRODUCTION

In this article I'll provide a brief history of the Sony Dash appliance, what it is, was and could be. I'll also go through the instructions to re-purpose the Dash from a non-functioning lump of technology to a sophisticated alarm clock, weather station and media player.

I purchased a Sony Dash at a surplus store recently. From the look and feel of it it seemed to be an alarm clock, after all it had Volume and Snooze buttons. However when I took the device home and plugged it in, it asked for an Internet connection. It was some sort of an Internet appliance. Once setup to access the Internet, it reached out to some server but never received a reply. The device in effect was useless. Whatever service it was looking for from Sony was no longer there. Reading more about the device on the Internet cleared up the mystery as to what it was trying to do and why it no longer worked.

Sony Dash Brief History

The Sony Dash (Model HCD-C10) was introduced in 2010 by the Sony Corporation as a Personal Internet Viewer . It connected to the Internet over WiFi. It contained built-in WiFi, stereo speakers, a USB port, and a 7-inch touch screen that allowed users to access over 1,000 applications, including Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, and Netflix. Through the touch screen a user could browse information on the Internet or listen to music. As a base it relied on the same software as the Chumby devices. Applications from the Chumby website could be downloaded into the Dash.

Sony updated a version of the Chumby widget OS that allowed a user to look at photos from Facebook, browse headlines on Engadget, and check Twitter from the Dash's seven-inch capacitive touchscreen. The Dash also added Sony's Bravia Internet Video platform to support streaming media services from Netflix, Pandora, and Slacker. It was not a standalone device, as a tablet is, but relied on a transformer to power it. It could act as an Internet radio, digital photo frame, Internet viewer and an alarm clock. Unfortunately this model did not have an internal battery backup and would be prone to missing an alarm if a user was depending on it. Subsequent models introduced a battery but also dropped functionality for some streaming services.

The target market for the device was primarily the United States. The provided transformer that powered the Dash was only available for 120V and 60Hz, North American households, thereby blocking its use in the international market. This device pre-dated, in functionality and form, similar devices available today from Google and Amazon. As with the more current appliances, software updates were delivered via the Internet.

Dash Timeline

April 2010 - Sony Dash available for sale at a cost of $200 USD.
September 2011 - Models HID-B7 and HID-B70 introduced as refreshed hardware. NetFlix and YouTube streaming dropped.
March 2015 - Sony stops supporting all streaming content. Continues to connect to Sony but is basically an alarm clock.
March 2016 - Sony continues to provide patches for the Dash models to re-mediate software issues.
April 2017 - Sony announces termination of Dash device support.
June 2017 - Amazon's Echo Show is introduced. An Internet appliance similar in form and function to the Sony Dash.
July 2017 - Sony support for Dash devices terminates. Customers are frustrated and sue Sony.
August 2017 - Chumby releases a patch for the HDC-C10 Dash model to connect with their application servers.

Chumby provides access to several hundred applications that function on the Sony Dash but as a subscription based model. Effectively the Sony Dash becomes a sophisticated alarm clock with music, weather and video functionality thanks to the Chumby update. Further functionality can be added through subscribed Chumby applications.

Sony had an opportunity to become the "Amazon Echo Show" of it's day. It pre-dated the Echo Show by seven years, but failed to gather consumer acceptance. Sony had an opportunity to gather wider acceptance, but it lacked the vision and strategy to market the device. As a media company, Sony could have used the Dash as an entry to stream its collection of Sony movies and music. Yet, Amazon did exactly that with Amazon Prime movies and music. The timing of Sony exiting the Dash and Amazon entering the market with the Echo Show is interesting, and almost coincidental. Could there have been an agreement between Sony and Amazon in regards to shuttering the Dash for a media distribution agreement with Amazon? Speculation.

Litigation

In July 2017, Sony released a software update to block the devices from reaching its Internet services. According to plaintiff Richard Grisafi, users couldn’t opt out of this update, which “bricked” the device, essentially rendering it nonfunctional. On April 2019 a class action lawsuit was initiated, alleging that Sony improperly stopped supporting its Dash Personal Internet Viewer in July 2017.

Anyone who purchased a new Sony Dash in the United States before July 12, 2017, and was a resident of the United States at the time of the purchase was part of the class action settlement. Class action members who registered their Dash through the Sony Essentials website or could provide proof of purchase were eligible for a payment of $11.25 USD. Members who registered their new Dash through the Sony Essentials website and whose Dash was turned on and connected to Sony’s servers as of July 12, 2017, were eligible for a $35 USD payment.

The lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit had alleged Sony improperly stopped supporting the Dash Personal Internet Viewer. In response, Sony denied all allegations of wrongdoing and the Court did not find in favor of either party. However, both sides agreed to the settlement as to limit future expense and risk associated with continuing the litigation and going to trial.

Case: Grisafi, et al. v. Sony Electronics Inc., Case No. 18-cv-8494 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
*click here* for the full case PDF.

Note that this case sets a precedent for vendors abandoning support of Internet appliances that are dependent on services the vendor provides. Stopping the service renders the appliance useless. Should Google or Amazon stop supporting its Internet devices such as the Amazon Echo Show, it would face similar litigation from consumers; a class action lawsuit could be expected.

Hardware

The Dash uses a seven inch capacitive touchscreen, small stereo speakers on the lower front of the device, a snooze button and volume buttons on top of the device. On the left side of the device a small rubberized flap hides a USB port (for software updates and movie playback) alongside a headphone jack. The case itself is a rubbery material which softens its footprint on furniture.

The Dash runs off a Linux operating system. As processing prowess, the Dash features a 500MHz processor coupled with 256MBytes of RAM. The seven inch display has 800 X 480 pixels. The display is sharp, bright, and has great horizontal viewing. A built-in accelerometer allows the display to be rotated to 180 degrees. Overall it is a very solid built device that can be viewed from most angles. The one drawback is the stereo speakers are small and can often sound like a tin can. However, the earphone plug can be used to connect the Dash to amplified speakers or a headphone for a better sound experience. Overall, the Dash is well built, has minimal external buttons, connectors and is easy to operate.

RE-PURPOSING THE DASH

To take the Sony Dash form a "bricked" state to a functioning appliance, the user has to follow several steps. In my case I received a Dash that had an interim version of the Sony OS release, not the final Sony release that effectively locked out the Dash from the Sony servers. To upgrade the Dash to the Chumby firmware, the Dash must have the latest firmware level: 1.7.1526. Mine was at 1.7.1415 and I needed to find the latest Sony version and upload it manually onto the Dash.

The section below provides a step by step guide on upgrading the software to run the Chumby code instead of Sony's software. Note that the Chumby update only works for the Sony Dash HCD-C10 model. The end result is a very capable alarm clock with many features suited for working alongside the Dash whether in the office or bedroom. Note that the files used for this upgrade are also saved here under Resources for anyone wishing to attempt same. It took a long time to locate these files so hoping this is easier for anyone else attempting.

Steps

In my case I had to upgrade the firmware from 1.7.1415 to 1.7.1526. I'm using a 2GByte USB stick formatted in FAT32 for the update.
Once 1.7.1526.zip file is downloaded, copy the file to the USB and rename it as update.zip. Do NOT expand the zip file, leave is zipped (a copy is here under Resources for your convenience).
Power up the dash while holding down the Menu Key. This brings up the special options menu.
Select the option "Upgrade from USB".
Let the upgrade proceed, it should take approximately 5 minutes.
Remove all files from the USB stick.
Copy the dash_hidc10_cfrw.zip to the USB.
Rename is as update.zip on the USB. As before, do not expand the file, leave it as zipped.
Follow the same steps as in (3), power up the Dash, hold the Menu button, etc.
Select the option "Upgrade from USB".
Let the upgrade proceed, it should take approximately 6 minutes.
Delete the file from the USB stick.
Now, expand the chumby-hidc10-1.0.0.zip file and copy the expanded files to the USB. The files should all be at the root level of the USB. The USB will therefore contain many files when you view it.
Plug the USB stick into the Dash and power it up, NO NEED to press the Menu button. It will automatically update the Dash firmware from the USB.
On the Chumby.com website make sure you open an account and register the Dash device.
Select "Activate Chumby" button, see below. Chumby Registration Screen

Source: Chumby.org
Once the Dash is registered through a press the button pattern on the dash, the Chumby site will procedd to Step 4 of the registration process.
With Step 4 complete, registration is complete and the Dash can be activated.
Reboot the Dash to ensure it starts correctly. If all is well, then a time/date/calendar menu should be visible.

The section below outlines several screens that shows the functionality of the Sony Dash running the Chumby firmware. At the end of this exercise the Sony firmware update should be 1.7.1371 and the software version 1.7.0; see the Settings menu to check. Congratulations, you now have a very high-end alarm clock!

FUNCTIONS AND COMMANDS

Main menu functions

Secondary menu functions

*click here* for project pictures

RESOURCES

Please note that the Chumby.com site may have more updated firmware for the Sony Dash upgrade. Please check the site for updated versions. To download the files, right click the mouse and select "Save link as...".

End of article.