Roku has hit back against a new Consumer Reports study finding that smart TVs from makers such as Samsung, LG Electronics, Sony, Vizio and TCL (which makes a line of Roku-powered TVs) are vulnerable to hackers, holding that they can be broken into to track what viewers are watching.

As USA Today notes, Consumer Reports said it was able to break into a TCL/Roku TV using a feature that Roku developed that enables remote use of a remote control on other platforms, including smartphones.

"What we found most disturbing about this, was the relative simplicity of," how easy it was to hack those products, Glenn Derene, Consumer Reports' senior director of content, told the publication.

Gary Ellison, Roku’s VP of trust engineering, posted a blog item holding that Consumer Reports “got it wrong,” at least with respect to how Roku's platform was characterized.

“This is a mischaracterization of a feature,” he wrote. “It is unfortunate that the feature was reported in this way. We want to assure our customers that there is no security risk.”

Ellison acknowledged that Roku enables outside developers to create remote control applications that consumers can use to control their Roku product using an open interface, and added that consumers also have the ability to turn off that feature.

He also said Roku’s support of ACR (automatic content recognition), another technology that Consumer Reports viewed as a vulnerability because it can be used to target ads, is an opt-in feature.

But, as USA Today rightly points out, data gathering practices and general privacy issues with smart TVs have been drawing scrutiny.

About a year ago, for example, Vizio agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle federal and state charges that millions of its connected TVs were collecting viewing data without the consumer’s knowledge or consent.

Apple has finalized a deal to acquire Shazam, the company behind a popular music-recognition application/service.

TechCrunch first reported of the deal late last week, and Recode said the deal values Shazam about $400 million, noting that it’s a steep discount when comparing it to the $1 billion valuation that Shazam enjoyed following its last round of funding.

Snap, an integration partner of Shazam's, was also angling to acquire the company, Recode said.

Shazam, founded in 1999, has raised about $143 million, according to CrunchBase.

Apple hasn’t detailed its plans for Shazam other than to note that it will be a “natural fit” with the Apple Music service.

“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple,” Apple said in a statement to multiple media outlets. "Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users. We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement."

In addition to being integrated with Apple Music, Recode reckoned that the tie-up will also “take away referrals” rival streaming music service Spotify.

Shazam also has also done some work in the TV world, working with networks such as Bravo, and was tied into a shop-by-TV tilt in 2015 for the Super Bowl XLIX half-time show.