A tech startup is giving away hundreds of thousands of TVs in the US that may collect data on its users.
Newfound tech startup Telly, created by Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin, is kicking off its business in a big way by offering 500,000 smart TVs for free to anyone interested.
These aren’t tiny TVs meant for the kitchen either. They’re 55-inch, 4K centerpiece screens with HDR (high dynamic range) support for high-quality viewing alongside a built-in, five-driver soundbar. Powering everything is TellyOS, proprietary software enabling a variety of features like a voice assistant, music streaming, plus a Game Room housing over 40 titles. It can even do voice calls through a combination of the embedded camera and Zoom. As part of this promotion (opens in new tab), the TV will ship with a 4K Android TV streaming stick so you can connect to your streaming platform of choice.
Having all that for free sounds like a pretty good deal, right? So what’s the catch? Well, there’s something we forget to mention and that’s the second screen.A second screen for ads
Below the soundbar, separate from everything else, is the more truncated Smart Screen, which displays a variety of informational widgets from sports scores to the local weather forecast. Off to the far right of the Smart Screen is a section dedicated to advertisements.
