Telly
Free 55-inch TV: TV manufacturer is giving away devices – but the deal has a catch
Pretty well-rounded package: Telly wants to deliver a webcam, soundbar, 55-inch main screen and even a second screen free of charge.
© Telly
From the summer, the start-up Telly wants to provide Americans with a free television – with a soundbar and a second display. The whole thing should be financed by advertising.
Ilya Pozin, co-founder of streaming platform Pluto TV, now owned by Paramount Global, wants to bring free TVs to America. He has the start-up for that Telly brought to life. The promise: If you order a Telly, you get a 55-inch Smart TV with 4K resolution, a soundbar and even a second screen – free of charge. The young company with no proven success is not lacking in superlatives. It says “Telly turns the biggest screen in your home into the world’s first truly smart TV with streaming experiences like Home, Video Calling, Game Room, Music, ‘Hey Telly’ Voice Assistant and Fitness”.
Only after all the functions have been discussed on the sparse homepage does Telly get to the point: when ordering, you should provide information about yourself so that the television can display the most suitable advertising possible. Because part of the second screen constantly shows advertisements. And that’s not all.
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Watched every step of the way by the TV
Because you simply pay with your data. Telly allows itself the right to “collect information about the audio and video content you watch, channels and the length of your sessions” as well as information about “how you interact with the television”. This includes searches, button clicks and “the physical presence of you and others using the television at any given time”. Of course, in compliance with data protection regulations, as the company promises.
“The Verge” also reports that the news that runs through the lower screen can also consist of paid contributions. It should also be possible for Telly to display advertising on the large display if you are not watching a program and are not actually using the television at all. There should also be a points system with which you can win vouchers for Netflix or Starbucks if you take part in surveys that pop up every now and then.
The value of the goods is said to be around 1000 US dollars
Across from “deadline” Pozin revealed that the hardware would cost around 1000 US dollars on sale. That sounds like a lot at first, but it is surprisingly economical for two screens and a soundbar. So it can be expected that both picture and sound will not exceed mediocrity – if at all and if the information is correct.
Because in one earlier version of the fine print It said: “You have the right to opt out of having your viewing and activity data shared, but unfortunately this means you will no longer have access to the Services [und den Fernseher zurückgeben müssen]. If you decide against it and don’t return the TV to Telly, Telly will charge the credit card on file for $500.” It’s hard to imagine that Telly would give away the hardware for half the value of the goods – the temptation would be too great to order the devices and immediately deactivate everything.
In any case, Telly has no shortage of plans for the future. This year they want to “give away” 500,000 devices and then take care of even larger free televisions. For the founder, Telly is “the biggest TV innovation since color television”. In an interview with “Deadline” he is said to have emphasized several times that his invention equals the importance of the iPhone for the smartphone market.