Telly Launches Reservations for Free, Ad-Supported 55″ 4K HDR Smart TV with Two Screens

[Tsing]

Interested in a free TV? Telly has announced that its new 55-inch 4K HDR Smart TV, which is being given away at zero cost as part of an ambitious, ad-supported experiment, is now available to reserve at freetelly.com ahead of its initial release to 500,000 qualifying U.S. consumers this summer. The TV features a second, 9-inch-high "Smart Screen" that appears to have been primarily designed to display ads at all times, although other content, including news, weather, and even video games are also supported, according to a list of features that can be found on Telly's website. Additionally, users will find a powerful built-in sound bar in the free TV that is said to be valued at $1,000.

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[Brian_B]

Seems like either some black duct tape or a 12ga shotgun would fix anything that's wrong with this free TV set.

 

[MadMummy76]

They used to do this with cars here in Eastern Europe about 15 years ago. Of course the company folded in a year or so and the owners of the "free" cars were forced to pay the loans remaining on the cars to the bank.

Of course the people who went for this deal were the ones who couldn't afford to pay for a car, so the used car market was flooded with cheap econoboxes driving down the price, so most of them ended up with no car, but still outstanding debt.

 

[Uvilla]

They used to do this with cars here in Eastern Europe about 15 years ago. Of course the company folded in a year or so and the owners of the "free" cars were forced to pay the loans remaining on the cars to the bank.

Of course the people who went for this deal were the ones who couldn't afford to pay for a car, so the used car market was flooded with cheap econoboxes driving down the price, so most of them ended up with no car, but still outstanding debt.

Jeez!

 

[Grimlakin]

I went ahead and went through the sign up process. There is ZERO mention of any type of financing involved or financial data gathered thus far. All marketing data. So time will tell.

they want this to be the primary TV in your home. (not gonna happen.) this will go in our second living area for guests or for the wife to watch while doing her crafting stuff or maybe replace the bedroom TV due to the integrated sound bar. (Bedroom TV gets watched the most.)

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Interesting concept. We'll see how it goes.

We've got enough TVs in the house, and I'm very particular about specs and app ecosystem, so I'm not interested but if we did need one I'd look into it.

 

[Grimlakin]

I want to add that this is VERY clearly a meta data gathering exercise to see what kind of install base could be gathered. Basically the spend right now from Telly is to gather the data into a cloud based server ecosystem. Once they know they are hitting the tipping point on a cost/income balance to do the TV's they will begin that process.

And there is a very clear reason this is being done in the US. In the EU or UK they would shut this down so fast due to invasion of privacy. Don't forget the remote is a mircrophone and they have already made it clear there is a built in camera in the TV as well.

Just some items to consider.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Don't forget the remote is a mircrophone

Considering how many have that now I'm starting to wonder if I need to crack some covers open and start clipping wires. Good lord, between our phones, other mobile devices, and these, it's really getting hard to remember how many things are listening in now.

 

[Brian_B]

Interesting concept. We'll see how it goes.

We've got enough TVs in the house, and I'm very particular about specs and app ecosystem, so I'm not interested but if we did need one I'd look into it.

I'm tempted to pick one up just to have one out in the Garage or something stupid like that. Maybe give it to the kid for his Xbox

 

[Tempest]

The dystopian vibes are strong.

"At Telly, we take your privacy seriously." Of course you do.
—https://www.freetelly.com/privacy-policy

Note the following from the Terms of Service:

The Product requires an Internet and Wi-Fi connections from third-party providers in order to be functional. Your Internet connection or data plan is subject to the fees, restrictions, terms and limitations imposed by your provider. In order to use the Product and Services, You will:

(a)Use the Product as the primary television in Your household;

(b)Keep the Product connected to WiFi and internet; and

(c)Not use any software on Your WiFi network that with advertising blocking capability.

(d) Not make physical modifications to the Product or attach peripheral devices to the Product not expressly approved by Telly. Any attempt to open the Product’s enclosure will be deemed an unauthorized modification.

If we discover that You are not abiding by the requirements above or have disconnected the Product from an internet connection or WiFi for more than short periods each month, You will no longer be able to use the Service and You must return any Products in your possession to Telly. Failure to return Products to Telly will result in Telly charging the credit card on file. If you do abide by the Terms of Service, your credit card will not be charged.

And also this from their Viewing and Activity Data Policy (Where they remind us once again that "[a]t Telly, we take your privacy seriously."):

"You have the right to opt-out of sharing your Viewing and Activity Data, but unfortunately, that means you will no longer have access to the Services [and must return the television]. If you opt out and do not return the television to Telly, Telly will charge the credit card on file."

I was mildly curious what information they request of those who apply for a reservation, but the process requires one to download and install their "free" mobile app. As one might've guessed, that was not going to happen.

Telly accidentally published an internal draft of their privacy policy, which was later removed, but apparently not before it was noticed by a journalist on Twitter. The following is from an article on Techcrunch:

We’ve pasted below the portion of Telly’s privacy policy verbatim, typos included, as it was published at the time — and have highlighted the questionable passage in bold for emphasis:

“As noted in the Terms of Use, we do not knowingly collect or solicitPersonal Data about children under 13 years of age; ifyou are a child under the age of 13, please do not attempt to register for orotherwise use the Services or send us any Personal Data. Use of the Servicesmay capture the physical presence of a child under the age of 13, but noPersonal Data about the child is collected. If we learn we have collectedPersonal Data from a child under 13 years of age, we will delete thatinformation as quickly as possible. (I don’t know that this is accurate. Do wehave to say we will delete the information or is there another way aroundthis)? If you believe that a child under 13 years of age may have providedPersonal Data to us, please contact us at…”

—https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/16/telly-free-smart-tv-privacy-policy/

I went ahead and went through the sign up process. There is ZERO mention of any type of financing involved or financial data gathered thus far. All marketing data. So time will tell.

See above.

they want this to be the primary TV in your home. (not gonna happen.) this will go in our second living area for guests or for the wife to watch while doing her crafting stuff or maybe replace the bedroom TV due to the integrated sound bar. (Bedroom TV gets watched the most.)

And there is a very clear reason this is being done in the US. In the EU or UK they would shut this down so fast due to invasion of privacy. Don't forget the remote is a mircrophone and they have already made it clear there is a built in camera in the TV as well.

It's equipped with a built-in camera, sensors, and microphone. I'm perplexed as to how you could possibly consider putting this piece of trash inside your home, and the bedroom of all places. You seem to acknowledge how intrusive the device is, yet weren't deterred from signing up for one. Is privacy really worth less than a cheaply made TV?

The TV itself is probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the growing level of data collection and the acceptance of such is dangerous to society. Human experiences are essentially being transformed into commodities, and I don't understand why more people aren't bothered by that.

 

[Grimlakin]

The dystopian vibes are strong.

"At Telly, we take your privacy seriously." Of course you do.
—https://www.freetelly.com/privacy-policy

Note the following from the Terms of Service:

And also this from their Viewing and Activity Data Policy (Where they remind us once again that "[a]t Telly, we take your privacy seriously."):

"You have the right to opt-out of sharing your Viewing and Activity Data, but unfortunately, that means you will no longer have access to the Services [and must return the television]. If you opt out and do not return the television to Telly, Telly will charge the credit card on file."

I was mildly curious what information they request of those who apply for a reservation, but the process requires one to download and install their "free" mobile app. As one might've guessed, that was not going to happen.

Telly accidentally published an internal draft of their privacy policy, which was later removed, but apparently not before it was noticed by a journalist on Twitter. The following is from an article on Techcrunch:

—https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/16/telly-free-smart-tv-privacy-policy/

See above.


It's equipped with a built-in camera, sensors, and microphone. I'm perplexed as to how you could possibly consider putting this piece of trash inside your home, and the bedroom of all places. You seem to acknowledge how intrusive the device is, yet weren't deterred from signing up for one. Is privacy really worth less than a cheaply made TV?

The TV itself is probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the growing level of data collection and the acceptance of such is dangerous to society. Human experiences are essentially being transformed into commodities, and I don't understand why more people aren't bothered by that.

My wife dgaf lol we have a google nest hub and a Alexa already.

 

[Brian_B]

I totally get the security and privacy concerns. I run a Pihole on my whole home internet to cut down on how much data leaks out around the edges and how many ads pop up all over the place.

On the other hand - I'm along with Grim here. I have a Echo somewhere in the house, and I don't care what it really picks up. I probably should -- I mean, there's been more than one occasion when sitting around the dinner table we talk about a hot tub or looking at a new car, and then lo and behold, all that stuff starts popping up as "Recommended" on Amazon... it's no coincidence I'm sure, and it is disconcerting.

But if Amazon wants to pay some idiots to listen to me and my wife doin the nasty -- or even better, it makes me laugh to think they may be training AI with those sound files -- then more power to them and I honestly don't care, and maybe they will learn a trick or two.

My data and privacy I guard, but I don't go out of my way and inconvenience myself in that effort, you have to give up some of it if you want to live in modern society and not be a total hermit or recluse.

 

[Ditchinit]

...
My data and privacy I guard, but I don't go out of my way and inconvenience myself in that effort, you have to give up some of it if you want to live in modern society and not be a total hermit or recluse.

I choose privacy and am a bit of a hermit because modern society pretty much sucks.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

and then lo and behold, all that stuff starts popping up as "Recommended" on Amazon... it's no coincidence I'm sure, and it is disconcerting.

Something like that happened to me a few weeks back. The strange thing is that it involved some show we just watched via cable (Comcast). I don't remember what show it was but not kidding, the very next there were pop-up ads while I browsing on the net for it and I hadn't been getting them before.