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Created by newfound tech startup Tele, pluto tv Co-founder Ilya Pozin is kicking off his business in a big way by offering 500,000 smart TVs for free to anyone who’s interested.
These are not even small TVs made for the kitchen. They’re the ones with the 55-inch, 4K centerpiece screen HDR (High Dynamic Range) Support for high-quality viewing with a built-in, five-driver soundbar. Powering everything is TellyOS, proprietary software that enables a variety of features such as voice assistants, music streaming, as well as a game room housing over 40 titles. It can also make voice calls through a combination of the embedded camera and zoom. as part of this promotion (opens in new tab)The TV will be shipped 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, doesn’t it? So what’s the catch? Well, there is something we forget to mention and that is the second screen.
a second screen for ads
Below the soundbar, separate from everything else, is the much smaller Smart Screen, which displays a variety of informative widgets, from sports scores to local weather forecasts. On the far right of the Smart Screen is a section dedicated to ads. When looking at the initial images, the ads will be on the second display at all times, except in a few cases when people are playing something in the game room.
The top screen will be free of most ads. Dallas Lawrence, Chief Strategy Officer at Tele, told The Verge (opens in new tab) Ads can expand to other displays when not in use. It depends whether the advertiser wants to get a little creative. Lawrence also said that the company is “working on ‘Tele Rewards’ that will reward users with gift cards for services for participating in (on-screen polls).”
So, you get a free 4K TV and all you have to do is have an ad take up, like, an eighth of the total screen space. Not a bad deal in this scenario either. But as it turns out, there is much more. Tele will collect information about you.
Analytics: A Data Collection Concern
According to Official viewing and activity data policy (opens in new tab), the company says it may collect information about “the audio and video content you consume” and “the duration of your viewing sessions.” In addition, TeleSearch will learn “how you interact with the (display)” from queries, the buttons you press on your remote, and even “what you and anyone else using the TV can do at any given time.” You will also learn “Physical Presence of a Person”. Presumably, figuring out who’s watching is done via the on-device camera, which as it turns out, has motion-tracking capabilities.
Motion tracking is for use with TV fitness programmes, but who’s to say it can’t be used elsewhere? The camera comes with a shutter, as confirmed by Dallas Lawrence. However, it doesn’t look like Mike can be turned off, as far as we know.
It is possible to opt out of data collection as Tele offers two options. You can either a) return the TV or b) using a “credit card on file” the company may charge you the cost of setup.
We have some questions. 1) Will Tele include free shipping labels and boxes with the TV or will users have to pay for everything? 2) How much is Smart TV? There is no price listed in the current data policy. However, a old version of the page (opens in new tab) Said system cost $500. We reached out to Telly with these and other questions. This story will be updated if we hear back.
If you’re really interested in this TV and don’t mind the invasion of privacy it might cause, you can head over to the telly’s website to reserve one, but you must live in the United States. It is unknown at this time whether there will be an international gift. Shipping begins “this summer”.
