A completely free television, admitting that the offer is difficult to take seriously. And yet this new type of television should hit the market soon. It is the company Telly – created by Ilya Pozin, co-founder of Pluto TV – that is behind it and the principle is simple: you will not pay a penny if you accept the constant display of ads on the bottom screen.
“When I co-founded Pluto TV, we created a whole new model that brought amazing TV content to viewers for free,” Ilya Pozin said in a statement. “Now with Telly, we also provide real TV for free.”
A free screen that gives you rewards
For now exclusively available for pre-order in the United States, the device will come with a smaller second screen, sort of a band separated by a sound bar just below. This space will be reserved for the distribution of targeted ads, but it can also be customized using widgets such as the weather, the stock price, a ticker or even the display of sports results. A main ad insert will appear on the right side of the screen and a sponsored news feed will appear on the left side.
But that’s not all: some advertising messages may also appear on the main screen when it is not in use. “There are literally hundreds of things that we think about to create the most engaging ad experience,” Dallas Lawrence, Telly’s chief strategy officer, told The Verge. The latter also reveals that he is refining a system called “Telly Rewards” that will reward users with gift cards in exchange for their participation in on-screen surveys.
Constant data collection
Obviously, in order to finance this extraordinary economic model, television is not content to shower you with inopportune advertisements. According to Telly’s Viewing and Activity Data Policy, the device “may collect information about the audio and video content you watch, the channels you watch, and the length of your viewing sessions.” Your interaction with the screen will also be closely scrutinized, such as your search queries, the buttons you press, and even “your physical presence and that of anyone else using the TV at any given time.”
Equipped with a camera and microphone at the level of the central soundbar, the TV can potentially spy on you without your knowledge. In an attempt to reassure the consumer, Dallas Lawrence clarified that the TV will come with a privacy shutter. But if you’re still uncomfortable with this intrusion into your privacy and want to disable data collection, you’ll need to return the device or pay the estimated cost of the two screens and sound bar. A not so free television after all.
Source: BFM TV
