What's on the Telly? Ads. Startup offers 500,000 free TVs with a 2nd screen for ads

[Spotty]

Summary

Have you ever watched TV and thought to yourself that what you really need is a second TV playing advertisements while you watch TV? If so, a start up named Telly has the product for you. Telly is launching a dual display TV which uses the second display to provide news headlines, weather, sports statistics, and most importantly a generous serving of advertisements.

Telly is planning on using these advertisements to offset the cost of the display, giving away the first 500,000 televisions, which they claim will retail for $1,000, for free to eligible applicants who fill out an advertising survey on their website.

 

 

 

Quotes

Quote

Telly, a company created by Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin, offers up a TV that makes up for its nonexistent price tag by showing constant advertisements in a second, smaller display.
 

The company calls this thin strip of a screen a “Smart Display,” which is separated from the main TV by a soundbar. In addition to showing ads, it’s also capable of displaying a variety of widgets, including sports scores, a news ticker, the weather, and stock prices. Ads could pop up on the far right side of the Smart Display, as shown in the pictures embedded in this article, but might also appear in the form of a sponsored news feed on the left side of the screen.

While ads shouldn’t interrupt whatever you’re watching on the main display, Telly’s chief strategy officer, Dallas Lawrence, tells The Verge that ads might utilize both displays when you’re not using the TV. “When the Theatre display (top screen) is not in use, the ad unit could come to life in a fun way connecting both,” Lawrence says. “There are literally hundreds of things we are thinking about to create the most engaging ad experience ever.” Lawrence also says that Telly is also working on “Telly Rewards” that will reward users with a gift card to services like Netflix or Starbucks for participating in things like on-screen polls.

 

The television also tracks information about you and sells it to advertisers. It's possible to opt out of data tracking, however if you opt out you will have to return the television or pay a fee of $500.

Quote

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 in the amount of $500.00.

 

It's a "Smart TV" that can't even run Netflix or other streaming apps.

Quote

As for the main display, it’s a 55-inch 4K HDR panel linked to the secondary display through the company’s operating system: TellyOS. Unlike most mainline smart TV operating systems, TellyOS currently doesn’t support third-party streaming apps like Netflix. That’s why Telly comes bundled with a free 4K Android TV dongle that you can use to watch whatever streaming service you want. It’s also compatible with other streaming devices, including Roku, the Amazon Fire Stick, and Apple TV, and has three HDMI inputs, 2 USB inputs, and a tuner that you can use to watch over-the-air broadcasts.

 

My thoughts

What's the odds that if this start up goes bankrupt the TV bricks itself when it can no longer phone home?

 

The promoted features of getting weather or news headlines across the bottom panel seems like the 80s approach of putting a digital clock on everything. If I'm sitting there watching the TV I don't need constant weather updates. If you watch a lot of sports the sports stats might be appealing, but I feel like most useful stats like the game score are going to be overlayed on the main broadcast so you're either going to end up with a lot of mostly useless stats or just repeating what is already on the main broadcast. They definitely came up with the idea of adding a second display for advertisements first and then as an after thought tried to come up with other uses for it to actually get people to look at the ads.

 

Maybe it's not such a bad deal though. Getting a free TV in exchange for ads being displayed on a second screen below the television. Avoiding the ads displayed on the second screen really just seems like an installation consideration.
 

Spoiler

Problem solved.

 

 

 

Sources

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/15/23721674/telly-free-tv-streaming-ilya-pozin-ads

https://www.freetelly.com/

[Lightwreather]

Oh dear bidoof, their website is absolutely laggy…

Not much hope for their UI then…

 

[OhYou_]

free mega ultrawide panel that you just gotta fashion a vbyone driver for to repurpose it for something else. 

I have a feeling going back to effectively 4:3 form factor will simply not fit most homes anymore.   

[bezza...]

im confused. why would you advertise on these things. the user is going to be watching somthing on the main display not on the secondary display so they will not be paying attention to it. to get them to pay attention you are going to have to make ur ad stand out (flasshing lights,bright coulers ect) this is going to be distracting for the user creating a shit user experience.... so its a lose lose you ether dont watch what you want to watch or you dont watch the ads?

[dilpickle]

Whats to stop me from covering up the ad display.

[Spotty]

Telly are offering the television as a "Service" instead of as a device that you own. According to Telly's policy you are not allowed to sell the television without their permission. "You will own nothing and be happy"

 

https://www.freetelly.com/viewing-and-activity-data-policy

Quote

Telly makes available Internet-connected televisions (the “Services”).

Quote

Not for Resale

Telly is only available in the United States.  Unless otherwise agreed by Telly, you may not resell the Services.‌

 

They're also definitely using the built in camera to track who is watching the television, which definitely doesn't seem like a privacy nightmare.

Quote

Activity Data

We also collect information about how you interact with our TV,such as your search queries, settings preferences, applications you open,purchases or other transactions you make, buttons you select, the time,frequency and duration of your activities, the physical presence of you and anyother individuals using the TV at any given time, and other usage data.  This feature is referred to as “ActivityData.” Activity data may be used to provide recommendations and customizedcontent as described in this Supplement.

 

[tikker]

22 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Avoiding the ads displayed on the second screen really just seems like an installation consideration.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

Problem solved.

 

Inb4 a camera ambient light sensor for face/presence detection mood lighting gets built in to avoid this. [Edit] oh damn, there actually is a camera...

 

13 minutes ago, Tomberry said:

im confused. why would you advertise on these things. the user is going to be watching somthing on the main display not on the secondary display so they will not be paying attention to it. to get them to pay attention you are going to have to make ur ad stand out (flasshing lights,bright coulers ect) this is going to be distracting for the user creating a shit user experience.... so its a lose lose you ether dont watch what you want to watch or you dont watch the ads?

I think people will see it. Like right now there's a tiny static ad below my YT video above the column of other recommended stuff but I till notice it when I glance over.

[Spotty]

4 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

Whats to stop me from covering up the ad display.

Nothing stopping you, I guess. See my spoiler tag in the main post. You will miss out on all of the awesome features the second panel offers like... A weather widget?

The problem isn't just the ads it's showing you but also all the information it's gathering and selling to advertisers. See their data policy. Though, to be fair, I'm sure other "Smart" TV manufacturers are also collecting and selling similar data.

 

Plus I'm genuinely curious what will happen to the device if the company goes bankrupt or if they decide you're not a profitable user and cancel your account. Can they disable your TV if you aren't watching enough and they're not able to serve enough ads? I could definitely imagine turning the TV on one day and seeing a message saying "Service disabled. Contact Telly customer support to return your device or pay an unlock fee to continue using the device"

[Oshino Shinobu]

13 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

Whats to stop me from covering up the ad display.

Every 5 minutes there's a prompt on the second display that you must read out loud like the good little consumer you are or it turns itself off. That or take your pick of intrusive monitoring systems.

[dilpickle]

21 minutes ago, Tomberry said:

im confused. why would you advertise on these things. the user is going to be watching somthing on the main display not on the secondary display so they will not be paying attention to it. to get them to pay attention you are going to have to make ur ad stand out (flasshing lights,bright coulers ect) this is going to be distracting for the user creating a shit user experience.... so its a lose lose you ether dont watch what you want to watch or you dont watch the ads?

This is exactly why Picture-in-Picture never became a big thing. You can only pay attention to one screen at a time even when they are both right in front of you.

[bezza...]

3 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

This is exactly why Picture-in-Picture never became a big thing. You can only pay attention to one screen at a time even when they are both right in front of you.

i mean just playing devils avocet duel and tripple monitors set ups are a thing

[SignatureSigner]

Seems kinda stupid on all fronts. 55 inch 4k TVs are pretty cheap these days and they don't come with a privacy killing camera

I think this is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist

[Radium_Angel]

coming soon to F***edCompany

[Spotty]

If this product service is successful I can see how it will turn out already. They'll add extra panels above the TV and to the sides for extra widgets and ads. People will buy the newer product sign up to the newer service because it has more panels just like people flooding out to buy the newest phone because it has more camera lenses on the back. Then after a few revisions they'll improve it by removing the bezels to give a seamless single display. Then one day we'll realise that we've just ended up with TV that is surrounded by ads.

 

Every day we're getting closer and closer to Idiocracy.

 

[jagdtigger]

I dont care how much more it costs ill just buy a big@ss monitor when my current TV kicks the bucket......

[Fasterthannothing]

I don't understand the outrage. Might as well get something in exchange for my personal data. We already get bombarded with ads even when paying for streaming services cough Hulu cough and still have ads while watching cable TV (which the entire point when it was created was to offer a paid service in exchange for no advertisements) so tell me again how you can be outraged when atleast this company is being upfront how much your personal data is worth.

[dilpickle]

56 minutes ago, Tomberry said:

i mean just playing devils avocet duel and tripple monitors set ups are a thing

6 monitor setups are also a thing. The point is you can only look at one at a time.

[Spotty]

34 minutes ago, Fasterthannothing said:

I don't understand the outrage. Might as well get something in exchange for my personal data. We already get bombarded with ads even when paying for streaming services cough Hulu cough and still have ads while watching cable TV (which the entire point when it was created was to offer a paid service in exchange for no advertisements) so tell me again how you can be outraged when atleast this company is being upfront how much your personal data is worth.

For me I guess it's just how this product epitomises the general situation we face when it comes to consumers being treated as data and eyeballs to sell for advertisements as well as the move away from buying products to services and ongoing subscriptions. I'm not giving other things a pass and saying I dislike this exclusively. I think consumers should complain about things like this just like when car makers put heated seats in cars then charge an ongoing subscription to use them.

I personally would rather just buy a device like a TV upfront and own it. Keep in mind you don't actually own the television with this, the device is included as part of "the Service" and when/if the service is terminated you will likely either need to return it or pay a fee for it.

 

I also do have genuine concerns about what will happen to the televisions if they go out of business or cease providing the service. Will the TV stop working if it can't access Telly's servers or will it continue to function without their services? If it works without their services people could easily firewall/block it. Will they intentionally brick the device? That's 500,000 TVs that would be eWaste just because the company who "sold" the device went out of business or pulled a Sonos and bricked working devices.

 

It's easy to also think "Well if you don't like it just buy a different TV, nobody is forcing you to buy it", but once one company proves that the model is successful it won't be long before the other companies follow suit and eventually it will be the only option. Look at the removal of the headphone jack from mobile phones in the last few years. People complained about it, other people said it's not an issue and just buy a different phone with a headphone jack if you want it, and now very few flagship phones offer a headphone jack. Look at how Netflix proved that a streaming platform was viable, then everybody pulled their content and made their own fragmented streaming platform and now we're back in the same position we had before with cable TV buying a dozen different content packages.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Spotty

[Needfuldoer]

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

Plus I'm genuinely curious what will happen to the device if the company goes bankrupt or if they decide you're not a profitable user and cancel your account

What do you mean, " if "?

[HenrySalayne]

I want this. I want a free television to collect dust in my basement until the company is bankrupt and it can be repurposed. You can't op-out of the data sharing, but they can't force you to use it!

 

20 minutes ago, Spotty said:

It's easy to also think "Well if you don't like it just buy a different TV, nobody is forcing you to buy it", but once one company proves that the model is successful it won't be long before the other companies follow suit and eventually it will be the only option.

I don't think so. The initial value of ads might be good on this device, but ad revenue will drop rapidly. We have seen it so many times before (website banners, YT).  The cheapest of the cheapest televisions could be ad supported in the future, but not something decent like this. This start-up will be bankrupt in 3 years.

[RedRoosterRanches]

My question, which I have yet to see anyone address, is about the depreciation of the TV and how this company plans on addressing this. 

 

Are they planning on sending out a new TV every 2-5 years as technology changes or just because the TV loses value as it is used? 

 

If you buy a new TV in 5-10 years because you are now in a better position financially and want to upgrade to a bigger screen or whatever are they still going to charge you for the TV if you donate it to Goodwill? Surely they aren't going to want a 10-year-old TV back, are they?

 

If you plug the TV in, use the privacy shutter on the camera, put the TV on its own VLAN so it cant monitor what devices are connected to your network, and plug in a streaming set-top box because you like a different UI like a Roku or Apple TV are they going to charge you because the content you are consuming can't really be monitored?

[rcmaehl]

I signed up for this.

 

It'll go on it's own VLAN. I plan on intensely probing their endpoints and ensuring I'm "protect[ing] the security of your Telly User ID, account, password and any other access tools or credentials." against incompetence from Telly themselves.

 

If the company does go under, it's free hardware.

 

  

On 5/15/2023 at 12:06 PM, dilpickle said:

Whats to stop me from covering up the ad display.

As long as it's not directly attached to the TV
 

Quote

(d) Not make physical modifications to the Product or attach peripheral devices to the Product not expressly approved by Telly.

 

[Sauron]

On 5/15/2023 at 5:54 PM, Spotty said:

Maybe it's not such a bad deal though. Getting a free TV in exchange for ads being displayed on a second screen below the television. Avoiding the ads displayed on the second screen really just seems like an installation consideration.

I was thinking this as well but then there's the tracking which isn't as easily avoided...

[Senzelian]

The hardware looks great tho! Can I have this without any of the software? 

[Thaldor]

23 minutes ago, Sauron said:

I was thinking this as well but then there's the tracking which isn't as easily avoided...

Always remember tracking is like living with ghosts; You are either stuck with them, or they're stuck with you and as the living one, you have the choice.

 

Like trust me, at the 50 hour mark of "the LotR non-stop marathon", they will choose to disconnect you from the tracking because you have already managed to send couple data analyst to early retirement over mental problems and they must have found out that the data from you probably won't be getting any more monetizable in the future.