Telly: Ultimate free television upgrade for the living room debuts with privacy concerns

A co-founder of Pluto TV has unveiled Telly, a service that provides a free Smart TV in exchange for running continuous adverts through a second display. Telly also reserves the right to 'collect information about the audio and video content you watch, the channels you view, and the duration of your viewing sessions'. That is all made possible by the unit's twin cameras and various microphones, which adorn the main display, built-in soundbar and secondary display.

While Telly bills its Smart TV as the 'the ultimate TV upgrade', it will charge US$500 for people who opt out of data collection and decide to keep their unit. As the time below shows, Telly will be offered with a 55-inch and 4K panel. Seemingly, the TV lacks any built-in streaming hardware, with Telly mentioning a streaming stick in its promotional material.

Also, Telly has provided a few details about the built-in soundbar. Currently, it has only confirmed that it has five unspecified drivers. Telly has not shared a release date yet either, although it hopes to ship half a million units by the end of the year. Telly is a US exclusive for now too, with no indications as to whether it will receive a global launch. Please see Telly's ToS for more details before signing up to its waitlist.

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