Your Next TV Could Be Free (If You Don't Mind a Second Screen Dedicated to Ads)

pcmag.com:

Would you like a free TV? How about if it included a second screen dedicated to streaming ads while you watched your favorite shows and movies?

As the Lowpass newsletter(Opens in a new window) reports, via The Verge(Opens in a new window), that's exactly what Teevee Corporation is planning to offer consumers.

Teevee is a hardware startup created by Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin. The idea is to offer consumers a TV set for free, but the design has been tweaked to support ads you can't turn off. As well as an integrated soundbar, the TV includes a second display that's roughly the same height as a phone display and stretches the entire width of the TV—imagine having a news ticker screen sat directly below your TV and you get the idea.

This won't be a smart TV and therefore will rely on dongles to access services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The ads displayed on the second screen will be relevant to whatever a viewer is watching on the main display. However, Teevee also plans to offer access to a number of widgets that display information about the weather, news headlines, and sports scores. Managing the settings for the TV and widgets is expected to be handled via a mobile app.

For now, Teevee Corporation is operating in stealth mode so a lot could change before this free TV set is officially announced. No response was forthcoming from Teevee when Lowpass asked for comment regarding the company's plans, but the Teevee website(Opens in a new window) suggests it's launching before the end of 2023.

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