Telly has now started shipping its free 55” 4K dual-screen television sets to those that have opted to participate in the company’s public beta program, which also officially launched today.
Telly first announced its intention to provide free TVs to consumers back in May. Within 24 hours, 100,000 had registered to get one for free, and that number rose to more than 250,000 during the first week. DirecTV also recently partnered with Telly to help those interested potentially climb further up the invite list.
Today, Telly confirmed that it has now launched a new public beta program, and as part of that program, the first free TVs have shipped out to participating homes. According to the announcement, these Telly households “represent a diverse cross-section of the US population” and “will be part of the company’s groundbreaking efforts to develop the most innovative and advanced television in the market.”
Ilya Pozin, CEO and Founder, Telly said, “We are thrilled to begin shipping what is by far the smartest television ever built to consumers.” Pozin also added, “The consumer and advertising community’s response has been incredible. Our disruptive ad-supported business model makes the television completely free to consumers, but the most exciting thing about Telly is the technology that enables our dual-screen television to get better with every update.”
While it had previously been confirmed that these TVs will come with two screens and heavily rely on the use of advertising to offset the cost, the company has now confirmed additional “product advancements, data partnerships, and advertising agreements.”
For example, Nielsen will “collect and interpret first-of-its-kind viewership and ad effectiveness insights for both advertisers and TV programmers,” while Magnite and Microsoft Advertising will help to “unlock innovative opportunities for brands to reach and engage consumers.”
In addition, the six-driver integrated sound bar is a Sound by Harman Kardon product, and integrated Spotify and LiveOne apps will make it easy for users to connect their accounts (or stream for free with ads).
For those that are interested, but yet to officially register that interest, it is still possible to ‘reserve a free TV’ through the Telly website. The company says the current goal is to ship 500,000 before the end of this year and “millions more” in 2024.
