this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026

127 points (99.2% liked)

Not The Onion

19501 readers

1662 users here now

Welcome

We're not The Onion! Not affiliated with them in any way! Not operated by them in any way! All the news here is real!

The Rules

Posts must be:

Links to news stories from...
...credible sources, with...
...their original headlines, that...
...would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”

Please also avoid duplicates.

Comments and post content must abide by the server rules for Lemmy.world and generally abstain from trollish, bigoted, or otherwise disruptive behavior that makes this community less fun for everyone.

And that’s basically it!

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

kescusay@lemmy.world

127

Telly has only delivered 35,000 of its free televisions with always-on ads (www.engadget.com)

submitted 4 days ago by bossito@lemmy.world to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://piefed.zip/c/technology/p/978758/telly-has-only-delivered-35000-of-its-free-televisions-with-always-on-ads

top 21 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 33 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

I imagine one could replace the hardware with something else to drive the display portion. It'd take knowledge and a soldering iron, but I'm sure it's doable.

Probably they have some sort of sensor behind the lower screen that can tell if it's covered. I wonder how sophisticated that is. Perhaps, rather than covering it completely, it could be obscured behind a crystal pattern plastic sheet, like is used for privacy. It would still let the light through, but it would just be an incoherent light pattern. Build a box to enclose the bottom half, and hold the sheet out a few inches in front of the panel.

EDIT: The correct way to deal with it is to disable the backlight on the bottom display. Found a reddit post about it. It's cheap and easy enough to do if you have a soldering iron.

EDIT 2: Apparently it does not have a way to detect if the bottom screen is blocked. Fools. Just build a box around the bottom part, and you're done. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qD-jaukv85U

[–] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 21 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I would have no objections to literally spray painting that lower screen Tremclad Black. Is that all the tv can do though? I would imagine it's also stealing as much data of yours as it can and possibly even listening in. Also what if there's ad sound...?

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago

The thing is, screens are cheap and there's no real reason to replace unless you're chasing top of the line which this isn't.

Save ~$100 now to always have an ad playing isn't a great deal

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I read their TOS when this first was announced and they had something like they'll bill you the full cost of the TV if you tamper or obscure it and they deemed the cost of the TV as $1k USD.

[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

How would they know you've done it? Do they have a way to detect you putting a sheet in front of the bottom screen?

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There is a camera on the front. That could be used to detect obstructions or for eye tracking. There could also be additional sensors by the bottom screen that can detect obstructions.

If you fail to plug the TV into the internet within 5 days of receiving and keep it connected they'll charge you $1000. If you take it apart they'll charge you $1000.

The video above does not go into detail on the long term implications of obstruction and it's possible the TV does not react immediately to an obstruction.

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 days ago

There is a camera on the front.

Camera inside my house? That's a non-starter for me.

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 1 points 3 days ago

and they deemed the cost of the TV as $1k USD.

Lol, do you know what $1K will get you for a TV these days?

[–] fullsquare@awful.systems 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

if there was a way of faking presence of lower display, then you have free tv and extra screen

this is some idiocracy level shit tho

[–] regdog@lemmy.world 27 points 3 days ago

Advertising is a curse on humanity

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Because it's a stupid idea that no one asked for.

TVs have gotten really cheap, but even if you can't afford those they are easy to find at thrift shops or even people giving them away if you have a little bit of patience. Suffice it to say, this has a very narrow target audience.

These are basically e-waste.

[–] BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

So ready for them to become e-waste.

Can you imagine the possibilities on re-purposing these if they get cheap enough to experiment with after the company goes bankrupt.

[–] pupbiru@aussie.zone 2 points 3 days ago

there’s likely very little experimentation needed… ripping the panel out and attaching an HDMI controller from aliexpress to it would likely be extremely straight forward

apple is one of the most proprietary companies in existence and you can do this easily with ipad screens and generic controllers… the same goes for most panels: there’s really not that much difference in the actual “expensive” part, and afaik very little you can do to protect it from this kind of thing

[–] NullPointerException@lemmy.ca 15 points 4 days ago

And a free tv.

[–] snowgaze@masto.pt 7 points 3 days ago

@bossito 35000 too many.

[–] Marthirial@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Just mount the soundbar on top of that shit.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVDDbjFCBc

[–] SpacePanda@mander.xyz 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Holy shit this eerie

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It is from the black mirror episode common people. She is being kept alive by a brain implant but it is a subscription service that enshitifies

[–] SpacePanda@mander.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

Context makes it worse lol

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

It's as popular as the Fire Phone!