It's a gimmick created by one of the people who founded Pluto TV, the free online streaming service. His plan: give away a 55" 4K TV worth over $1,000 to anyone who applies for one. It comes with a mic that allows for voice commands and a built-in HD camera for video chats. It's an expensive proposition and so far, it's only in the U.S., but you have to ask yourself: why would anyone do this? 

The answer explains the idea. The TV comes with a few screens - your regular TV, the ability to stream off the web and - here's where the devil is in the details - a small second screen underneath that displays a rotating round of ads designed to reach your specific demographic. It doesn't exactly say in the story, but it appears you can't turn that off. 

And that's not all.

“You’re giving us your demographics, your psychographics at the individual and household level before you even get your device, so we know who you are, we know where you live, we know your income, we know what car you’re driving, we know when your lease is up,” [Pluto founder Ilya] Pozin says. “We know what your favorite brands are. We know your favorite sports teams are so when you first bring your TV home, you scan a QR code with your phone, all the data is already there.”

And then that small extra screen feeds you ads tailored directly to what advertisers think you need or might want. 

Which leads to the question: would you accept this expensive freebie if it meant giving up your personal information? My guess is many will for the privilege of getting a brand-new state of the art TV for free. But in the end, they may one day learn that nothing is free. And I have to say given all that comes with it, there's no way I'd put this in my living room. 

A Startup From the Co-Founder of Pluto TV Thinks America Is Ready for Free TVs