A bright and shiny Friday is here, friend! And so am I, starting this thing off with an awesome fun fact. The Beatles made their first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on this day in 1964. Fast forward: AI tech was recently used to isolate which Beatles’ voice from a demo recording to create a new song — A.) John Lennon, B.) Paul McCartney, C.) George Harrison or D.) Ringo Starr? You’ll find the answer at the end.

🫡 Come say hello to me during the Kim Komando Today live video stream at 10:30 a.m. Pacific (1:30 p.m. Eastern) on YouTube, Rumble, Facebook and wherever you get your vids. If you can’t watch live, put the show on your playlist to watch later, or get it in your favorite podcast player. It’s a busy day ‘round these parts. Let’s get down to business! — Kim

A startup from the co-founder of Pluto TV is giving out at least 500,000 free TVs. Yep, you read that right. The company started shipping them in July of last year and planned to send half a million sets by the end of 2023. But it's still accepting reservations, so it's not too late to put your name on the list. More on that later.

The 55-inch 4K models from Telly have all the bells and whistles. The only catch? You pay with your data.

One long commercial break

The TVs have 4K HDR displays (not the very best you can buy, but totally solid), a built-in five-driver soundbar and a free 4K Android streaming stick. They have a dual-screen design combining a 55-inch 4K HDR theater display with a second smart screen.

You can control it with your voice — “Hey, Telly” — or through its built-in motion sensors. There’s also a camera for video calls.

The kicker: About a quarter of the smaller screen under the main one shows ads. And you can’t opt out of your TV's tracking.

How smart is too smart?

In reality, all smart TVs are tracking what we do and watch, then packaging that up to sell to advertisers.

Take Vizio. The company made $1.6 million in gross profit selling TVs in the first quarter of 2023. But they earned $73.8 million on the Platform Plus business, which includes selling advertising and viewer data. Yup, Vizio TVs are just there to sell ads and data.

So, how much money is Telly bringing in with these ads? The numbers are difficult to track down, but connected TV (CTV) advertising generated nearly $26 billion in 2023 and is expected to keep growing. Yikes! FYI, CTV ads are the ones you see on streaming platforms.

When the product is free …

You’re the product. I say this all the time. To see what Telly gets, look no further than their terms of service. I read it so you don’t have to.

How deep does this tube go?

Here’s what Telly’s founder told Fast Company: “We know where you live, what your income bracket is — obviously, it’s all anonymized — but we know what car you’re driving. We know when your lease is up. We know where you shop. We know what your favorite sports teams are, etc.”

Hey, at least he’s not being sneaky about it …

Want to take a byte?

To use the TV, you must download the Telly app. I didn’t read those terms and conditions, but I’m sure there’s a lot of data tracking and selling going on there, too. You have to give the guy credit for being upfront about selling your data. As for me, I’ll pass on Telly. You can join the waitlist here.

I saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace that read, “Television for sale, $1, volume stuck on full.” I thought to myself, "I can’t turn that down!"

✅ I bet the TV in your house is tracking you. Here’s how to make it stop on Vizio, LG, Samsung and more.

Someone at Microsoft is in trouble: Thought your files were Fort Knox-safe with Windows Bitlocker? Stacksmashing, a security researcher (aka hacker), blew the file encrypter open in 43 seconds with a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico. Yikes.

🚨 Bad Android apps: Security firm ESET found a dirty dozen apps crawling with malware that swipes contacts, files, call logs and texts. Check your phone for Privee Talk, MeetMe, Let’s Chat, Quick Chat, Rafaqat, Chit Chat, YohooTalk, TikTalk, Hello Chat, Nidus, GlowChat and Wave Chat. Have one? Factory reset time!

🎶 Bye-bye, iTunes: Windows and Apple teamed up to give iTunes the boot on PCs. The annoying part: Instead of one app, you’ll now use Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Devices to manage all your stuff.

🏈 Ticket trap: Scammers are using AI and juicy discounts to hawk phony Super Bowl tickets on social media. If you’re still looking for tickets, go to a legitimate source like SeatGeek or StubHub.

Toxic trend: TikTok is promoting some seriously shady videos to teen boys — we’re talking “handling disrespectful women” and “female narcissist 101.” There are over 1,000 of these gross vids. Talk to your kids.

Glow-up: Apple is ditching its creepy Stalin-looking avatars for a more "I'd swipe-right" vibe — but it's just a sneak peek for the devs right now. The latest Vision Pro beta update hints at more lifelike complexions coming our way. You'll soon need a fresh face scan to upgrade from ghoulish to glam.

Look at that glow: Avi Loeb, Harvard's alien hunter extraordinaire, is stirring the cosmic pot again. He explored 2014 meteor crash leftovers — vibrant spheres he's betting are alien gadgets, not mere space rocks. Critics say, "It's just coal ash!" The trust? It's out there.

🤖 Toddler 2.0: Meet Tong Tong, the world's first AI child that mirrors a toddler's emotional spectrum. This thing chats, judges right from wrong and throws tantrums like a pro. I’d rather have a robot that can do my laundry, just sayin'.

Someone you love has passed away and you want to save a voicemail to listen to when the grief wave hits. Don't bet on your phone to keep it for you — I've heard from so many people devastated their old messages are gone. Don’t let it be you.

Saving voicemails on iPhone

Saving voicemails on Android

These steps will vary depending on your phone’s model, but you can still follow them for a general idea of how to keep those messages.

🎧 Upgrade your earbuds: The second-gen Apple AirPods Pro are $60 off right now on Amazon. They come with a MagSafe charging case and a USB‑C option, so no more looking for another one of those Apple Lightning cords.

If you live in a home larger than 2,000 square feet or have a lot of devices, mesh networks are your Wi‑Fi's secret sauce. Instead of a single router struggling to send a signal to every nook and cranny, you've got multiple "nodes" working like a tag team.

🛫 Based on average roundtrip flight ticket prices, you can save up to 15% when you book on a Sunday. The cheapest day of the week to travel is Wednesday.

Greetings, colleague: Dreading writing an email for work? Open ChatGPT or Google Bard and give it a headstart by typing who you are, your recipient and what the email needs to communicate. If the first draft is awful, give feedback (e.g., "Make it sound more conversational" or "Be more confident") until you get a workable starting place.

🚶 Get to steppin’: I try to walk 26 miles a week, and boy, is it hard sometimes. I tried the built-in step counter on my iPhone, but I’ve found the Map My Walk app is way more accurate. Try it for iPhone or Android.

It's the perfect time of year to reflect on what truly matters – the people we love most. This year, resolve to keep them safer than ever with SimpliSafe Home Security.

SimpliSafe is the best of the best. It’s total protection for your whole home, including advanced sensors to detect break-ins, fires, floods and more — all with 24/7 professional monitoring for less than $1 a day.

You won’t get roped into an expensive contract (they don’t have them!), and you can order it all online and install it yourself. It’s easy, and you’ll be so glad you did.

Changed my password to “fortnight” but apparently, that's two week.

The answer: A.) John Lennon. AI tech isolated Lennon's voice from a demo recording to create a “new” song, "Now and Then." You can watch the song’s video here on YouTube. I’m not a fan, sorry.

🍝 Which Beatles song charted highest in Italy? “Penne Lane.” (Go ahead and sing this out loud. It’ll be good for your soul!)

Are you watching? We’re having a blast with the new daily podcast, Kim Komando Today. If you or someone in your life owns a business or runs a website, don’t miss today’s livestream! Watch on YouTube, Rumble or Facebook. Thank you for letting me in your inbox. I’ll be back tomorrow with the best newsletter in the USA! — Kim