The offer sounds tempting: watch all television channels and streaming providers for a one-time fee of 49 euros. But there are doubts about its seriousness!
It’s not just electricity and fuel that are becoming more expensive, watching TV is also increasingly putting a strain on household budgets: for subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video, Netflix & Co. prices are rising and the broadcasting rights for sports are being distributed among more and more providers – all of whom are asking for additional payment. An advertising offer that can currently be seen on countless websites comes at just the right time: “Only €49 for all TV channels for life” it says full-bodied or “Cheap way to get all TV channels“. What’s behind it? Who’s behind it? And can that really be true? SamaGame took a closer look.
Smart TV: What’s behind this offer?
A mouse click on the advertisement leads to a website of the seller Native Discount with the title “TechnoMag”. After all, there is also “advertorial” behind it – a reference to an advertisement disguised as a magazine article. There is talk of a Swiss genius named Rémy, of Silicon Valley and of a start-up. There is also a small streaming puck that looks like an old friend. This is followed by a whole barrage of inaccurate formulations and promises about television channels and streaming apps. But everything remains vague; “TechnoMag” refrains from making any specific statements about certain providers such as Sky or Netflix, as does technical information about the streaming dongle shown. The website contains many inconsistencies that raise strong doubts about its reliability:
- Photos: The product shown looks suspiciously similar to older versions of the Google Chromecast. Anyone who searches Google Photos for the right half of a photo collage from the Native Discount website will find the mirrored image in a test Chromecast Audio from 2015 on www.phandroid.com. The photo of the alleged genius is obviously a symbolic image with the keywords conference and presentation.
- Product description: The smart TV invention is intended as a “satellite” or “relay” to provide access to all channels and offers that the start-up has allegedly acquired legally. However, this type of forwarding would be anything but legal – if it even works reliably. And it remains completely unclear which offers can actually be used.
- Imprint: At the bottom of the post there is a link to the imprint, but it leads nowhere. The same applies to contacting the provider. The only working link leads to the order and payment page.
- Provider: At the bottom of the order and payment page you will find links to contact details; on the corresponding pages you will find a telephone number with a British area code (+44), an email address and an office address in a free trade zone in the United Arab Emirates.
Is that really legal?
The blog and sales pages garnish the advertising with the usual ingredients of windy online shops: with alleged user quotes, with ongoing displays of alleged sales and a display of the supposedly still available number of items – which of course is visibly shrinking. In this way, the provider builds up pressure, so instead of thinking about it, it’s better to take out your credit card straight away. But given the number of inconsistencies, one can only advise against it. It is absolutely unclear what the hardware shown actually does. The manufacturer only reveals that the streaming puck has a USB port for power and a HDMI output for connection TV has. He doesn’t say a word about the operating system, functions and performance data.
There are also doubts about the promised television channels: everyone brings free-to-air TV programs Streaming stick for free on the television, which is available for less than 49 euros Amazon, Roku and other providers. On the other hand, offers that are usually paid for can never be legally viewed for free – regardless of whether they are pay TV or HD channels or content from large streaming portals. Even the most brilliant start-up founder can’t change that. In addition, orders with unclear addresses are always a risky business, if not a waste of money. So it’s better to stay away!
