Vizio, maker of cheap LCD TVs for most of this millennia, has just announced they’re releasing five new PCs including ultralights and all-in-ones. These things are oddly well-designed and should come in at under competitor prices – a plus in the low-margin world of CE.
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The Hulu Plus application debuted on Vizio’s wallet-friendly tablet back in August, and that partnership seems to have some life in it yet. New and existing owners of the Vizio 8 tablet will be getting three free months of Hulu Plus service, presumably to lure the truly media-hungry away from other devices. → Read More
Hulu Plus has found its way to a handful of Android devices these past few months, but today it makes its first official appearance on an Android tablet — just maybe not the one you were expecting. → Read More
The Vizio Tablet is finally here after its initial debut at CES. Vizio wants desperately to control your home theater experience and the company’s new Android tablet is an integral part of that, acting as the central hub of Vizio’s V.I.A. (Video Internet Apps) Plus ecosystem. Acronyms aside, this means that Vizio’s HDTVs and its tablets will share the same interface and apps, keeping things uniform and easy to use. → Read More
Vizio has been kicking around their tablet since CES and just issued a press release that details the upcoming slate. But you can’t blame them. Hawking an Android tablet these days isn’t exactly easy, and this tablet is part of a big, and seemingly important Vizio ecosystem called V.I.A. Plus. The central selling point of V.I.A. Plus is that the tablet and HDTVs share common interfaces and apps. Vizio wants to own your entertainment experience. The tablet itself, named VTAB100B, is an 8-inch WiFi-only slate that runs on a 1GHz CPU. 2GB of onboard storage is baked in, but the tablet has a functional microSD card slot for additional room. Connectivity is done through HDMI, WiFi, and Bluetooth with battery life clocking in at 10 hours. The press release doesn’t detail pricing, but Engadget is reporting that it’s going to carry a reasonable $349 when it hits stores sometime next month. → Read More
Blake Griffin, previously known for dunking over midsize Korean sedans and playing for LA’s other NBA team, just posted to his YouTube account a quick, clearly sponsored, video of the upcoming Vizio tablet announced back at CES 2011. The tablet is part of Vizio’s ecosystem dubbed VIA Plus that promises to bring the same sort user interaction across different platforms through similar apps and wireless connectivity similarly to AirPlay.
This promise at least seems to be fulfilled from the quick look although the tablet looks rather laggy even in the experienced hands of the Vizio rep. Scrolling is jittery, apps load slowly, and auto-rotation takes a good few seconds. It’s not all hateful criticism, though. Vizio is at least trying something different with VIA Plus and those that own nothing but the latest Vizio products should enjoy the additional functinality. But for the rest of us, it seems to be an unnecessary and probably pricey feature. → Read More
Vizio has been one of the top selling LCD brands the last few years. It seems Vizio and Samsung are constantly leap-frogging one another as the top dog. Well, Vizio’s back on top. The company just posted an iSuppli report indicating the brand reached a 18% shipping marketshare for all of 2010 in North America and a 21% level for just the US. Both Vizio and Samsung saw increased shipments while Sony’s numbers fell. It was Vizio that saw the largest increase therefore claiming the title back from Samsung. It’s good to be king. → Read More
After two years, LGE and Vizio have settled their differences over patent-infringement disputes in both the US and Taiwan. This legal battle had to do with their flat-panel TVs, but terms weren’t disclosed as to what and how it was settled. But the settlement did end in a licensing agreement “that will resolve all outstanding patent disputes and related actions.” → Read More
Vizio might just be the next big consumer electronic’s company with a set of announcements that should make the rest of the industry take notice. The company has long been a top player in the US domestic LCD wars and seems to be set to utilize their brand with a host of new software and hardware options. VIA Plus: Think the video transporting features of Apple’s AirPlay but instead of iOS devices, this service will hit Vizio products including the just-announced Android VIA Tablet and VIA Phone. According to the short press release, consumers will be able to start watching content on one device and then pick up on another. How? No idea. The techy details will no doubt flow once Vizio’s CES showing gets underway although the presser does make mention that the devices will share a common user interface as shown in the pic above. The newest Vizio hardware isn’t just limited to the 8-inch tablet or 4-inch phone, though. Just like the rumormill stated a few weeks back, Vizio has at least one upcoming Google TV model. Once again, the details are nonexistent, but the GTV is clearly mentioned in the VIA Plus announcement. CES, here we come! → Read More
Netflix is currently the big dog of the movie streaming game but offerings from several established companies might put up a bit of fight. Amazon and Onlive are both said to be working on a similar service, but let’s kill something straight away. These are not Netflix killers, m’kay? Just because a massive entity such as Amazon or a lively start-up as Onlive decides to wet their feet in a different space doesn’t mean the current swimmers need to watch for shit in the pool right away. Netflix’s storied success should gently lead these companies and others into the deep end and not the very effective sink or swim method Netflix experienced years ago. → Read More
Vizio announced the 1080p LED XVT line way back in June of ’09 and they are just now starting to ship. These are the sets that come with that oh-so-awesome QWERTY remote to work the TV’s collection of Internet apps. It’s too bad that most owners will still need a cable or satellite box because this TV line is nearly an all-in-one solution for home entertainment. → Read More
Uh oh, looks like the mobile TV might be heating up. Vizio announced today that they are launching a mobile TV unit, the “Mobile Razor LED”. → Read More
Vizio has grown up from a bargain brand to a top tier nameplate. The companies latest release reaffirms that stance as the just-announced XVT line is as feature filled as it gets. These HDTVs pack everything from 3D to a 480Hz technology to wireless HDMI built-in to a sliding keyboard with a full QWERTY keyboard to better control apps like Twitter and Facebook. These sets are hot, folks. → Read More
Well this is no fun. If you’ve been patiently waiting for the Vizio HDTVs that bring Twiiter, Facebook, Netflix, and Yahoo into you living room, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. Santa isn’t going to bring one this year. → Read More
Samsung and Vizio have been playing a game of leapfrog the last couple of years. It seems every couple of financial quarters, the manufacturers switch between the number one and number two spots on the top LCD sellers chart. But as of right now, Samsung is king of the mountain again. → Read More
Vizio has two new LCDs set to hit retailer’s shelves just in time for the depressing holiday season. Yippie. These two boys use LED backlighting to light the LCD screens and to be honest, they’re not to shabby in the specs department. The 23-inch is a 1080p model with 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 300 nits of brightness. The 19-inch however is a 720p model but it too sports the same contrast ratoi and brightness spec. → Read More
Uh oh, another vaguely political post on CrunchGear. As you already know, the Consumer Electronics Association, the trade group that organizes CES, is fighting tooth and nail against possible regulations that would see California essentially ban the sale of power-hungry HDTVs. This mostly affects plasmas because they consume the most electricity of the different types of TVs out there. → Read More
Vizio just took the wraps off of its hot Internet-connected HDTVs the other day, but the company has a new Blu-ray player coming soon too. The $188 MSRP will probably get price cuts and sales to bring it down to a more “Walmart” level seeing as Blu-ray players have breached the $100 mark. But even around the starting price, this player might not disappoint. → Read More
Widgets and gadgets are the latest trend to hit HDTVs. Vizio is upping the game by equipping its soon-to-be-released HDTVs with an impressive suite of Internet applications and video streaming sites. So much so, that this portfolio will place them on top of many people’s wish list as these TVs will be better equipped than a TiVo or even Windows Media Server. → Read More
Ready for new VIZIO HDTVs? The bargain brand has some new sets that should appeal to shoppers looking for a deal and those seeking high-end features. Really, the new models seem to have a bit of both. → Read More
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