Hasta La Gadget!

Vizio has unveiled more about its plans for the new year which seem to consist largely of a huge push on Android, from the 4-inch phone and 8-inch tablet running a (still unspecified) flavor on their 1 GHz processors, to new VIA Plus HDTVs and Blu-ray players with Google TV built in. The VIA Tablet and VIA Phone (not necessarily final names, judging from the PR) have a few other details mentioned — though we don’t know if the phone is GSM or CDMA, it does have a 4-inch screen, WiFi N, GPS, MicroSD slot, dual cameras and HDMI output, while the 8-inch tablet brings similar chops minus any sort of 3G connectivity. With the new Vizio Internet Apps Plus, it aims to provide a seamless experience from the handheld to the big screen, including the ability to pause and resume content across devices. Judging by the screenshot, it looks like the company may be wrapping its own Yahoo! Widgets-like skin around the Google TV experience in a way we haven’t seen from Sony or Logitech yet. Another pic and the full press releases await after the break, the rest will have to wait until we get our hands on the devices in Las Vegas.

Continue reading Vizio details specs on VIA Tablet and VIA Phone, reveals VIA Plus is Google TV

Vizio details specs on VIA Tablet and VIA Phone, reveals VIA Plus is Google TV originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our friends at iRobot have shrunken its hardwood cleaning child — not Roomba, the other one — to about half the diameter of its predecessors (6.5 inches). The Scooba 230 is maintains the same 3.5-inch height and, more importantly, is just as programmable as every other model (in an unfortunate twist of irony, it’s now thinner than a Kinect sensor). Speaking of Roomba, the company’s also unveiling the new 700 series with a number of cleaning and detection improvements. All autonomous cleaning discs will be available in the Sprint from iRobot’s online store with the prices ranging from a penny under $300 for Scooba 230 and $450 / $500 / $550 for the Roomba 760, 770, and 780. More shots / hands-on below; full details in the press release after the break.

Continue reading iRobot unveils super-compact Scooba 230, new Roomba 700 series

iRobot unveils super-compact Scooba 230, new Roomba 700 series originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew it was Intel’s plan to launch its Sandy Bridge or Core 2011 processors at CES, but leave it to Chipzilla to throw in some total surprises ahead of the show. Yes, you read the headline right — Intel’s planning to launch its very own movie and video service in the first quarter of 2011. Unlike iTunes or really anything else out there, Intel’s Insider will allow those with Core 2011-powered laptops or desktops to purchase or rent the latest movies in full HD — yes, good ol’ 1080p. But, why exactly is Intel teaming up with studios, content owners, and video distributors when so many others out there are trying to do the same thing? In essence, the company sits in a good place to combat a lot of the issues movie studios have had with HD video distribution — Insider is tied to the new 2nd generation Core processors, and thus provides hardware protection, rather than software protection of the content. According to Intel’s Erik Reid, the company has already struck deals with CinemaNow and Warner Brothers, and the plan is for all content to be made available at the same time as the DVD or Blu-ray release. It is unclear whether there will be an Insider portal for all this content or if other services will just be certified to work on the hardware platform, but we will be finding out much more once the show starts.

Naturally, Intel doesn’t only want you to watch those brand spankin’ new 1080p movies on your laptop screen — it is pushing WiDi in a big way, and the second generation, which will be baked into new Core 2011 systems, will support 1080p streaming and will eventually enable streaming of protected content, including DVDs and Blu-ray discs. WiDi 2.0, as they are calling it, will work a lot like the original version we like so much and allows you to extend your desktop to an HD monitor, but unfortunately, it will require a new HDTV receiver to enable the full HD capability and it still has that two second lag. No word yet on who is making those boxes or how much they’ll cost, but we’re hoping to learn a few more details about Intel’s big push to tie video content to its new processors at its CES press conference in just a few days.

Continue reading Intel to launch Insider movie service with 1080p content, WiDi 2.0 will let you stream it to your TV

Intel to launch Insider movie service with 1080p content, WiDi 2.0 will let you stream it to your TV originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio made its name by packing high end features into value-priced HDTVs and it’s taking that mentality to new areas, revealing the tablet we spotted in last night’s Rose Bowl ad as the 8-inch Via Tablet and a 4-inch Via Phone. Both will be running Android and while CTO Matthew McRae didn’t spill any OS details to the Wall Street Journal, the combination of confirmed Market access and odd button configuration has us thinking Honeycomb is in the works when they are released this summer. The only Via Phone details mentioned are screen size and its front and 5MP rear cameras, while the tablet promises a “high resolution” screen, WiFi, three speakers, HDMI out and front facing camera — but no cellular service.

Expect TV manufacturers to be on their toes as well, since Vizio says it will bring 3DTVs to market that start at less than $300. The new mobile products will also tie into its TV business through the Via Plus internet service, which sounds a lot like Samsung Apps by allowing access to Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Android market access (to go along with its new Google TVs) and even a new Vizio On Demand movie services across all of its devices. We’ll temper our excitement slightly remembering the new TVs and iPhone app shown off last year that never quite made it to shelves, but this trip to Vegas has already gotten even more interesting.

Update: Get a peek at the Via Tablet and Via Phone immediately above, and get a load of those front-facing cameras!

Vizio reveals Via Tablet and Phone with Android, sub-$300 3DTVs ahead of CES (update: pic!) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So if the HTC Incredible was coded as the ADR6300 in Verizon’s internal systems, just what do you think an ADR6400 could signify? A pair of screenshots from a VZW employee living out a Julian Assange daydream have seemingly confirmed the common expectation that Verizon will very soon deliver its Incredible successor — better known to you and us as the LTE-equipped HTC Thunderbolt. Aiding and abetting the HTC handset in getting the red team’s LTE network started will be Samsung’s SCH-i520, an Android 2.2 device equipped with that most critical of accessories, a front-facing camera. Both are now standing on the precipice of showing up for sale, those zeroes in the stock column shouldn’t remain so round for much longer.

[Thanks, Andrew]

HTC Thunderbolt and Samsung i520 bring LTE gravitas to Verizon’s stock-keeping systems originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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