Jul 01

Vizio Tablet goes up for limited pre-order, starts shipping mid-July

Posted in: android tablet, AndroidTablet, gingerbread, tablet, Today's Chili, vizio

Can’t wait to get your hands on Vizio’s upcoming budget tablet? Good news, beginning today, you can put your $400 where your mouth is, by pre-ordering the device straight from the company’s site, starting at 1:30PM ET. That amount will get you the Gingerbread tablet, along with a 16GB MicroSD card, and a folding folio case. Pre-ordered devices will start shipping on July 18th. Those who snoozed and therefore lost will be able to pick one up in stores that same week.

Update: Let the pre-orders begin!

Continue reading Vizio Tablet goes up for limited pre-order, starts shipping mid-July

Vizio Tablet goes up for limited pre-order, starts shipping mid-July originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 22

Vizio, your favorite low-cost TV leader introduces… a light bulb (video)

Posted in: green, hands-on, LED, Today's Chili, video, vizio


It’s a busy week for Vizio. The budget TV manufacturer flaunted its flashy new tablet in front of our cameras yesterday, and had us hopping across town this afternoon for a chance to go hands-on with its latest entrant into a mysterious brand-new product category (for Vizio, at least). Reps were mum on details, so we had no choice but to return to the CEA LineShows in NYC to see what was up. We walked around the booth, looking for signs of that Vizio Android phone we saw at CES, only to find co-founder Ken Lowe cradling the new goods: a line of light bulbs. We laughed. Then asked to see the real product that Vizio insisted would be worth the trip. Nope, that was it: a LED light bulb — four of them, in fact, arranged in height-order on a chrome bathroom vanity fixture. Lowe then proceeded to introduce his product as he has any other, so we hit record. They’re bright, round, and standards-compliant, and will be coming to a screw-in fixture near you in Q3. How much? “A Vizio price.”

Gallery: Vizio LED Light Bulb Hands-On

Continue reading Vizio, your favorite low-cost TV leader introduces… a light bulb (video)

Vizio, your favorite low-cost TV leader introduces… a light bulb (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 22

Vizio extends its LCD HDTV sales lead; new 3D, VIA Plus and ultrawidescreen TVs are on the way

Posted in: Android, apps, bluetooth, GoogleTv, Today's Chili, ultraportable, vizio

We already took a fresh look at the Vizio Tablet due this summer, but the company’s main business is HDTVs and there it’s on top of US LCD sales again, with more than 20 percent of the market in Q1. Of the top five selling TVs in Q1, four are Vizios priced at $698 or less, while the other is a $1,699 MSRP Samsung LCD. Vizio launched its lower end E3D line earlier this year, the next series on the way are edge-lit M3D models due in August and September that up the refresh rate to 240Hz, come with four pairs of passive 3D glasses instead of two and have a Bluetooth remote. Up next, the 21:9 ultrawidescreen sets we saw at CES are real and will ship in October as the Cinemawide series in 2560×1080 58- and 50-inch models. Finally, the top of of the line XVT 6 series will feature the new VIA Plus Google TV platform and are going to be available in 47- and 55-inch sizes, but won’t ship until December There’s still no prices for any of these yet, but we’re going to guess they’ll go low as they usually do. Check the press release for all the details after the break including a glancing mention of the Vizio Phone.

Continue reading Vizio extends its LCD HDTV sales lead; new 3D, VIA Plus and ultrawidescreen TVs are on the way

Vizio extends its LCD HDTV sales lead; new 3D, VIA Plus and ultrawidescreen TVs are on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 21

Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video)

Posted in: hands-on, slate, tablet, Today's Chili, video, vizio
Way back in January at CES, we managed to sneak in a little bit of hands-on time with the Vizio tablet, the TV manufacturer’s straightforwardly-named foray into the ever-popular space. The tablet runs Gingerbread at present, though Vizio has said that it’s willing to make the leap over to the tablet-optimized Honeycomb, as soon as that operating system is deemed sufficiently stable by the company. The 1024 x 768 device is multimedia-minded, with an IR controller on the top that lets the whole thing double as a remote for your living room entertainment devices like TVs and VCRs. The tablet also features HDMI out and speakers on the top and side, so you can maintain stereo listening even when you switch its orientation.

Blake Griffin’s favorite touchscreen device will be hitting store shelves next month for a fairly reasonable $349 — we wouldn’t have expected anything less than an affordable price point from a company like Vizio. And we have to say, it’s a pretty solid feeling piece of hardware for that price. The software doesn’t seem quite perfect at the moment, but we’re happy to hold off judgment until we get some hands-on time with the final version in the near future. Check out a video tour of the tablet below.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Vizio tablet

Hands-on with the Vizio tablet

Continue reading Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video)

Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 17

Vizio tablet fits Walmart into its hectic schedule, shipping in just six weeks

Posted in: Android, BestBuy, shipping, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, Today's Chili, vizio, walmart
Looks like Blake Griffin will have to find some other unreleased gadget to wave in front of our noses, because his beloved Vizio tablet will soon be available to all the little people who shop at Walmart. An internal schedule just faxed itself to our tin foil caps declaring that the Android 8-incher will start shipping in “week 26”, which is Walmartish for six weeks from now. That might seem a long wait considering Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 is already giving us doe-eyes from the shelves at Best Buy, but the Vizio hits a friendlier price bracket (recently leaked at $349) and has its own set of tricks. The SRS speakers and universal remote function impressed us back in January, and there’s also the Via Plus ecosystem that should integrate the tablet with Vizio TV apps and the upcoming Vizio Phone. Of course, Vizio is more than welcome to come over and pimp the rest of our home entertainment system like it did for Blake.

[Thanks, FiZiX]

Vizio tablet fits Walmart into its hectic schedule, shipping in just six weeks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 14

Blake Griffin gets Vizio Tablet before you can, proves famous people get special treatment (updated)

Posted in: slate, tablet, Today's Chili, video, vizio

Being Blake Griffin has its perks — he’s NBA Rookie of the Year and a millionaire, plus he’s got the adoration of millions and the ability to posterize fools with prodigious power dunks. He also got the Vizio tablet before it goes on sale to the general public, and posted a video showing off his new VIA Plus-equipped slate. We’re glad that Blake Superior’s enjoying the tablet’s portrait and landscape stereo speakers and its universal remote function… really, we are. But, we’d rather be watching him catch alley-oops and throw down windmills on a tablet of our very own — c’mon Vizio, quit playing favorites.

[Thanks, Ben]

Update: Looks like you’ll be able to join Blake on the Vizio bandwagon soon, as the folks at This is my next got a pic showing that Walmart’s already putting the tablet’s $349 price tag on store shelves.

Blake Griffin gets Vizio Tablet before you can, proves famous people get special treatment (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 10

Vizio’s VTAB1008 tablet hits the FCC: your $349 slate now one step closer to shipping

Posted in: tablet, Today's Chili, vizio

Vizio hasn’t had much to say about its tablet plans since it entered the fray at CES in January, but it looks like things are now starting to pick up again, and fast. We just got wind of a listing for a Vizio VTAB1008 tablet priced at just $349 in Walmart’s system earlier this week, and now that same device has passed through the FCC — which, if you place the two together, could well indicate that a launch may finally be imminent. Unfortunately, the FCC listing doesn’t provide much in the way of details beyond the crude outline above and some expected specs (WiFi, Bluetooth and HDMI), but the agency has only been asked to hold back the confidential parts of the filing until August 30th, so we should at least know more by then at the latest.

Vizio’s VTAB1008 tablet hits the FCC: your $349 slate now one step closer to shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 04

Vizio Theater 3D HDTVs show up on Amazon, confirm rumored pricing

Posted in: LCD, Today's Chili, vizio

The 32- and 42-inch versions of Vizio’s E3D series HDTVs are now listed for preorder on Amazon at $499 and $699 just as our tipster indicated. The E3D320VX and E3D420VX are currently expected to ship in 3-5 weeks, which should also allow buyers interested in the new FPR-based Theater 3D technology to be among the first pick one up without heading to Walmart. Of course you still can if you want to, a 48-pack of paper towels should go well with your new 3DTV and its dual-sided QWERTY remote.

[Thanks, Phil Z.]

Vizio Theater 3D HDTVs show up on Amazon, confirm rumored pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 03

Switched On: Techonciliation

Posted in: column, GoogleTv, samsung, switched on, SwitchedOn, Today's Chili, vizio, wi-fi, wifi

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

“Don’t throw the past away. You might need it some rainy day.”

-Peter Allen, from the song “Everything Old Is New Again”

During the late ’90s and early ’00s, the hype bubble grew large about a number of ideas that never reached critical mass. WebTV was going to democratize the Internet, but it devolved into a market niche after being acquired by Microsoft. WiFi providers such as MobileStar and later Cometa Networks hoped to build vast WiFi networks that would compete with cellular plans. Those bubbles popped back in the day, but curiously, companies are now willing to pump some energy back into them. The question is whether they are in any better position to float this time around.

Continue reading Switched On: Techonciliation

Switched On: Techonciliation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 25

Vizio’s first 2011 Theater 3D TVs revealed, could ship for less than $500

Posted in: 1080p, 3d tv, exclusive, hdtv, LCD, Today's Chili, vizio, wifi

The one detail we couldn’t wrangle out of Vizio about its upcoming 3DTV line at CES was the price, but now a few midrange models have popped up on the company’s website early with full information. The 47-, 42- and 32-inch E3D models sport $899, $729 and $549 pricetags and a date of “coming soon,” following the precedent of the 65-inch model released last fall. If that’s not cheap enough, one of our readers has provided information that Walmart expects to have the E3D320VX and E3D420VX available for $498 and $698, respectively, starting in April. All of these TVs are 1080p (at least in 2D), have WiFi and Vizio Internet Apps built in (with a new IR remote – Update: pictured after the break — instead of the old Bluetooth QWERTY one) and come with two pairs of passive 3D glasses. We’ve seen 3DTVs debut at under $1,000 before and more than a few of last year’s models have dipped to $800~ by now, but with a starting price this low and cheap accessories, we wouldn’t be surprised if Vizio is celebrating sales wins again next year.

[Thanks, xxontheedgexx]

Continue reading Vizio’s first 2011 Theater 3D TVs revealed, could ship for less than $500

Vizio’s first 2011 Theater 3D TVs revealed, could ship for less than $500 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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