Hasta La Gadget!

Vizio this week announced several new partners that will bring Internet apps to the company’s Web-enabled HDTVs.

New apps include: eBay, Facebook, Radiotime, Revision 3, Rallypoint Services, Showtime, Twitter, and Vudu.

The widgets essentially let you access these services from your TV. Update your Twitter feed or Facebook status or monitor your eBay bids without leaving your couch.

“Consumers are placing high value on connected televisions that open up new content applications,” Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates, said in a statement. “Our recent research has identified a likely target of 2.5 million North American broadband households that are ready to purchase an Internet-connected TV.”

Vizio offers three, 55-inch Internet-enabled TVs from its XVT line that range in price from $1999.99 to $2199.99.

Other available apps include Accedo Broadband, Amazon, Blockbuster, Flickr, Netflix, Rhapsody and Pandora.

Sure VIZIO only just showed off new updates in its high end XVT series, but it’s already planning the next generation of LCDs with VIZIO Internet Apps included. Packing widget functionality, 802.11n wireless networking and slider QWERTY Bluetooth remote, the SV422XVT, SV472XVT and VF552XVT Connected HDTVs are coming home in November, October and December, respectively. Already on deck to serve up content for your widgets are Vudu, Revision3, Facebook, Twitter, Rhapsody, Blockbuster OnDemand, Showtime, Flickr and more. The biggest surprise? There’s apparently no price premium planned for these features, with the 55-inch clocking in at the same $2,199 price as the model it’s replacing, though the 47-inch jumps $200 over the previous edition to $1,699, while adding the local dimming LED backlit technology previously reserved for the 55-inch. The 42-inch will be the first and cheapest available at $1,199 (sans LED) — we’ll see if that bar is low enough to get viewers to jump into the internet-connected display future.

Read – VIZIO Announces High Performance XVT HDTV Line Up with 240Hz SPS(TM), TruLED(TM) and Smart Dimming(TM) Technology, VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA), and Slim Line(TM) 120Hz LCD HDTV Models
Read – VIZIO Unveils Rhapsody Digital Music Service for VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA(TM)) Connected HDTVs
Read – VIZIO Reveals Dynamic New Content Partners for VIZIO Internet Apps Connected HDTV Feature

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

VIZIO Internet App HDTVs launch later this year, for less than you might expect originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio this week unveiled its 2009 HDTV lineup, consisting of its first HDTV with 240-Hz technology and an LED backlight.

Although sometimes considered a second-tier brand compared to multinational giants like Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba, Vizio has twice been recognized as the most popular brand of HDTVs within the United States, primarily because the company concentrates on offering inexpensive TVs that contain the same features that its more expensive competitors have, as well as a sales channel that includes Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer.

Click on the images for a larger version.

The XVT lineup is Vizio’s premier brand, with the flagship VF551XVT the only one of Vizio’s HDTVs to include both an LED backlight as well as 240-Hz technology, which promises to smooth the displayed image even more than 120-Hz technology. Because of the large number of models, we’re going to use the blog format to our advantage and present Vizio’s lineup as a series of graphics, ranging from the $749, 32-inch SV320XVT on up to the VF551XVT.

Vizio also announced that it has filed a patent-infringement suit against LG Electronics, and that a similar case against Funai is moving ahead.

In these difficult times people are looking to buy what’s cheap, a state of mind that Vizio’s iSuppli’s latest press release isn’t ashamed to apply, lauding the company’s status as the current most popular brand of LCD television in these United States. It owned a 21.6 percent chunk of the US LCD TV market in the first quarter, up from 13.8 in the quarter before and beat out Samsung to be king of the liquid crystal hill — largely thanks to prices that were, on average, between $150 and $400 lower than the competition. Kudos to the brand and we hope that it enjoys this moment, because with imports of new sets banned out on bond it must be tough paying an extra $2.50 on each one coming through Customs. Full press release after the break.

Update: To be clear: this is actually a press release issued by iSupply talking about Vizio, not by Vizio.

Continue reading Bargain hunters make Vizio LCDs most popular in US — for now

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Bargain hunters make Vizio LCDs most popular in US — for now originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 May 2009 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when it looked like the long-running patent dispute was tipping Vizio’s way, the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled in favor of Funai, issuing an order to block imports of Vizio HDTVs. According to Bloomberg the ban is still eligible to be reviewed by President Obama while the patent case itself is still being reviewed by an appeals court, but if Vizio wants to keep its shipments flowing it will have to post a bond of $2.50 per television. We’ve put a call in to Vizio to find out what this means for its immediate future — and that sweet LED backlit display from CES — and confirmed that while this order goes into effect immediately, you should still be able to find sets on shelves and they will continue to do business as usual during the presidential review period, but feel free to read its press release in response after the break for more details.

Continue reading Funai wins order blocking Vizio imports, Vizio maintains business as usual

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Funai wins order blocking Vizio imports, Vizio maintains business as usual originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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