Tuesday 4 January 2011

Vizio dishes on Android-powered VIA Phone, VIA Tablet; Google TV products; passive 3DTV offerings

As expected, on Monday Vizio gave out more information on its upcoming products, including the Android smartphone and tablet we wrote about earlier.

The new smartphone, dubbed the VIA Phone, has a 4-inch screen, 802.11n wi-fi, GPS, MicroSD slot, dual cameras and HDMI output. The new tablet, dubbed VIA Tablet, sports an 8-inch high resolution capacitive touchscreen with 3 speakers, and a front-facing camera for video chat.

At the same time, Vizio (and Google) announced its become Google's latest Google TV partner. Vizio's VIA Plus HDTVs and Blu-ray players appear to have a skin on them, however. It's the first time we've seen that Google TV will be skinnable, just like regular old Android, and be able to have UI layers like HTC Sense on top of them.

Both Sony and Logitech's Google TV products shipped with its default user interface. VIA Plus will also allow consumers to pause and resume content across multiple devices, including the aforementioned VIA phones and tablets.

Additionally, Vizio is also introducing a line of “Theater 3D” HDTV sets. They will range in size from 22 to 71 inches. Vizio claims they will produce flicker-free 3D, 2x brighter, and won't require powered glasses, but rather passive glasses which you see in most movie theaters. Those are much cheaper than powered ones (the obvious advantage).

What's unmentioned, of course, is pricing, and exact timing. We expect pricing, however, to be affordable, coming from Vizio.  You can read Vizio's press releases here (1, 2, 3).

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