Vizio’s begun dropping details on their 2011 lineup, including what could be a defection from Yahoo connected services in favor of Google’s broader ecosystem… which corresponds nicely with a Vizio expansion into mobile gear.
This year Vizio Internet Apps (VIA) will become or be augmented by VIA Plus, their take on Google TV. While the Goog’s connected television platform is currently pretty rough, it’s not a bad horse to bet on. Especially given the obvious Android-powered mobile device tie-ins Vizio’s promoting.
Vizio is no stranger to the connected television space, having been the original Yahoo Internet TV widgets pioneer and delivering possibly the first mass market QWERTY remote. In fact, our temporary bedroom television is a Yahoo-powered Vizio and I’ve quite enjoyed streaming Netflix and Vudu video content over 802.11n… without requiring a separate box.
We’ll reach out to Vizio with hopes of clarifying the fate of Yahoo widgetry on their HDTV hardware.
Any word on if this will be rolled out to existing televisions? I recently bought a Vizio XVT473SV and I’ve been pretty disappointed with the Yahoo widget offerings.
I’ve reached out to their PR rep to find out if they’ll continue to produce Yahoo-ified televisions and/or if any older models will be upgraded to Google. If I learn anything, I’ll pass it along.
I’ve got a VISIO with VIA apps and have been happy with Netflix, even over my very slow ISP (1500K).
The need separate boxes is coming to an end, as Internet enabled TVs like come along.
I wonder if there will be application standardization, or if each TV maker will have their own app requirements? I can envision a “TV app store”…
I am assuming (hoping?) that Visio will roll the VIA updates to existing customers. Unless the processing restrictions of new VIA software prevents this. (I’ve been there & experienced that as Tivo abandoned Series-2 customers when they rolled out new software. They lost me and my 3 Tivo subscriptions)
Vizio’s response to our email was to set up an appointment at CES to discuss. We’ll swing by if we can find the time, but I suspect this question will remain unanswered (by us) for the time being.
I received a Vizio M261VP for Christmas with Yahoo, but would MUCH prefer Google (already in on so many aspects), so am VERY anxious to find out what you learn at CES. I wonder if I should return this weekend to maintain the possibility. Oh, and Have fun!
I have a Vizio HDTV with internet hookup and the one thing I would really like is a widget for Youtube and of course, someday, full browser capability.