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Vizio Makes Internet Television A Reality.

By Mike Mathers

Vizio does more on the electronic scene than supply Wal-Mart with inexpensive Televisions. Based in Irvine, CA. Vizio is the number 1 seller of HDTV in the United States. Vizio is in top gear when it comes to making the TV the next conduit for internet access. Vizio is aiming at creating a wealth of opportunities for developers as well as an exciting event for consumers.

So what is Vizio's grand scheme you may be asking yourself? Vizio has a wealth of new technology packed into their top of the line XVT televisions. The latest incarnation of Vizio's TVs come out in the 4th quarter of 2009, and they employ a new feature which the company dubs smart dimming. The new feature turns off sections of the back light to boost the blacks and achieve and higher contrast ratio. Its very striking and makes some amazing images.

The greatest part of the new line of XVT televisions is what they are going to be doing for internet connectivity. Vizio is hell bent on making the TV an accessible internet platform just and the PC and mobile phone have become. They might be on the right track.

With all their plans to put the TVs on the information superhighway, Vizio isn't just slamming Ethernet cords in the back of TVs. They've installed top of the line 802.11n on many of the new XVT series sets. Considering that everybody doesn't have their router positioned near their television, a Wi-Fi enabled TV is a welcome addition. Plus its pretty cool that you can connect to the net without wires.

Vizio is going even further than connecting to the internet. They are supporting Yahoos Widget Channel and Adobe Flash apps. If you've seen sights such as Rolex.com or Wynnlasvegas.com then you've seen some pretty incredible flash movies. Developers can build amazing interactive world within either platform that will be completely interactive with TV users. Many big name companies have announced support for the Yahoo channel, but Vizio is the only company that supports both Yahoo and Adobe. The cool thing about Vizio supporting Adobe is that since Flash is a highly distributed program and many independent companies can develop environments that are supported on the new televisions.

Vizio will have a program within the TV which allows users to use Adobe or Yahoo apps on the same interface. Aside from streamlining content for increased ease of use, Vizio hopes to blend all apps this way to aid ease of development. Vizio wants to get an many TVs connected to the internet as possible to benefit the widest number of developers.

Some of the companies that have signed on to produce widgets include but aren't limited to Facebook, Twitter, EBay, Showtime, Netflix, and Rhapsody. At launch there will only be about 20 apps. By the end of the 4th quarter in 2010 there will be over 1000. Vizio's goal isn't to try to recreate the experience that takes place on the browser, but do develop an individual environment that is similar to that of the Iphone.

One of the craziest things about this new TV is how technologically advanced it will be. The TV will come equipped with 2GB of flash memory as well as a Bluetooth remote that has a QWERTY keyboard similar to that of a T-Mobile Sidekick or a Blackberry. The remote will also have basic game controls that users can use to play app games on the TV. The new line of Vizio TVs are going to set the standard in TVs for a long time to come.

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