Friday
Feb122010
Feb 12 Podcast #412: VIA: Vizio Internet Apps
If you happened to watch the Super Bowl and paid attention to the commercials, there were some really good ones. Bud light had a few, Doritos had a couple, but there also might have been a few that didn't make much sense to you. One of those could have been the Vizio add for their newly refreshed Vizio Internet Apps offering.
Listen to the show
Today's Show:
News:
- Panasonic cops to rising black levels in its plasma HDTVs, but questions still remain
- 4 Handy Home Control Settings
- No joke: 3D contact lenses
- Netflix to get 1080p streaming later this year
Other:
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VIA: Vizio Internet Apps
If you happened to watch the Super Bowl and paid attention to the commercials, there were some really good ones. Bud light had a few, Doritos had a couple, but there also might have been a few that didn't make much sense to you. One of those could have been the Vizio add for their newly refreshed Vizio Internet Apps offering.
The commercial featured a robot arm throwing Beyonce and a bunch of other random stuff into a pit. Somehow all these things, among which were Internet staples such as Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook, became the VIA (Vizio Internet Apps) product. Apparently Vizio has added some of their own widgets to the standard Yahoo! TV Widgets.
We're on record as saying that 3D won't move the needle this year, could widgets be a better option for manufacturers?
Models
Vizio has three models available for presale. They should become available on Monday Feb 15.
The commercial featured a robot arm throwing Beyonce and a bunch of other random stuff into a pit. Somehow all these things, among which were Internet staples such as Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook, became the VIA (Vizio Internet Apps) product. Apparently Vizio has added some of their own widgets to the standard Yahoo! TV Widgets.
We're on record as saying that 3D won't move the needle this year, could widgets be a better option for manufacturers?
Models
Vizio has three models available for presale. They should become available on Monday Feb 15.
- 55” VF552XVT for $1999
- 47” SV472XVT for $1549
- 42” SV422XVT for $949
Features
- Direct lit LED-backlit LCD HDTV with full 1080p HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels)
- 240Hz refresh rate
- Connect to the Internet via Wireless-N Wi-Fi or Ethernet to stream video, audio and news content from VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA)
- Apps available: Amazon Video on Demand, Flickr, Netflix, Rhapsody, VUDU, Yahoo! TV Widgets (includes Blockbuster, CinemaNow, YouTube, USA Today, eBay, Facebook, CBS, Showtime, Twitter, MySpace)
- Smart Dimming intelligently controls LED blocks to produce 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio
- Inputs: 5 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite, 1 S-Video, 1 PC, 1 RF, 1 Ethernet, 1 optical digital audio output
- Bluetooth remote with slide-out QWERTY keyboard which also uses IR to control your other home theater gear
Our take
If you look at the 55" set, it costs $1999. The equivalent set from Vizio without the Internet Apps and fancy remote (Direct lit LED, local dimming, 240 Hz), the VF551XVT, costs $300 less at $1699. At a $300 premium, you're probably pushing the limit of how much the apps are worth.
By far the best app available on the TV is Vudu. If you plan to use the Vudu service, the $300 is pretty good, considering the Vudu box itself costs $199. So in this case you pay an extra $100 for all the other apps and a pretty cool remote. The convenience of having everything in one unit is probably worth it.
If you don't want Vudu, you can get movies from Netflix and Amazon, saving you $100 for a Roku box. The rest of the apps are either very specific to a select audience: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or probably seldom used: eBay, YouTube, Flickr. So the premium may be worth it for some (we both Tweeted during the Super Bowl), but maybe not to others.
But "having everything in one unit" is a little misleading. You'll still need a receiver for surround sound, a set top box for regular TV viewing, and probably a Blu-ray player because although HDX is really good, you just can't beat Blu-ray right now. If that's true, and you can get Netflix and Vudu in your Blu-ray player for less than a $300 premium, perhaps VIA is overpriced.
Conclusion
Bottom line, we do think Internet Apps are more compelling than 3D. Will they sell more TVs? That will probably require a little more education on the part of manufacturers like Vizio. Something tells us a strange commercial with robot arms throwing stuff in a pit doesn't quite convey the power of what the Apps can provide.
That said, we're still really excited to try them out for ourselves. We can't wait to get our hands on one of these Vizio units to see how it all comes together.
Reader Comments (11)
Fun show today guys... just one thing... please don't stop using Twitter. I was caught off guard by that comment/decision. Google Buzz will probably end up being as popular as Orkut. ;)
What about the new LG Blu-ray 550. It has a street price of $200.00 and has all those apps, plus the Blu-ray player.
I find the apps discussion to be interesting but as was mentioned, without a QWERTY keyboard twitter and facebook on my tv are useless. And I feel pretty confident in that after trying to use those apps on my xbox 360. I do agree with Ara that the most useful app might be youtube. I actually use the youtube app on my appletv fairly often.
Beyond that I don't find apps to be that useful. Most social networking apps really only benefit if there is a keyboard of some sort.
Al,
From what I've seen the Vizio has a qwerty keyboard in the remote.
Hey guys long time listener first time emailing. A little confused about what the guy who emailed about the DirecTV sleep timer needs. If he is looking for sleep timer to turn off the tv after he as fallen asleep it does not have one. But if he is looking just getting the blue light off or worried about the power it consumes you can turn the receiver off (standby). So just turn the directv receiver off when you turn the tv off. What is great is the receiver just goes into standby and will still record everything even in standby. In standby the blue light is off and even when it records it will either still be off or a lighter blue. When I first got my receiver I thought that if I wanted to record it receiver had to be on but did realize that pushing the power button only put it into standby and did not really turn it off.
Hey guys! On the guy who asked about buying a plasma now or waiting for the next model and getting off the hamster wheel of new products. I mostly agree but I think you should have brought up that with Panasonic plasmas that the reason they are not fixing the black level problem that the new models are getting ready to come out and they have improved the issue in the new models. Also you did not mention that the new models most of them will be 3D ready and most will have more features built into them. The Panasonic's even have better black levels in the models coming out.
I think that buying a new TV right now really depends on what you want to send and the features you want. If you are looking for a good deal and great TV get on now. If you do not mind spending a little more and want the best with the most features wait a few months and get the newest model.
Here are a few comments regarding the new Vizio TVs with applications (VIA).
1. The remote is brilliant. It controls the TV using Bluetooth so it is not necessary to aim the remote at the set. It does, however, also have an IR emitter so it can control just about every other component in your HT. The remote slides open to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. Although the keys are a little small for my taste, it works well.
2. The sets have a built in dual-band wireless N receiver, so no cables need to be strung. It found my networks instantly during setup and I was connected in less than 5 minutes.
3. The 47" and 55" sets have LED backlighting with local dimming, but the 42" uses CCFL. I suspect this was done to meet a price point. All three sets are dynamite values.
4. I haven't tried all of the widgets, but the streaming movie sites - Netflix, Amazon VOD, VUDU all work beautifully and deliver better-than-DVD video when HD selections are made.
I think the $300 premium on the new Vizio is too much for just the apps, but I think it is fair to portion $100 towards the cost of the remote. I think it sounds pretty cool, but would not want to give up my harmony remote. The only exception would be if the BT remote could control my PS3 for blu-ray / dvd's.
The apps are great, but I don't see Youtube in the widget list.
I mostly agree but I think you should have brought up that with Panasonic plasmas that the reason they are not fixing the black level problem that the new models are getting ready to come outxlpharmacy reviewsIt does, however, also have an IR emitter so it can control just about every other component in your HT.
I have a 47 " Vizio, Internet apps are great but only to a point, Whenever on Online pharmacy reviews or Facebook , and as i read a comment it says to click on something to see a video, the video never plays ? is this okay or is something wrote with my tv ??