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Vizio is much more than a maker of cheap television sets. Vizio is based out of Irvine, CA. They are the No. 1 High Definition Television company in the United States. Vizio is looking to make the Television the next big internet device and guess what? They’re going to pull it off. While in the midst of creating this vision, they are also creating a wealth of opportunities for developers and a whole new world 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.

With that said Vizio has more up their sleeve than contrast ratios. The largest innovation that Vizio is bringing to the proverbial table is internet connectivity. Vizio has high hopes, that the television is going to become a major internet platform like the PC or the mobile phone.

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.

The great thing about both apps, as far as Vizio is concerned, is that they will be blended together into one interface so users wont have to switch back and forth between programs in order to enjoy the apps. Its all going to be in one place for everyone to take part in. Vizio’s big goal is to get as many TVs connected so that developers have a wider audience.

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.

This almost begs the question, is the next XVT line of televisions a new line or computers or a new line of TV. The new TVs will come with 2GB of flash memory as well as a Bluetooth remote. The funny thing about the Bluetooth remote is that it will come with a slide out QWERTY keyboard to help search the web as well as play games. Vizio’s lineup is going to truly be revolutionary to say the least.

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