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Vizio ultrawidescreen, Google TV and Cinema 3D HDTV hands-on

After Vizio gave the world a preview of its PC and tablet plans it also announced plans for new HDTVs and a couple of set-top boxes, so we couldn't resist traveling back over to its Wynn-based lounge to view the beasts in their natural habitat. We won't make too much of it, but if you read last year's hands-on preview, unfortunately much of this is similar, as we mentioned when they were announced -- much of this tech was originally planned to ship in 2011. That said, while TBD is still the watchword when it comes to release dates and pricing, we're told highly anticipated sets like the first ultrawidescreen units should be available for preorder soon.



The extra year of development hasn't been wasted however, and the new ARM brain powering Google TV has enabled the development of the VAP430 Stream Player, which while taller and heftier, nearly matches the tiny footprint of Roku's hockey puck.. The Google TV remotes are similar to the prototypes we spied last year, with touchpads and rear-mounted QWERTY keyboards that seemed chunky, but still better designed than the first gen controls. We also got a quick demo of Vizio's crossplatform media players, which allow customers throw media DLNA-style (but more easily, similar to what Sharp and Samsung have shown off) between tablet, PC and HDTV. The apps we observed were running on its Honeycomb-based Android tablets (10- and 8-inch), but reps told us iOS versions are also planned. Check the gallery for a closer look at all the new hardware (and a peek at the prototype 84-inch Ultra Definition display), while we keep an eye out to see if it hits shelves in the near future.