It looks like at least one round of the battle between Funai and VIZIO is drawing to a close, and it's a big win for VIZIO. U.S. Customs has ruled that all current VIZIO TVs do not infringe on Funai's Patent 6,115,074 -- which was rejected by the Patent Office a few months ago. With the USPTO and US Customs now on the same page, all the bureaucratic checkmarks are in place and VIZIO TVs can freely enter the US on their immigrant-inspired journey to homes all across this fair land. Next up is VIZIO's countersuit against Funai -- with drama like this unfolding between TV manufacturers, who needs an actual TV for entertainment?

Cashing in on the all-things-touchscreen craze, word comes to us from ZatzNotFunny that Logitech will be bringing updates to its Squeezebox lineup which include refreshed Boom and Duet specs and the all-new pictured "Squeezebox Touch." A bit redundant on the name, isn't that, Logitech? We'll also overlook the fact that "Squeezebox Touch" makes us think of something decidedly Chumby-ish, as details on the line updates are thin and the name could change. Either way, the device is definitely lacking in hard buttons, which is more to go on than the FCC line art of whatever Sonos is conjuring up with its CR200 controller.

Well, that didn't take long, now did it? Right on the heels of the UK announcement, Pioneer's trifecta of Profile 2.0 Blu-ray decks -- the BDP-120, BDP-320 and pictured BDP-23FD (known as the BDP-LX52 in European trim) -- got their official US intro to the tune of $299, $399 and $599, respectively. The specs from the January peek at these models remain intact, but covering three price brackets requires some points of differentiation; in this case provided by various video processing magic, onboard persistent storage for the BDP-320 and BDP-23FD, and missing 7.1-channel analog outs on the BDP-120. Oh yeah, and you just know that the BDP-23FD gets that swank Elite badging.

Yeah, sure, we knew the Harmony IR-to-Bluetooth remote adapter was coming down the pike, but even with FCC filings and official confirmation of the device from Harmony, the PS3 owners among us are breathing a small sigh of relief now that we've got our hands on a unit that prove it will make it to market. We have a love/hate relationship with the PS3's Bluetooth remote control -- the range and total non-directionality of it are great, but having a separate remote control just for the PS3 is a real stick in the eye of our couch potato lifestyles. There are a few choices for solving the PS3 remote control conundrum, but on first blush this unit has three things going for it: support from a big name like Logitech (of course including codes in the Harmony database), it does not eat up one of your PS3's USB ports, and it handles switching the PS3 on and off (not unique, but some other solutions don't). We'll give the IR-to-Bluetooth converter a full rundown in due course, but follow us past the break for our initial impressions, an official fact sheet and a link to a Q&A section on the Logitech blog.

Ross: "Woody Woodpecker officially hits the lowest point of his career."
Tim: "World's biggest Twitter fan shows up at CES."
Ittousai: "Alien Guts from Ultra Seven?"
Ryan: "Twitter has officially jumped the shark."
Joe: "I guess Geek Squad wasn't hiring."
Thomas: "I think you should stop blowing now."
Jose: "I'm a big, big thinker."
Josh T: "The doctor will see you now."
Steve: "I'm looking for some headphones."
Chris: "Did you see that redhead bird by the Casio booth?"
Sean: "Man, I thought that pimple would pop all by itself"
Nilay: "The chicks in Vegas are crazy."
Richard: "This really reinforces my reputation as an untouchable"
Paul: "So, what do you guys think about the Pre?"

Nothing says value in Vegas like 30 bonus Elvis Christmas songs.

Talk about a strong opening -- this is Vivitek's first CES appearance, and it's come to Las Vegas with seven projectors. With those kind of numbers, we'll hit the highlights and leave it to you to hit the link for full details. The big light gun is the LED-packing, 1080p H608FD; not for the faint of heart at just under $20,000, but at least you'll never have to change a bulb to enjoy the 10,000:1 contrast ratio. On the other end of the scale in size and price is the $999, 5.7-pound D832MX that is a 1024x768 HT/business switch hitter. Like we said, there are five more models at the show that you're invited to peruse in the link, including the D5500 we've seen before.

We just heard about the Sling Monitor, a quick way to move content from your Dish ViP 922 around your home, but we had to see it for ourselves. The display model at the Echostar booth was mounted way above eye-level, so we had to take some blind shots above the head. Look with your eyes, not your hands!

We've been busy shutterbugs while wandering around the CES showfloor, and here's a rundown of some new TVs that drifted in front of our lens. Take a stroll with us past the break and see what we picked up.

Never mind that VIZIO is breaking from its discount-market image, the combination of a known brand name and $199 pricetag for its VBR100 Blu-ray player is the one-two punch here. The company is showing off this new 2-inch thick (not the slimmest, but not exactly portly, either) Blu-ray deck at CES this week, and the feature set is pretty encouraging. The upconverted DVD feed coming out of the HDMI jack can be switched between 720p, 1080i and 1080p, but even more importantly, the unit's 7.1-analog jacks around back can output decoded Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. Set for release in April for a penny under $200.

We've been disappointed by the fits and starts that powerline technology has suffered in the past, but an honest look over the past year's HomePlug Alliance achievements isn't without bright spots. Growth in the install base (now at 25 million devices), products and vendors (18 new members) are nothing to sneeze at, and HomePlug AV2's promise of 600Mbps speeds sounds promising going forward. Kicking of at CES this week and moving forward, the alliance wants to see lots more household connectivity for HDTV, HDMI and all manner of data transfer you want to get done without tearing down the sheetrock in your home. Could this be the year that HomePlug really takes off, or will disappointing real-world performance continue to dog the technology? Hit the link for the alliance's rosy view and let us know your predictions in the comments.

As we heard at the LG presser, the company is getting in on the Netflix, CinemaNow and YouTube streaming game with its NetCast feature built into select LH50-class LCDs and PS80 plasmas, so you can pick your pixel flavor. It's definitely getting crowded in the space, but the Yahoo! Widget Engine angle is what sets this offering apart. Combined with PC connectivity, we're anxious to see support for MKV and more coming down the pike. Fun times ahead, and we won't argue with the arms race-like competition between vendors to shoehorn more functionality into the living room. Hit the link if you're curious enough to peruse the official PDF.

JVC has loosed three 5.1-channel HTIBs and a fashionable 2.1-channel rig at CES. First up, the TH-G31, TH-G41 and TH-G51 are all based around upconverting DVD decks. The TH-G41 and TH-G51 models add a repeating HDMI input and iPod/iPhone connectivity -- complete with a display of the iPod/iPhone UI -- into the mix. Capping off the tippy-top of the line, the TH-G51 also sports wireless surround speakers. If your fashion sensibilities are even more stringent than wireless surrounds, you might be able to accept the move to the 2.1-channel, so slim it's wall-mountable NX-T10. Don't run away from the 2.1-channel spec just yet -- the speakers are omnidirectional, so you'll still get some sense of envelopment. Full details in the links.

[Read - 5.1-channel HTIBs]
[Read - NX-T10 HTIB]

Whether you choose a direct USB microphone or you're an audio-specialist XLR type, Shure has you covered on getting that audio routed to your computer's USB port. The PG27USB and PG42USB are direct-to-USB condenser microphones with a cardiod pickup pattern -- pick the $199 PG27USB for a flat response or the $249 PG42USB if vocals are your thing. Like we've seen from other devices, the $129 X2u will marry your favorite XLR-type mic to your USB port with zero-latency, phantom power and headphone monitoring. The Shure name is well-trusted in microphones, but check the full details after the break if you're still not, um, sure.

It's been almost a year since Elgato refreshed its EyeTV Hybrid tuner, and while the addition of better reception and a FM radio tuner aren't earth-shattering, it's awfully hard to complain about how much the company has crammed into the Cear-QAM 1080i-tuning USB stick aimed at Mac users. The $150 dongle includes a year-long subscription to TV Guide for your scheduling convenience, but you'll have to fork over $20 per year for the service after that. There will be a new 3.1 version of EyeTV available later this month, but you can pick up the fresh hardware right now.

Technical Audio Devices (TAD), a subsidiary of Pioneer, has a little something to show audiophiles that may lure them away from their CD transports yet -- a new 2-channel audio format for Blu-ray discs that it unapologetically claims "rivals 2-channel analog sound." We're not sure if that means reel-to-reel or vinyl is in the crosshairs, but the company is putting its apparently-unnamed format up for demo at CES. The demos are being hosted by none other than audiophile classic Sheffield Labs recording engineers Bill Schnee and Doug Sax, who have picked out some choice cuts to be played on pro-level TAD Compact Reference monitors and associated electronics; no word on if whiskey is part of the demo.

Nothing is more frsutrating than when your IR remote "misses" a piece of gear -- your whole carefully synchronized setup goes out of whack, especially if you've got macros programmed on that remote. Hillcrest Labs is hoping to save you some headaches by joining up with Texas Instruments to produce RF remotes that comply with the RF4CE standard that came out last summer. They'll be showing some of these new wares off at CES, and we expect RF technology is pretty much essential for use with Hillcrest's Freespace motion control where the whole point of the device is to wave it about with reckless disregard for a chicklet-sized IR sensor. Press release past the break.

Getting bass out of a soundbar that conveys proper theater impact is asking for a bit much, so Polk Audio has wisely chosen to add a standalone subwoofer and name the package the SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater (IHT). Of course, soundbar shoppers are likely concerned about stringing wires across the living room floor, ceiling, or what have you, so Polk has added a wireless connection between the SurroundBar and the 6.5-inch subwoofer. Nice and tidy, and it'll ship this month for a buck under $600 $500.

The idea of gesture-based remote control isn't new, but GestureTek has added in 3D tracking to the mix for, you guessed it -- even more expressive interaction with your TV. After all, you don't live in flatland, so why should your remote control gestures? Of course, adding in depth perception requires the use of more than one webcam, but maybe that's not a big tradeoff in our age of six and more speakers in the living room. The setup will be on display at CES (sans Xpletive), so we'll try and swing by for a, um, hands on while we puzzle over how to add voice commands to this system. Watching the big game with your buddies just might get even more entertaining yet.

Mac owners who have been waiting for Netflix to open up the 'Watch Instantly' option just got a little something to light up their day -- the service is now available to the public; or at least members of the public who opt in via a web form. It's all based on Microsoft's Silverlight, so you'll need to download and install the plugin for your web browser, but please mind the six device limit if you've got a small cadre of 'Watch Instantly' devices in use. So if you can live with the fact that Microsoft tech is the lynchpin to your Mac streaming enjoyment, hustle on over and sign yourselves up for that non-HD, but ample selection of streaming content.