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?

We still don't know what it looks like, but during its line show, Vizio let slip that the sub-$200 VBR100 Blu-ray player announced at CES is now scheduled to come to Wal-mart only in July. For $188 (just not that cheap anymore) Wal-mart shoppers can expect a BD-Live ready (with optional 1GB+ USB thumbdrive attached) player, though no details on codec or output support. Don't shop at Wal-mart for philosophical reasons, quality concerns or fear of being trampled during an early Black Friday rush? A similar VBR110 model should follow, coming to other retailers around November/December, just in time to match with that brand new WiFi connected Netflix / Amazon / Twitter etc. widget packing LCD.

Sure VIZIO only just showed off new updates in its high end XVT series, but it's already planning the next generation of LCDs with VIZIO Internet Apps included. Packing widget functionality, 802.11n wireless networking and slider QWERTY Bluetooth remote, the SV422XVT, SV472XVT and VF552XVT Connected HDTVs are coming home in November, October and December, respectively. Already on deck to serve up content for your widgets are Vudu, Revision3, Facebook, Twitter, Rhapsody, Blockbuster OnDemand, Showtime, Flickr and more. The biggest surprise? There's apparently no price premium planned for these features, with the 55-inch clocking in at the same $2,199 price as the model it's replacing, though the 47-inch jumps $200 over the previous edition to $1,699, while adding the local dimming LED backlit technology previously reserved for the 55-inch. The 42-inch will be the first and cheapest available at $1,199 (sans LED) -- we'll see if that bar is low enough to get viewers to jump into the internet-connected display future.

Read - VIZIO Announces High Performance XVT HDTV Line Up with 240Hz SPS(TM), TruLED(TM) and Smart Dimming(TM) Technology, VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA), and Slim Line(TM) 120Hz LCD HDTV Models
Read - VIZIO Unveils Rhapsody Digital Music Service for VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA(TM)) Connected HDTVs
Read - VIZIO Reveals Dynamic New Content Partners for VIZIO Internet Apps Connected HDTV Feature

It's been a hot minute since we've seen any new kit from the cats at VIZIO, but it has evidently been hoarding up sets in anticipation for today. This morning, the company has let loose details on a veritable smorgasbord of new TVs, all of which fall within the XVT, M and E series. The XVT line is getting a boost from the new TruLED VF551XVT, which packs 240Hz dejudder technology, as well as a number of other companions ranging from 32- to 55-inches in size. The M series is amongst the prettiest of the bunch, boasting a JAVA design, 1080p panels and 120Hz technology. Finally, the E series (E is for Eco, get it?) sucks down far less energy than most, with screen sizes spanning from 19- to 42-inches. Far too many new sets are being unveiled to detail here, but you can feel free to dig in after the break.

In these difficult times people are looking to buy what's cheap, a state of mind that Vizio's iSuppli's latest press release isn't ashamed to apply, lauding the company's status as the current most popular brand of LCD television in these United States. It owned a 21.6 percent chunk of the US LCD TV market in the first quarter, up from 13.8 in the quarter before and beat out Samsung to be king of the liquid crystal hill -- largely thanks to prices that were, on average, between $150 and $400 lower than the competition. Kudos to the brand and we hope that it enjoys this moment, because with imports of new sets banned out on bond it must be tough paying an extra $2.50 on each one coming through Customs. Full press release after the break.

Update: To be clear: this is actually a press release issued by iSupply talking about Vizio, not by Vizio.

Just when it looked like the long-running patent dispute was tipping Vizio's way, the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled in favor of Funai, issuing an order to block imports of Vizio HDTVs. According to Bloomberg the ban is still eligible to be reviewed by President Obama while the patent case itself is still being reviewed by an appeals court, but if Vizio wants to keep its shipments flowing it will have to post a bond of $2.50 per television. We've put a call in to Vizio to find out what this means for its immediate future -- and that sweet LED backlit display from CES -- and confirmed that while this order goes into effect immediately, you should still be able to find sets on shelves and they will continue to do business as usual during the presidential review period, but feel free to read its press release in response after the break for more details.

Aw, snap! Just months after Funai took the reins from Philips in North America, along comes a lawsuit for its lawyers to deal with. VIZIO, still feeling proud after its all-business Super Bowl ad, has thrown a potent antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit in Funai's direction. The outfit alleges that Funai, "acting alone and in concert with others, unlawfully restrained trade and monopolized the market for the licensing of technology used to interpret and retrieve information from a digital television broadcast signal, as well as the market for digital television sets and receivers." Specifically, VIZIO seems perturbed that Funai inappropriately acquired the rights to one single US patent, and ever since it has "unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement" of said patent to the "detriment of trade and commerce." There's no mention of how many bills VIZIO thinks will fix the problem, but Funai better not try filling stacks of hundies with Washingtons in between.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]

We've certainly seen mixed reviews for VIZIO plasmas, but it seems that those very reviews will be the last of their breed. According to the New York Times, VIZIO co-founder Laynie Newsome has confirmed that its existing PDPs will be the last the company sells. Looking back, you'll notice that only LCDs were introduced by the outfit at CES, and while Pioneer may or may not completely abandon its TV initiatives, Americans can now definitively count on just three major players to provide for their plasma desires: LG, Samsung and Panasonic. Newsome stated that the decision was made for a number of reasons. First, PDP sets simply "don't show as well in big box stores," and VIZIO wanted to "devote all of its available shelf space to the technology that moves off the shelves fastest." We're a tad torn as to whether we should weep here, but regardless, a fond farewell is in order.

Just nabbed a 55-inch 1080p Vizio XVT for Chrismakwanzika and feeling good about yourself? Consider a return, because the specs on the new models are here and the list is long. Music, 1080p movies (MPEG-2, h.264 & WMV9) or pics from a USB drive? The whole line has that with Vizio's Multi-media hookup, while LED backlighting, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and 5 HDMI ports are kept exclusive to the $1,999 55-inch VF551XVT1A. 42- and 47-inch models share the 240Hz motion technology that's become so popular with their larger relative, but only rock 50,000:1 contrast and 4 HDMI jacks for $1,099 and $1,399 respectively. 32- and 37-inch aficionados can expect 120Hz refresh rates for $749 and $999 respectively when they ship in the fall, while the rest of the pack are summer babies. Of course, by then you'd probably want to wait for a Connected HDTV....we love this time of year.

Netflix streaming is one thing, but Vizio seems to be taking its new status as a premium HDTV manufacturer very well, with the new Connected HDTV platform featuring support for Yahoo! Widgets, Flash, Blockbuster OnDemand (!), Flickr, Pandora, Rhapsody and Accedo Broadband. Due Fall 2009, owners can feel free to go wired or 802.11n style to connect to any of these services in HD, if supported. Clearly missing? Yahoo!, Media Center Extender, but the 2H 2009 fight of Internet-ready televisions is on - set-top boxes better watch their back.

Move over LG, Vizio is now the second manufacturer bypassing the set-top box and doing Netflix streaming straight to the TV. Apparently just one of Vizio's "key content partners" expect to browse your queue via customized remote over wired or wireless connection when the new lineup hits retailers later this year. Looks like someones putting in work on that goal of enabling streaming to all US households.

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.

Budget minded customers waiting for VIZIO's 2008 LCD lineup can rest easy as all the details of new VL, VT, and EcoHD lines are official. All the lines feature either SRS TruSurround XT or HD and multiple HDMI inputs. But while the VL and VT series are all 1080p and feature VIZIO's version of 120hz technology called Smooth Motion II, the EcoHD series is the new eco-friendly version we've heard about which is up to 25 percent more energy efficient than Energy Star 3.0 requires. The VL line ranges from 32 to 47 inches, with retail prices between $599 and $1099. The VT however is only available in 42 and 47-inches, which are $899 and $1099. The EcoHD line however really spans the gamut ranging from 19-inch all the way up to 32-inches and from $249 to $449.

Read - VIZIO EcoHD
Read - VIZIO 120hz 1080p LCDs

We've already seen that a number of retailers will be offering Vizio HDTVs on the cheap this Friday (or Black Friday, as the in-crowd calls it these days), but the company is stealing a bit of their thunder by announcing cuts from the top a few days early. Vizio's 19-inch VA19 LCD will be offered for just $199.99 at Costco through December 7th, while the 32-inch VP322 plasma (pictured) will go for $437 at Walmart starting today. There's also the 37-inch VW37 LCD HDTV for $499.99 at Costco, the 32-inch 1080p VOJ32LF LCD for $559.99 at Sears and the 42-inch 1080p VS420 for $698 at Sam's Club. If none of these sets float your boat, check out our condensed guide to Black Friday: HD style for something more to your liking.