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Vizio tablet fits Walmart into its hectic schedule, shipping in just six weeks
Looks like Blake Griffin will have to find some other unreleased gadget to wave in front of our noses, because his beloved Vizio tablet will soon be available to all the little people who shop at Walmart. An internal schedule just faxed itself to our tin foil caps declaring that the Android 8-incher will start shipping in "week 26", which is Walmartish for six weeks from now. That might seem a long wait considering Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 is already giving us doe-eyes from the shelves at Best Buy, but the Vizio hits a friendlier price bracket (recently leaked at $349) and has its own set of tricks. The SRS speakers and universal remote function impressed us back in January, and there's also the Via Plus ecosystem that should integrate the tablet with Vizio TV apps and the upcoming Vizio Phone. Of course, Vizio is more than welcome to come over and pimp the rest of our home entertainment system like it did for Blake. [Thanks, FiZiX]
Vizio's VTAB1008 tablet hits the FCC: your $349 slate now one step closer to shipping
Vizio hasn't had much to say about its tablet plans since it entered the fray at CES in January, but it looks like things are now starting to pick up again, and fast. We just got wind of a listing for a Vizio VTAB1008 tablet priced at just $349 in Walmart's system earlier this week, and now that same device has passed through the FCC -- which, if you place the two together, could well indicate that a launch may finally be imminent. Unfortunately, the FCC listing doesn't provide much in the way of details beyond the crude outline above and some expected specs (WiFi, Bluetooth and HDMI), but the agency has only been asked to hold back the confidential parts of the filing until August 30th, so we should at least know more by then at the latest.
OnLive turns into Vizio VIA Plus app, destined for TVs, tablets and phones
The OnLive MicroConsole is one way to get your streaming game fix, but here comes Vizio with four more -- the bargain television company just revealed that those brand-new VIA Plus HDTVs and Blu-ray players (as well as that VIA Tablet and VIA Phone) will come with OnLive on board. Despite running as an internet app on top of the existing Vizio hardware, we're told the service will support full 1080p resolution, stereoscopic 3D images, and OnLive's low-latency wireless gamepads too -- as Vizio's units will apparently support IEEE 802.15.4. While the jury's still out on when OnLive will actually be playable on touchscreens, CEO Steve Perlman says some games are being adapted to support touch right now, and that tablets that support external game controllers could also use OnLive normally. We've also got more good news for the home theater crowd, as OnLive's signed a deal with SRS, bringing 5.1 surround sound as a free update to all OnLive users early next year. Because there's nothing quite like having ears bombarded from all directions with digital explosions. PR after the break.
