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Vizio shows off a 10-inch Tegra 4 tablet and a lower-end 7-inch slate
Earlier today we showed you the Vizio Tablet PC, the outfit's first Windows 8 slate. Now we're back for part deux, starring Tegra and a healthy dose of Jelly Bean. While touring the company's suite, we found two prototypes: a 10-inch tablet with NVIDIA's new Tegra 4 chip and a mid-range 7-inch model designed to take on the lower end of the market. Starting with the 10-inch model, key specs (aside from Tegra 4) include a 2,560 x 1,600 display, 32GB of on-board memory, NFC and dual 5MP / 1.3MP cameras. The 7-incher, meanwhile, has 16 gigs of storage, and steps down to Tegra 3 and a 1,280 x 800 resolution. No NFC on that one. Both run Jelly Bean, though -- stock Jelly Bean, at that. Design-wise, both have a rubbery, soft-touch finish, similar to what you'll find on the Windows 8 tablet we saw earlier. As ever, it makes for a sturdier grip, though unlike on the Tablet PC there's no beveling on the sides where you can rest your thumbs. Both models have narrow speaker grilles on the back, except the 10-inch model has two, while the 7-incher has one. As with the Tablet PC, the display isn't IPS, per se, but it does have some unspecified wide-angle viewing technology. Indeed, we were able to follow along with a movie from off to the side and with the tablets lying face-up, but we did notice the colors seemed a little pale. Washed out. As for Tegra 4, we wish we could tell you more but alas, NVIDIA is still being awfully protective over its technology demos. So, while the folks staffing Vizio's booth let us watch a movie clip, we weren't permitted to select other media files or play any games. All in due time, we suppose. Suffice to say, the 1080p movie we watched ran smoothly, but that wasn't ever really a problem on Tegra 3, was it? In any case, we'll surely be showing you lots more of Tegra 4. As for this particular tablet? We're not sure. Vizio hasn't confirmed whether either of these tablets will come to market, though it says there's a good chance, particularly for the higher-end 10-inch model. Whatever happens, we've got hands-on photos below, along with a video walkthrough of both devices. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Vizio debuts its first Windows 8 tablet, an 11.6-inch slate with a 1080p display, AMD processor
After breaking into the PC market last year, it was only a matter of time before Vizio released its first Windows 8 tablet. The company just announced the Vizio Tablet PC, an 11.6-inch slate running full Windows (i.e., none of this RT business). What's interesting is the combination of specs here: on the one hand, it packs a dual-core, 1GHz AMD Z60 chip, making it among the first Windows 8 tablets with an AMD processor inside. At the same time, it rocks a 1080p display -- not the sort of resolution you'd expect to find on a low-power tablet with a Z-series or Intel Atom CPU. Also, like the rest of Vizio's PCs, this has a Microsoft Signature software install, with zero bloatware. Otherwise, the specs are pretty standard: 2GB of RAM, 64GB of solid-state storage, a 2-megapixel front camera and micro-HDMI / micro-USB ports. Vizio hasn't announced pricing or exact availability just yet, but we hope to get hands-on with this thing very, very soon. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Refresh Roundup: week of March 12th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Hulu Plus for Android gets more plusses, adds compatibility to nine devices
Do we want to live in a world where the Vizio Tablet actually has Hulu Plus before our beloved Motorola Droid Bionic or Droid 3? No matter your answer, the fortunate news is that we no longer have to, because the streaming video service is now readily available on eight more devices. The list includes the two mentioned above, as well as the HTC Droid Incredible 2, LG Revolution and G2x, Motorola Droid X2, HTC Sensation and EVO 3D. This is great news, though don't forget that you'll need to pony up $8 per month for the subscription. Still interested? Follow the source to download and install it on your device.
Vizio rolls out Tablet software update, promises performance boosts aplenty
No, it's still not Honeycomb, but Vizio has just rolled out an update for its 8-inch Tablet that promises quite a few improvements, including better graphics performance, faster UI navigation, and better battery life. Home theater-minded folks will also no doubt be pleased with the updates to the company's Universal Remote Control app, which now boasts support for "up to 95 percent of all CE devices in North America."
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: tablets
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we're leaning back with our tablets -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! There are certain back to school purchases we could never talk you out of. A laptop? Vital. A smartphone? Highly recommended. A printer? Necessary -- if you're the kind of person who finishes papers minutes with minutes to spare, leaving no time to swing by the computer lab on the way to class. But a tablet? We'll be honest: we can't think of a good reason why you need one, but we can more than sympathize if you're dead-set. We've picked a few noteworthy choices for each budget, though if you're really lucky you'll win one of 15 Samsung Galaxy Tabs and won't have to pay a dime. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details. So wipe off the glasses, grab your clicker, and get ready to jump past the break for this year's tablet picks for back to school.
Vizio tablet now shipping nationwide, priced at $300
Well friends, if you've been waiting to get your hands on the 8-inch Vizio tab (and don't live near a Costco), your time has come. The company announced today that its slate has begun shipping to retailers nationwide including Sam's, Walmart and Amazon. The Android tablet is now priced at $299, a $30 drop from our last retail sighting -- and just in time to entice those of you heading back to school in search of a new piece of tech to play with during that history lecture. Or perhaps you just want to kick it like Blake Griffin... don't worry, we won't judge you. Besides, what else do you need for your dorm room other than an integrated universal remote to queue up all those Lord of the Rings marathons?
Vizio Tablet tiptoes into retail, starting at Costco
We know it's been a long wait since CES, but after getting pawed at by both Blake Griffin and yours truly, the Vizio Tablet is starting to show up in stores right about on schedule. Frequent Engadget commenter DaHarder took a step away from the Disqus box and snagged this tablet at a local Costco store for $329 ($20 off the regular price), an achievement also unlocked by the folks at Mobileslate. According to their reports you may have to ask around to find out if the VTAB1008 is actually in stock but it may be lurking along with its $40 Accessories Kit, while it's already showing in stock on the Vizio online store. Impressions so far suggest a "budget" tablet experience above that of the flood of craptablets with decent hardware and battery life, but a software experience behind the top of the line slates due to the custom UI, small internal storage and RAM and slower single core Marvell CPU. Our review is yet to come, but if there's around three bills burning a hole in your pocket and you've just got to have an Android tablet with integrated IR blaster, we're not seeing too many other options available. [Thanks, DaHarder]
Vizio Tablet goes up for limited pre-order, starts shipping mid-July
Can't wait to get your hands on Vizio's upcoming budget tablet? Good news, beginning today, you can put your $400 where your mouth is, by pre-ordering the device straight from the company's site, starting at 1:30PM ET. That amount will get you the Gingerbread tablet, along with a 16GB MicroSD card, and a folding folio case. Pre-ordered devices will start shipping on July 18th. Those who snoozed and therefore lost will be able to pick one up in stores that same week. Update: Let the pre-orders begin!
Vizio extends its LCD HDTV sales lead; new 3D, VIA Plus and ultrawidescreen TVs are on the way
We already took a fresh look at the Vizio Tablet due this summer, but the company's main business is HDTVs and there it's on top of US LCD sales again, with more than 20 percent of the market in Q1. Of the top five selling TVs in Q1, four are Vizios priced at $698 or less, while the other is a $1,699 MSRP Samsung LCD. Vizio launched its lower end E3D line earlier this year, the next series on the way are edge-lit M3D models due in August and September that up the refresh rate to 240Hz, come with four pairs of passive 3D glasses instead of two and have a Bluetooth remote. Up next, the 21:9 ultrawidescreen sets we saw at CES are real and will ship in October as the Cinemawide series in 2560x1080 58- and 50-inch models. Finally, the top of of the line XVT 6 series will feature the new VIA Plus Google TV platform and are going to be available in 47- and 55-inch sizes, but won't ship until December There's still no prices for any of these yet, but we're going to guess they'll go low as they usually do. Check the press release for all the details after the break including a glancing mention of the Vizio Phone.
Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video)
Way back in January at CES, we managed to sneak in a little bit of hands-on time with the Vizio tablet, the TV manufacturer's straightforwardly-named foray into the ever-popular space. The tablet runs Gingerbread at present, though Vizio has said that it's willing to make the leap over to the tablet-optimized Honeycomb, as soon as that operating system is deemed sufficiently stable by the company. The 1024 x 768 device is multimedia-minded, with an IR controller on the top that lets the whole thing double as a remote for your living room entertainment devices like TVs and VCRs. The tablet also features HDMI out and speakers on the top and side, so you can maintain stereo listening even when you switch its orientation. Blake Griffin's favorite touchscreen device will be hitting store shelves next month for a fairly reasonable $349 -- we wouldn't have expected anything less than an affordable price point from a company like Vizio. And we have to say, it's a pretty solid feeling piece of hardware for that price. The software doesn't seem quite perfect at the moment, but we're happy to hold off judgment until we get some hands-on time with the final version in the near future. Check out a video tour of the tablet below. %Gallery-126842%
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.
Vizio Tablet (VTAB1008) priced at $349 within Walmart's system
Wait, Vizio's concocting a tablet? For those with chronic short-term memory loss, you may have forgotten that America's so-called low-cost TV leader branched out a bit during this year's Super Bowl, but it's been dead quiet on the tablet front ever since dropping the Via and sticking with Tablet. Looks like that's about to change, though -- a courteous tipster handed off the screenshot you see above, highlighting the appearance of a 'VTAB1008' within Walmart's inventory system. The device was just added a couple of weeks ago, and while we're still no closer to knowing if Vizio's done the right thing and settled on Honeycomb, we do know that it'll be pricing this thing competitively. How competitively? $349... competitively. We'll keep you abreast of any release dates we see, but for now, catch up by having a gander at our preview video from a few months back. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Vizio Tablet hands-on preview
We just had our first in-depth experience with the Vizio Tablet, the company's opening overture into the world of Android slates, and we've got to say -- we like what we see. The device -- which was just announced Monday afternoon along with the company's new smartphone, the Vizio Phone -- is still rather unfinished (the model we looked at was a hand-built device), but based on this early look, the company is moving down the right roads. We had a good chance to play around with the tablet, and we've got all the details, specs, and an in-depth video after the break! %Gallery-112617%
Vizio details specs on Vizio Tablet and Vizio Phone, reveals VIA Plus is Google TV
Vizio has unveiled more about its plans for the new year which seem to consist largely of a huge push on Android, from the 4-inch phone and 8-inch tablet running a (still unspecified) flavor on their 1 GHz processors, to new VIA Plus HDTVs and Blu-ray players with Google TV built in. The VIA Tablet and VIA Phone (not necessarily final names, judging from the PR) have a few other details mentioned -- though we don't know if the phone is GSM or CDMA, it does have a 4-inch screen, WiFi N, GPS, MicroSD slot, dual cameras and HDMI output, while the 8-inch tablet brings similar chops minus any sort of 3G connectivity. With the new Vizio Internet Apps Plus, it aims to provide a seamless experience from the handheld to the big screen, including the ability to pause and resume content across devices. Judging by the screenshot, it looks like the company may be wrapping its own Yahoo! Widgets-like skin around the Google TV experience in a way we haven't seen from Sony or Logitech yet. Another pic and the full press releases await after the break, the rest will have to wait until we get our hands on the devices in Las Vegas. Update: Vizio's quietly dropped the VIA naming -- now it's just the Vizio Phone and Vizio Tablet with the VIA Plus ecosystem.
Vizio teases entry into the tablet fray with pizazz via Rose Bowl spot (video)
Teasing tablets ahead of the CES deluge is nothing new for manufacturers now, but we'll at least give Vizio a few style points for its expensive approach to the tactic. That's because what looks like a Vizio-branded tablet made a not-so-secret appearance during the Rose Bowl. Specifically, the device appeared about 15 seconds into the chairman's message in the hands of Vizio chief sales officer Randy Waynick. Just in case a mere sighting was too subtle, Waynick was also kind enough to mention Vizio's dedication to "entertainment freedom for all" and the ability to view content on "any of their great new products, from anywhere" -- wink wink, nudge nudge. Details on the gadget are obviously unknown, but we're confident the actual specs (if any) will emerge next week. We're also pretty positive it's not Vizio's 7-inch razor portable TV. If you weren't watching the game, check out a video of the device's brief cameo on national television after the break. Update: We originally speculated that this tablet was probably running Android based on the buttons. Some eagle-eyed readers have pointed out though that only three buttons are visible at the bottom of the Vizio screen -- which means WP 7 could also be a possibility. It's worth noting too that no traditional Android buttons were visible on the prototype Motorola Honeycomb Tablet. The bottom line is we can't make a ruling on the OS based solely on the buttons.