via

LAS VEGAS--Vizio announced its first-ever smartphone at a press conference ahead of CES today. The Vizio VIA is an Android phone. It's got a 4-inch touch screen that sports a Vizio skin on its interface, a 5-megapixel camera, and a mini HDMI-out port.

The most significant characteristic, however, is the IR blaster, which, when coupled with a Vizio app, can control the also-just-announced Vizio tablet (we got a hands-on), and compatible Vizio TVs. It should also control 95 percent of other infrared-controlled devices, Vizio said.

Vizio isn't ready to announce pricing, carriers, or a whole lot of other … Read more

Vizio is the second TV maker, after Sony, to officially announce a television or Blu-ray player with Google TV.

The company is marketing the Google TV feature as part of its VIA (Vizio Internet Apps) Plus platform, an improved version of the Vizio Interactive Apps suite found on current models like our 2010 Editors' Choice XVT3SV series and the new XVT3D650SV.

Vizio's announcement today touted the availability of VIA Plus on TVs and Blu-ray players, in addition to its newly announced smartphones and tablets. According to the company, the platform "combines the convenience of entertainment on demand with … Read more

Brian Tong joins us to talk about the high points of yesterday's WWDC announcement and how the new iPhone 4 compares to current Android hardware. Also, the HTC Evo 4G breaks a Sprint record, Android tablets for $100 and Google Music... coming soon? Plus copy/cut/paste shortcuts and a review of DoubleTwist.

HTC’s Evo 4G smartphone debuts http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15228405

HTC EVO 4G sets new sales records for Sprint http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/07/htc-evo-4g-blows-away-sprints-first-day-sales-records/… Read more

What a difference a year makes. In 2009, which saw the first serious attempts at TVs with built-in Internet services, we reviewed plenty of mixed bags. On the plus side, essential streaming video services like Netflix and Vudu seemed to work relatively well, but on the minus side, utility widgets (mainly powered by Yahoo) were sluggish, remotes were unwieldy, Wi-Fi was nonexistent, and content selections were limited. In 2010, most if not all of those problems have been addressed by many makers.

This 2010 comparison looks at the major manufacturers' Internet-enabled TV platforms, arranged in order of which ones we … Read more

If you were one of the billions of people who watched the Super Bowl, you may have seen an ad for a certain TV company called Vizio promoting a TV that connects to the Internet to offer Facebook, Rhapsody, Netflix, and a host of other dot-com-style names. That TV is the 2XVT series, first announced more than a year ago, and to judge from our experience with those Internet services--conveniently called Apps--Vizio spent all that time getting the experience of getting the Web onto a TV right.

The Apps response times were quick, Vizio's App interface is well-designed and … Read more

Desktop sales are plummeting, while notebook shipments are on the rise. But that doesn't mean desktops are dead. And execs at AMD and Via believe desktop sales will turn around in 2010.

"I think you will see the resurgence of the small form-factor desktop," Patrick Moorhead, a vice president at AMD, told The New York Times in a recent interview.

Via Vice President Richard Brown echoed that sentiment. He said that, especially when it comes to the corporate world, the desktop is still alive and well.

"Companies are tending to go back to desktops," Brown … Read more

When USB 3.0 was demonstrated by Intel last year, I was really excited. Now the wait is really over.

The VIA group unveiled Monday the world's first USB 3.0 Hub Controller, the VIA VL810 SuperSpeed. This is the industry's first integrated single-chip solution that supports the higher transfer rates of the new USB 3.0 specification.

And here's the reason why I've been so excited: USB 3.0 (aka SuperSpeed USB, as opposed to the HighSpeed USB or USB 2.0) allows for a maximum data transfer rate of up to 5Gbps, which is … Read more

Remember when we crowed about Vizio's upcoming lineup of "Via"-branded TVs, citing a prodigious feature set that includes local dimming LED backlighting, interactive add-ons galore, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a QWERTY-equipped Bluetooth remote (pictured), all for an appropriately Vizio price?

Since then we've received lots of e-mails asking when the Via models would be available, and we dutifully repeated the same question to Vizio's reps. Now it's been answered: the company is officially pushing the Via models back until January 2010.

Assuming Vizio can deliver even a passable interactive experience, we expect our eventual … Read more

Dell has unveiled a new server for Web applications that uses Via Technologies' Nano processors to reduce power consumption and increase density in the data center.

Up to 12 of the new XS11-VX8 servers can be fitted into into an industry-standard 2U chassis, each using 15 watts of power while idle and 29 watts at full load. The company claims the new server can reduce total cost of ownership by up to 34 percent.

"We know there are other solutions in the market, but I haven't seen anyone come close to our power numbers while being able to … Read more