VIZIO at CES: Dump your ‘Dumb TV’ for a Smart One

[Ed. note: If you haven’t seen the movie The Bucket List, the above video is a bit of a spoiler, so be warned. It happened to be running in the background during our video interview at CES.]

VIZIO believes that consumers will stop buying “dumb TV’s” and start buying smart ones that are Internet connected. We talked to Matt McRae, VP of VIZIO, at the Consumer Electronic Show (above) to learn more about their new Internet connected HDTVs, the VIZIO TV app store (yes, a TV app store!) and content partners, which include blip.tv, Revision3, CinemaNow, Showtime, CBS, CNBC, NBC and others.

Imagine watching your favorite Web TV shows streamed directly to your TV set – with no set-top boxes. Just connect your DSL cable to the back of the TV (unless you have a VIZIO XVT Series HDTV that has built-in Wi-Fi) and you’re ready to kick back and enjoy! Welcome to the new world of Internet connected TVs. A variety of these TVs started appearing in stores in 2009 and TV manufacturers from VIZIO

to Sony and Samsung are counting on Internet connectivity to appeal to audiences who want to merge their enjoyment of quality Web shows, videos and social networking applications such as Twitter, with broadcast shows through their TV sets. VIZIO’s Internet connected sets also come with a nifty Bluetooth universal remote with a cool slide out QWERTY keyboard for easy searching and interacting with Internet apps.

And for those of you who are Green conscious, VIZIO’s models labeled ECO HD™ exceed the current Energy Star Guidelines by 50% below Energy Star 3.0, saving you money on utility bills while limiting the impact on our planet. Learn more about being a Green electronics buyer in our upcoming video interview from CES with Greenpeace.