VIZIO Announces the Addition of Popular Apps, Ultra HD Streaming and Second Screen Experiences to America's Best Selling Smart TV Platform

IRVINE, Calif. and LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIZIO, America's #1 smart TV company¹, announced today the addition of more popular apps, Ultra HD streaming and second screen experiences to their popular VIZIO Internet Apps Plus™ platform. VIZIO Internet Apps sales are sure to continue to grow with new apps including Spotify, Lyve, AirCastLive, Baeble Music and Plex.  Consumers will also enjoy Ultra HD content from Netflix as well as second screen experiences supported by YouTube and Netflix. VIZIO will be demonstrating the newly redesigned VIZIO Internet Apps Plus at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV at the Wynn Hotel, by appointment only.  

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The latest generation VIZIO's smart TV platform – VIZIO Internet Apps Plus – represents two years of development based on years of customer feedback and usage analysis to deliver consumers an even smarter smart TV experience. It features a new app dock that overlays the bottom of the screen for quick, at-a-glance access to seven of the user's favorite apps, without interrupting on-screen content.  With the selected app now in center focus of the display, users can more easily view the previous three and next three apps in the carousel for faster navigation.

Not only can consumers also navigate their app collection more quickly, but they can also access a newly expanded full-screen integrated app store with just a double click of the V-key on their VIZIO smart TV remote, making it simple to find, organize and browse the ever-expanding collection of apps. With these enhancements, VIZIO Internet Apps Plus is more powerful than ever, yet remains a clean elegant design built for consumers that's free of advertising and annoying spam.

As streaming services begin their respective plans to produce or distribute Ultra HD content, VIZIO's all-new P-Series and Reference Series, will support streaming Ultra HD content with support for the HEVC codec.

"As the world's leading Internet TV network, Netflix will be among the first to deliver Ultra HD to consumers," said Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer Netflix. "Streaming will be the primary way consumers will receive Ultra HD and we are excited to be working with VIZIO to make this a reality later this year."

VIZIO Internet Apps Plus enabled HDTVs also deliver a seamless second-screen experience with initial support by YouTube and Netflix that works with Android and Apple iOS smartphones and tablets. Using their mobile device to search for content on the corresponding app on their smartphone or tablet, users can then simply click to play the content on the big screen, as well as control playback on the TV from their mobile device.

A new Wi-Fi Direct Smart Remote that is rolling out to current M-Series televisions further enhances the VIZIO smart TV experience. The remote's built-in Wi-Fi Direct technology delivers more convenience than conventional IR remotes – users can control the TV without the need to point the remote at the TV. The backlit remote also features quick launch keys for frequently accessed smart TV apps like Netflix allowing one-click access to movies and TV shows.

"As consumers are multitasking more than ever across multiple screens, we've continued to focus our smart TV platform development to deliver an enriched and beautifully simple TV watching experience," said Matt McRae, Chief Technology Officer, VIZIO. "Collaboration with our partners around important enhancements like Ultra HD streaming and second screen experiences are the type of innovations we believe matter to the consumer and deliver a quality of experience that makes entertainment content more compelling, easily discovered and watched."

With VIZIO Internet Apps Plus, consumers can access current popular apps including Hulu Plus, M-GO, Netflix, Pandora, VUDU and YouTube, along with updated and new apps joining the platform such as:

Spotify – Sit back and stream all your favorite music from the comfort of your living room. With Spotify on your VIZIO Smart TV, Spotify Premium subscribers can get unlimited, ad-free access to millions of songs and enjoy amazing sound quality through their TV. The Spotify app brings many of your favorite Spotify features straight to your TV including: access to the Spotify catalogue with millions of tracks; the ability to search tracks, albums, and artists; new releases, top tracks, and albums; and the ability to access, add to and find new playlists.

Netflix – In addition to being one of the first content providers to stream Ultra HD to consumers and provide a seamless second-screen viewing experience, the latest update to the Netflix app makes it even easier to discover something great to watch on VIZIO TVs. It provides an even more cinematic and rich visual experience as you navigate and find more images and context about a title, including recommendation tools, such as awards won by a particular title and how a movie or TV show relates to what you've already watched. For TV shows, there's a refined episode selector that uses images for each episode along with a synopsis. Search is now much more visual and predictive and there's a new post-play feature that automatically starts the next episode of a TV series you are currently watching. Netflix also supports pointer-based navigation from our VIZIO remote controls.

Lyve – LyveHome gives consumers the ability to aggregate and access personal content from iOS, Android, OS X, and Windows devices and manage and enjoy on their VIZIO TVs. Now VIZIO Internet Apps Plus users can easily sort, view, share and their photos and videos in one convenient location even their living rooms!

AirCastLive – AirCastLive sends video from TV-to-TV and from smartphone-to-TV from across the street or around the world.

Baeble Music – Baeble Music will help you discover tomorrow's leading acts, and quite possibly, your new favorite band. The Baeblemusic channel offers both avid fans and novice viewers a look deep inside the creative minds of today's top musical talent. In its compelling, HD-quality original and exclusive video programming, Baeble sweeps you away to the front-row seat of sold-out concerts and to the lawn seats alongside intimate backyard sessions. Join us in discovering the great acts of tomorrow along with today's favorites.

Plex - Plex organizes all of your personal media, wherever you keep it, so you can enjoy it on any device.

"The partnership with VIZIO is another step in our quest to be the complete music experience for our users - at home, at work, on their phones, everywhere," said Pascal de Mul, Global Head of Hardware Partnerships, Spotify.  "VIZIO's leading line up of smart TVs and Spotify's access to over 20 million songs make this a perfect partnership for music lovers."

VIZIO's smart TV line-up now spans screen sizes from 24" to 80", with models available in the VIZIO E-Series and all models in the new 2014 VIZIO M-Series and P-Series collections. For more information on VIZIO's complete smart TV line-up, please visit VIZIO.com/CES.

¹ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, Q2 2013 LED TV units with Apps included

About VIZIO

VIZIO, Inc. is headquartered in Irvine, California. In Q2 2007, VIZIO skyrocketed to the top by becoming the #1 shipping brand of flat panel HDTVs in North America and in Q3 2007 became the first American brand in over a decade to lead in North American LCD HDTV shipments. VIZIO was #1 in North America LCD for 2010¹. VIZIO is now also America's #1 Smart TV⁵ and large size LCD company² as the leading seller of 60" and larger HDTVs in the U.S. with 30% of the market in this class². VIZIO was the #1 Sound Bar Company in the U.S. for Q1 2013⁴. For over a decade, VIZIO has remained committed to what it does best -- focus on the consumer to deliver visionary products at a great value. VIZIO offers a broad range of award winning consumer electronics that now include PCs and mobility products.  VIZIO's products are found at Amazon, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale, Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide. VIZIO has won numerous awards including a #1 ranking in the Inc. 500 for Top Companies in Computers and Electronics and made the lists of Ad Age's Hottest Brands, CNET's Editor's Choice, CNET Best of CES 2011 - Television, CNET Best of CES 2013 – Home Theater and Audio, Home Theater Magazine's Top Picks, Good Housekeeping's Best Big-Screens, PC World's Best Buy and Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice among many other prestigious honors including "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with HDTVs Less Than 50 Inches in a Tie" from J.D. Power⁶. For more information, please call 888-VIZIOCE or visit www.VIZIO.com.

¹ DisplaySearch Market Tracker Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.
² The NPD Group / Weekly Tracking Service, Large Size includes 60"+, Q2 2013 units sold.
³ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, Q2 2013 LED TV units with Apps included.
⁴ The NPD Group / Retail Monthly Tracking Service, units sold, Q1 2013.
⁵ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, Q2 2013 LED TV units with Apps included.
⁶ J.D. Power 2013 High Definition Television (HDTV) Satisfaction Report^SM

SOURCE VIZIO

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