First announced at CES 2012, the Vizio VAP430 stream player featuring Google TV 2.0 has become available for pre-order for $99 last week.
Here are the specs provided on Vizio website:
- Video
- Resolution Supported – 720p, 1080i, 1080p
- 3D Support – Yes
- Video Playback – H.264, MP4, MKV
- Audio
- Music Playback – MP3, AAC, WMA
- Audio Features – Up to 5.1 surround sound pass-through
- Connectivity
- WiFi – 802.11 n/g/b
- Bluetooth
- Ethernet – 10/100 Mbps
- Connections
- HDMI In – Connection to Cable or Satellite Box
- HDMI Out – Connection to TV
- One USB 2.0 Host port
- Remote control – Built-In IR Blaster, Bluetooth, Touchpad and Keyboard
- Dimension – 10.67 x 4.06 x 10.67 cm
- Weight – 300 grams
They did not provide information about the processor, RAM and flash used, but I would guess it’s based on Marvell Google TV Reference Platform which is powered by ARMADA 1500 HD Secure Media Processor (Dual Core ARMv7 processor @ 1.2 GHz) and comes with 1GB RAM and at least 4GB flash. If that’s the case, they clearly understated the video containers and codecs supported by the device. (Edit: See comment section for discussion about this issue).
The remote looks pretty awesome with a qwerty keyboard, a TouchPad and Bluetooth, and you can also download Google TV Remote App to use your smartphone or tablet as a remote control.
On the software side, Google TV comes with Chrome for Android by default, and lots of usual application such as Google Play, YouTube… are pre-installed on the device together with Onlive, an on-demand video game platform. You can watch ViZio Co-Star video commercial below to have a look at the user interface and what can be done with the device.
At $99 this is a very competitive proposal, as it includes an Android set-top box (possibly with a dual core processor) and a dual-sided Bluetooth Remote. I would argue that it’s even impossible to get a similarly priced package from websites selling cheap Chinese electronics on the Internet. The only downsides are that it’s only available in the US for now, and it became so popular (announced 4 days ago) that it sold out within 24 hours. Pre-orders will ship on August 14, and it’s not possible to pre-order anymore, at least for a little while.
You can find more information on Vizio Co-Star page.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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