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Vizio Unveils New Smart TVs in Trendy Chelsea

Vizio Inc.’s new product launch strategy was on full display at a recent showcase in New York City, where the Irvine-based company introduced a lineup of smart TVs and audio accessories in the trendy Chelsea neighborhood.

The highlights: a 43-inch LED, ultra high-definition TV priced at only $600, and the introduction of 65-inch and 120-inch High Dynamic Range-Enabled Ultra HD TVs supporting Dolby Vision that were first teased in January 2014 at International CES in Las Vegas.

Vizio hasn’t released the cost of the Dolby-enhanced model, which produces life-like images that pop off the screen in incredible detail, but expect the price tag to exceed its priciest TVs in that size range.

Its 65-inch M-Series, ultra HD or 4K model, which quadruples the resolution of traditional HD TVs, costs $1,700. An 80-inch version costs $4,000.

Vizio is sticking to the script that made it the top seller of soundbars and smart TVs in the U.S., with the new lineup, along with several new soundbar models ranging from $80 to $250, available on its site, as well as at Amazon.com, Sam’s Club, Costco Wholesale, Best Buy, Target and Walmart.

Vizio chose not to unveil the new products at this year’s CES, marking the first time the company didn’t showcase there since it shook up the TV market in the early 2000s.

Phones to Boost Blizzard

Expect Irvine-based video game maker Blizzard Entertainment Inc. to get a significant revenue boost in the coming quarters with its popular free-to-play title now available on Android smartphones and Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

“Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft” has already amassed more than 20 million players since its release a little more than a year ago on PCs, Macs and iPads. Millions more will likely join to play the collectible-card game that features characters from the company’s “World of Warcraft” franchise.

The digital game was expected to crack $100 million in revenue in its first year.

Unlike with WoW, Hearthstone players aren’t required to pay monthly subscription fees for updated content and can finish a game in 10 minutes rather than logging hours in front of a computer screen, a fairly common phenomenon in the multiplayer fantasy franchise OC’s largest software maker helped usher in a decade ago.

That strategy hasn’t stopped Hearthstone’s growing legions of fans from setting up online accounts and spending real money to acquire special card packs that provide new characters and add weapons or accessories, despite the fact that the add-ons can be acquired over time through traditional game play.

User growth has also been buoyed by big e-sport tournament events around the globe hosted by Blizzard and others.

Blizzard’s Santa Monica-based parent, Activision Blizzard Inc., is scheduled to release its first-quarter financials on May 6.

Microsemi/Vitesse Deal in Clear

It appears Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp.’s pending $389 million deal for Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. in Camarillo won’t face regulatory scrutiny or other bidders.

A 15-day waiting period required by law expired without the Federal Trade Commission or the antitrust division of the Justice Department making any moves to block the acquisition.

The 21 calendar-day “go shop” period for Vitesse, a networking chipmaker, also concluded without another bidder entering the ring.

The deal, one of Microsemi’s largest to date, is expected to close in the coming weeks.

The combined companies have revenue of about $1.2 billion, with Microsemi accounting for more than $1 billion of that. Microsemi is OC’s fourth largest chipmaker, with 246 employees, according to Business Journal research.

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