IRVINE, Calif.–Vizio has launched “Vizio Account,” a payment and subscription management app that allows millions of Vizio Smart TV users a central hub to subscribe to streaming services and take advantage of special offers.

Vizio SmartCast TV owners can enter profile and payment information into a secure platform to create a Vizio account. Features include:

• A single place to subscribe, track payments, and manage streaming services integrated with Vizio Account
• Easy account maintenance for all Vizio TVs connected to Vizio account
• Convenient account management through the Vizio Mobile App
• Automatic TV registration
• Easier tech support check-in with TV registration
• Access to special sales and offers
• Email notifications for new features and products

“The launch of Vizio Account lays an important foundation for streamlining payment and subscriptions on our platform,” said Mike O’Donnell, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer at Vizio. “Vizio Account will provide consumers with more choice and greater control over their entertainment investments while giving our partners a dynamic marketplace for delivering offers.”

Vizio Account is available on the vast majority of Vizio SmartCast TVs.

IRVINE, Calif.—As TV manufacturers look to differentiate their products with better streaming experiences, Vizio is adding new apps to its SmartCast TVs and upgrading the viewing experience with improved search, custom content channels and other features. 

As part of the new effort, BET+, which offers thousands of hours of hit movies, TV shows, stage plays and other content from Black creators, will be launching on the Vizio SmartCast TV on August 4th. In addition, Discovery has announced that its subscription streaming service discovery+ will land on Vizio SmartCast in September.

The announcements about the new apps came as Vizo unveiled an updated experience for its owned-and-operated free streaming video service, WatchFree+, with new content and features.  

The reimagined WatchFree+ streaming service provides audiences with greater control to search and discover free programming and access to curated channels for millions of consumers, Vizio reported.

“WatchFree+ provides audiences with access to the channels and programming you expect with cable, but in a free streaming environment that makes it easy to personalize and customize the entertainment experience,” said Katherine Pond, vice president of business development at Vizio. “With the growth and evolution of WatchFree+, we now offer hundreds of free channels where we manage and control the programming for consumers and the ad inventory for marketers — providing better experiences for all.”

The updated offering includes a new program guide, improved user experience and more entertainment with custom curated channels.  

WatchFree+ also includes new navigation features that allow for advanced search and discovery of the latest and best free entertainment. 

The program guide supports voice navigation for new SmartCast TVs that come with the latest Vizio Voice remote. Additionally, audiences can use voice navigation through the free SmartCast Mobile app for iOS and Android.

The improved experiences leverage Vizio’s Inscape viewing data to inform programming preferences with context. The viewing data was also central part of the redesign of VIZIO’s full-screen program guide and curated channels.

The latest WatchFree+ programming is now available on all Vizio SmartCast TVs, the company said. 

Vizio has begun shipping what it’s hailing as its brightest TV yet, the 2018 flagship P-series Quantum TV.

First previewed earlier this year, the 65-inch 4K smart TV boasts Dolby Vision HDR, active full-array backlighting with 192 zones of local dimming, 700 nits of full-screen brightness, 2,000 nits of peak brightness, and Quantum Color Spectrum technology said to provide a palette of over 1 billion colors. Other details include 240Hz refresh rate and Clear Action 960 technology reducing motion blur.

[Read: Vizio Embraces ATSC 1.0 Tuners & HDR In New 4K TVs]

Vizio’s built-in SmartCast OS enables consumers to access popular streaming apps, control their TVs via voice using Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, or control the TV using a mobile device. SmartCast also comes with built-in Google Chromecast.

The bezel-free TV is now available for a $2,099 suggested retail at such retailers as Best Buy, Costco and Sam’s Club.

IRVINE, CALIF.—The Vizio SmartCast app has added a new tool to its make-up, the Xumo live and video-on-demand OTT system. The Xumo system joins other apps as part of the SmartCast experience, including Vudu, Crackle, Hulu, Pluto TV, iHeartRadio, FandangoNOW and Google Play Movies & TV.

With Xumo, SmartCast users have access to more than 70 OTT channels, including Time Inc.’s People/Entertainment Weekly Network, Sports Illustrated, Refinery29, Funny or Die, and Outside TV Shorts. Consumers can browse the Xumo content alongside content catalogs from other apps available on SmartCast.

The Vizio SmartCast app is available on mobile and tablet devices, and smart TVs.