Panasonic Viera TV Apps Are Expanding

10 Nov, 2011 By: Billy Gil

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UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Panasonic executives and those from a few app providers presented expanding options for Panasonic's Viera connected TVs Nov. 10, showing a growing set of apps that stream video directly to the television set.

“The TV has evolved significantly back from the days of the antenna all the way through now,” said Merwan Mereby, VP of interactive content and services group at Panasonic. “IPTV and obviously the Internet is not just about the PC anymore.”

Merwan said by 2010, more than 40 million units of connected TVs were sold, and that by 2013 projections show connected TV shipments outpacing those of PCs.

He said the evolution of TV watching has taken consumers from having to watch shows when they were broadcast to now, where there is a potentially limitless library via IP VOD, with each app provider storing video or other content in the cloud. Now consumers also can tweet while watching TV, via the Internet social network application Social TV that Panasonic announced Nov. 1.

Indeed, Panasonic's Kate Solovya, merchandising and operations manager of the interactive content and services group, said datashow consumers increasingly access social networks via their PCs and smartphones while watching. She demonstrated how consumers can control Viera TVs via their smartphone or tablet and can update their status or tweet on the TV alongside streaming video without drawing attention to a second screen.

Viera TVs currently ship with 12 embedded apps, including Netflix and Hulu Plus, but those apps could change, Solovya said. Additionally, consumers can add whatever apps they like, provided they pass quality assurance testing on the part of Panasonic. However, Panasonic does not vet the apps for content, she said, saying the TV is “just a shell” for the apps to be embedded via widgets. Currently there are about 120 apps produced by third parties for the TV sets, she said.

“Ultimately, this is all about the user experience,” she said. “Any restrictions that are artificially put in place by cable companies [or others] are not going to work in the long run.”

Representatives from the app creators, such as Break Media, which operates eight websites garnering a net 50 million unique viewers a month, said the goal of app creators is to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

Panasonic also recently announced a new gaming app, PlayJam; a Bollywood movie/video channel, BigFlix; and the Viera Connect Market, whereby users can upload credit card information once and use it across a variety of apps, such as a demonstrated app in which users could buy 3D eyewear, amongother consumer electronics devices.

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