Panasonic starts locking out third-party batteries with new firmware
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jun 25th 2009 11:47AM
posted Jun 25th 2009 11:47AM
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Unfortunately they have to make money somehow, the gross profit margin on digital point and shoots is pretty small.
Thats because most P&S cameras are shit.
make a good product and people will buy it.. Just look what Apple did to the MP3 player market. Before we had all sorts of mp3 players that had excellent sound quality and took 1 AAA battery. Now we have sealed in batteries that.... OH WAIT!
I guess someone's going to be first in the phone book...
I have just locked out Panasonic from my purchasing options.
@xtole
Your loss. Panasonic is arguably making the P&S cameras on the market right now. This battery issue is a pain, but, as AAAAAA1 Plumbing alluded to, at least you can still replace the battery. Or you could buy one of the many Panasonics that use standard AA batteries.
Canon owns the compact P&S market. There's no reason to settle for a Panasonic with a locked battery.
That's fracking awful. I have 3 spare batts for my Canon SD750 that have worked perfectly for almost 2 years, and provide much longer shooting time. Guess I won't be buying a Kodak anytime soon.
...or Panasonic.
If it's anything like what's going on with Panny's new HD camcorders, then it is definitely possible for third parties to make batteries, they just have to partner with Panasonic to make it happen.
IDX, for example, just released an extended battery which "employs secured communication technology and works with specific Panasonic™ camcorders in the AG-HMC150 and AG-HMC70 series." It lasts about 25% longer than Panasonic's biggest OEM battery, and adds a 3-LED push-button charge level indicator.
Who knows what such a partnership entails, but the phrase "locked out" just doesn't apply. I'll definitely accept "restricted entry", though.
People who is unhappy about this need to check there brain, those fake batteries can set your home on fire,destroy your expensive camera,doesn't show battery bar or how much left in it, and doesn't last long like the original one
Is it worth saving 20 box for all this?
yes.
Just because you bought a crappy third party battery does mean they are all bad. I've had very good experiences with third party batteries. Having a factory battery does guarantee that it will be free from design flaws and defects, just ask Sony and Dell laptop owners. If Panasonic wants to be dicks fine, I just won't buy from them.
How about make your shitty cameras take AA batteries instead. form factir does not make a difference when your camera is as big as a watermelon.
Your inferior car can is more likely to get you killed in a crash, is it really worth it to save some extra $$?
Ya, and we all know that OEM batteries *never* explode, catch on fire, etc etc etc.
Check your own head. This is just another way for Panasonic to force consumers into buying a product that only they can manufacture.
Only a matter of time before the 3rd party guys figure this out.
I think you need to "check your brain" did you ever stop and think that not all unofficial batteries are crap like this? Sure there are the cheap Chinese knockoffs that really only exist to save you money, but there are other batteries which can be of higher quality than the stock battery and even hold more power. Panasonic doesn't care though, they just want a monopoly on this battery market so they can sell whats the most profitable, but not before inflating the price even more. Very Sony-like move Panasonic.
This seems like it will be easy to circumvent though, for both the end user and the battery companies.
I don't mean to be rude but I could only make your comment make sense when I put on a faux Mexican accent, one of the really bad ones.
What exactly is a fake battery?
Do keep in mind that OEM batteries are usually made by a third party, too. And, that they leak, explode and burst into flames at least as often as non OEM batteries.
Couldn't they just provide a warning?
That wouldn't make them money, now would it?
Yeah.. it's all about safety... riiiiiiiiight.
Wow, that sucks.
I'm a Canon user, and I always get my batteries on eBay for like $1 (instead of the outrageous $40 on Amazon). That'd be bullshit if I had to throw down $80 on two extra batteries, even if they do perform better than the crap eBay batteries.
That's crazy! Has this ever happened on a device with removable batteries before?
I think so.
But have no direct experience (I think Sony has done this on some products).
Printer manufacturers love to chip their cartridges too, which is a bit different to this but the same sort of 'don't-buy-anything-but-our-consumables' thing.
(but again I have no direct experience with a printer like that).
It's happened with cell phones, I think. I know some Verizon phones can detect non-OEM chargers, and refuse to charge. I'm sure the batteries work the same way.
Can you imagine Sony saying that third-party batteries are unsafe?
That's just comedy gold right there, considering Sony's track record for laptops...
@tekdroid
I am pretty sure Lexmark did this with chips on their toner cartridges. Then they went even further to sue the 3rd party refurbishers/manufacturers for violating the DMCA/copyright laws by using their chips over in refurbished cartridges or producing copies of the chips for use on refurbed toners.
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-979791.html
Dick move all around and Lexmark ended up loosing. I doubt Panasonic will go as far to protect their battery reselling margins given the outcome of the Lexmark case.
kal326, I did not know that about Lexmark.
I heard it was HP who had done this and had won. I guess I now have one less reason to flatly refuse to buy HP products. Too bad there are other reasons and they are still on my Never Again list. As is Lexmark along with Panasonic now.
how are consumers going to react to this?
"Down With Lumix!" banners?
unfortunately most users won't notice until they buy the camera.
nice
The last two batteries I got (One for my cell phone and one for my digital camera) I purchased on Ebay for about $5 each (with shipping). Both provide me with better performance than the OEM batteries that came with the device.
Now that they've locked out competition, they are free to jack up the prices on extra batteries.
I'm in, i want that new shiny box.
The lumix cameras are pretty nice, but damn panasonic thats lame! :p
So, the manufacturers will reverse engineer the batteries and create their own chip that defeats the lock-out...
Then Kodak will summon forth the DMCA...
Closely followed legal beating in court (a la lexmark)
What will the end result be? The 3rd party batteries will end up costing slightly more to cover the cost of breaking the protection.
Uhhh how do you think the DMCA is going to apply in China? I can go on eBay right now and order a fake iPod Shuffle (or anything else). US companies can't do shit about it.
The DMCA has an exemption for interoperability, so it won't stop a determined 3rd party manufacturer who is otherwise working within the law. What will slow them down is having to reverse engineer and work around Panasonic code, which can be at any time modified to keep ahead of the "counterfeiters."
I guess I stop buying Panasonic cameras then.
Gee...I am so *wounded* I now only have 3928 other camera options to choose from.
Personally, I just "antie up" and buy the OEM batteries. Considering how much damage can be done by a counterfit, I'd rather have the OEM battery. Easier to get a replacement if something does blow up with an OEM vs a knock off.
Seems to me it's your property if you paid for it. They are just taking advantage of the computer's ability to change the item that you have in your own possession. Eventually car manufactures will program their cars not to run if you used tires not from their dealers. I'm sure there is some layerize in the ticket when you buy it, but I really hope they get successfully sued over this invasion of property rights.
To DRhouse. Keep practicing the English Bro. "The dogs bark but the caravan moves on"
Love will Save the Universe!!!
I would be ANGRY!
I hate things like this. I wouldn't update mine. But if there was a serious safety issue, that would be different.
question....how do you "activate" a comment for the recession posts?
The same way you activated this one :P
yeh but if you post a 2nd comment.......it says make sure you only activate 1.
That's for if you don't actually put in your username and password.
I use two 3rd party batteries as spares for my TZ5, and together cost about $30 less than the price of a single Panny battery. They don't perform as well as the OEM, but there's certainly no way I'd pay the OEM price for a battery that gets me maybe 30 more shots than those cheaper ones.
If they're so worried about safety (which we all know isn't the real reason), then include a spare battery with the cameras.
What rev of firmware? LX3 just got 1.3