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Panasonic's new 4K TVs will run Firefox OS under the hood
Panasonic's promises of Firefox OS-based TVs in 2014 didn't amount to much, but the company is back with much more concrete plans for Mozilla's web-based platform. The electronics giant has revealed that all of its 2015 Life+Screen 4K TVs (the CX600, CX650, CX800 and CX850) launching this spring will run Firefox OS. You can not only run web apps, but also send content to your TV from any device with a Firefox browser or a compatible app. You'll even get notifications from smart appliances connected to your home network, Panasonic says. It's hard to know if the new software will help Panasonic compete with the likes of LG's webOS sets or Samsung's Tizen models, but it's clear that simply making a smart TV isn't enough in the tech world these days -- you need to have a full-fledged software ecosystem to back it up.
Panasonic ups its smart TV game with the VIERA Life+ Screen, complete with voice and facial recognition
Panasonic's taken to the stage at CES and has just revealed the VIERA Life+ Screen in an effort to "redefine what a 21st Century TV should be." Televisions under this banner are kitted out with Xbox One-like facial recognition that will display information relevant to users on an "Info Bar" relegated to the lower part of the screen. Voice recognition has also been baked into the set along with a feature called "myStream" that helps you keep favorite channels organized. And of course, it wouldn't be 2014 without social integration, particularly content sharing and Facebook notifications. When it comes to picture quality, the line of sets shown off today boasts a 4K LED display (which is said to look just as good as the company's old plasma tech) and will come in 58 to 65 inches when it arrives this year, with an 85-inch -- the firm's first LED TV of that size -- joining it later in 2014. Even if you aren't in the market for a UHD TV, every one of the outfit's 4K and 1080p sets fresh out this year will have the VIERA Life+ Screen moniker attached.
