Panasonic Puts HTML5-Driven Firefox On New Panel Lineup

May 15, 2015 by Dave Haynes

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Now you can buy a flat panel display that runs the open source Firefox browser.

The first Panasonic VIERA Smart TVs powered by the Firefox OS are now available in Europe, and will be available worldwide in the coming months. Granted, the panels are Smart TVs and not commercial displays, but we all know many, many small business signage installs with TVs.

Says a news release:

“Through our partnership with Mozilla and the openness and flexibility of Firefox OS, we have been able to create a more user friendly and customizable TV UI. This allows us to provide a better user experience for our consumers providing a differentiator in the Smart TV market,” says Masahiro Shinada, Director of the TV Business Division at Panasonic Corporation.

If I am decoding the product numbers properly the screens are all big fellas – running from 68 to 85 inches. But just because something is called a CX700 doesn’t necessarily equate to dimensions, I find with the kooky Asian panel guys.

“We’re happy to partner with Panasonic to bring the first Smart TVs powered by Firefox OS to the world,” said Andreas Gal, Mozilla CTO. “With Firefox and Firefox OS powered devices, users can enjoy a custom and connected Web experience and take their favorite content (apps, videos, photos, websites) across devices without being locked into one proprietary ecosystem or brand.”

Panasonic Smart TVs powered by Firefox OS are optimized for HTML5 to provide strong performance of Web apps and come with a new intuitive and customizable user interface which allows quick access to favorite channels, apps, websites and content on other devices. Through Mozilla-pioneered WebAPIs, developers can leverage the flexibility of the Web to create customized and innovative apps and experiences across connected devices.

So now we have Samsung Smart Signs running their proprietary set-up, LG running Web OS, Android TV, Samsung’s emerging Tizen OS and panels with Rokus inside – all of them, I believe, capable of pointing to and running content off a Web URL.

 

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