Beginning this year, Panasonic smart TVs carrying Fire TV as their operating system will start to become available to consumers. While this is a fairly major change, it remains to be seen how quickly the changeover from the company’s own OS to Fire TV will be adopted on a wide scale, and especially as only two models have been confirmed for 2024 so far.
That said, those models are OLED smart TVs, and that marks a major change in general for the availability of smart TVs with built-in Fire TV. The Z95A will be available in 55 and 65-inch versions while the Z93A will be a 77-inch smart TV.
“We’re incredibly excited to announce with Panasonic that their new smart TVs will include Fire TV starting in 2024,” said Daniel Rausch, vice president for Alexa and Fire TV. “This means customers around the world will get to experience all the benefits of Fire TV’s personalized streaming experience and access to Alexa, combined with Panasonic’s best-in-class smart TVs.”
For reference, Amazon has confirmed that these new Panasonic TVs will come loaded with the latest version of Fire TV. This also means the latest features and improvements, including far-field voice control with Alexa and Fire TV’s Ambient Experience. The latter is Amazon’s new mode which kicks in when the user isn’t watching the TV to transform the TV into a smart display equipped with art, personal photos, calendar entries, reminders and more.
While good news for Amazon, as it further increases the reach of its Fire TV ecosystem, this is probably better news for Panasonic. With its own operating system not as popular as other first-party solutions, the inclusion of Fire TV may help to persuade consumers shopping for a new smart TV to go with its latest models.
“With such vast options, the real challenge becomes pinpointing exactly what you want to watch. Therefore, our new mission goes beyond just providing great picture and sound. It’s about simplifying the process of content discovery, ensuring it’s not just easy but delightful,” says Mr Akira Toyoshima, President, CEO of Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co., Ltd.
At present, it remain unclear when exactly these new TVs will be released. Likewise, how much they will cost when they are available and whether they will be released in all markets. While Amazon and Panasonic are marketing the partnership as a ‘global collaboration,’ that’s unlikely to mean they will be available in all markets, globally.
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