The latest firmware update for Panasonic’s 2018 TV models adds support for Google and Amazon’s respective voice assistant systems via a compatible smart speaker.
Two voice assistants in your TV
Earlier this year, Panasonic promised to bring Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support to its 2018 TVs. The relevant firmware (version 3.074) started rolling out yesterday, October 30. TV models from 2017 and earlier will not be updated.
- “Support control from the Google Assistant / Amazon Alexa devices,” the release notes said.
Compatible 2018 models include the FZ800 / FZ802 and FZ950 / FZ952 OLED models as well as all “FX” LCD models (i.e. FX780), including regional variants such as “FXW” and “FXN”.
Panasonic explains that you need a compatible Google Home or Amazon Echo speaker to use voice commands with a 2018 Panasonic TV. There are no microphones built in to the TVs. The company has not released a list of supported voice commands, and we do not have a recent Panasonic TV available for testing, but we assume that simple playback controls such as play/pause will work. You may also be able to turn on/off the TV via voice commands.
Update 01.11.18: "With this update, one can use their voice to turn their TV on and off, change the channel, adjust the volume, and much more," Panasonic said.
Panasonic has previously said that Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa functionality is available to users in the UK and Germany but the firmware is released for all European sets. You may be able to change your region to UK to enable the features. Voice control can be enabled from the respective Google Home and Alexa mobile apps.
Firmware version 3.074 can be installed over the air via the built-in update function or manually by downloading the file in the source link onto a USB thumb drive.
- Source: Panasonic support via 4KFilme.de
