After introducing its first model with Amazon's Fire TV operating system last year, Panasonic is now also bringing Fire TV to its high-end OLED TVs. Here's what to expect.

Panasonic is abandoning its own TV operating system, MyHomeScreen, which was a continuation of the discontinued Firefox OS, once developed by Mozilla – the company behind the Firefox web browser.

Amazon's Fire TV has so far been confirmed for Z95A and Z93A, the first two 2024 OLED models unveiled by Panasonic.


 Fire TV in Panasonic Z95A and Z93A. Photo: Panasonic

The switch was overdue as MyHomeScreen had fallen behind other TV platforms in terms of both features and apps. With Fire TV, buyers of Panasonic will get access to more or less all international streaming apps plus many regional and local apps. At the same time, Fire TV introduces an entirely new user interface in Panasonic TVs.

- "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," Akira Toyoshima, President and CEO of Panasonic Entertainment & Communication, said of the decision to partner with Amazon and switch to Fire TV.


Apple AirPlay, Alexa
Another significant step for Panasonic this year is that it has partnered with Apple to integrate Apple Home (HomeKit) and AirPlay 2 for the first time, meaning that users can control their 2024 Panasonic TV using Siri voice commands (via an Apple device) and share video, music and photos wirelessly from their iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

As part of Fire TV, users get support for Alexa voice commands including a smart home dashboard to control and monitor other home devices. Panasonic has implemented a far-field microphone in its remote for hands-free Alexa.

In addition, Panasonic is getting one of Fire TV's latest features; Fire TV Ambient Experience.

- "When not in use for viewing content, the Z95A and Z93A models transform into dynamic displays. The Fire TV Ambient Experience turns the biggest screen in your home into a beautiful, always-smart display. This can turn the TV into an in-home gallery, display personal photos, and show glanceable information like calendars and reminders through customizable Alexa widgets."


 The Fire TV Ambient Experience in Panasonic Z95A and Z93A. Photo: Panasonic

What happens now?
The fact that Panasonic is abandoning its homegrown OS and switching to Fire TV in its best TVs raises a number of questions.

For example, will Panasonic continue to support MyHomeScreen in older TVs and if so for how long? And will Panasonic continue to offer models with alternative TV platforms such as Google TV, as it has done in the past few years? FlatpanelsHD will try to find out at CES in Las Vegas.

Another important change is that Panasonic buyers will have to get used to an increasing numbers of ads in the Fire TV interface, which Amazon is controlling – seemingly sharing ad revenue with TV makers. Other Smart TV platforms, including Roku, Google TV, LG's webOS and Samsung's Tizen, are similarly increasingly built around ads to generate recurring revenue for the TV maker.

By partnering with Panasonic, Amazon's Fire TV is starting to feature more prominently in TVs from well-known brands. In the past, Fire TV was used exclusively in streaming dongles before Amazon refocused to have it integrated in TVs from smaller brands and later Amazon-branded TVs. TCL has also in recent years introduced Fire TVs, although most of TCL's models run Google TV today.

You can learn more about Panasonic's Z95A and Z93A 2024 OLED models in this article or by clicking the model names below.

2024 Panasonic TVs with Fire TV
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