Although Panasonic promised the capability in March of this year—and brought it to its Plasma Viera Cast TVs back in April—the company announced today that its Viera Cast Blu-ray players can now tap into movies and television shows via Amazon Video On Demand, without the need for additional hardware or gear, so long as the units have access to an in-home broadband connection. The capability is available for Panasonic’s DMP-BD60, BD70V, and BD80 Blu-ray players, along with the B15 portable Blu-ray player.
Tag Archive: Viera Cast
Panasonic Ships First Portable Blu-Ray Player
Just in time for road-trip season, Panasonic has announced the availability of its DMP-B15 portable Blu-ray player. It’s just like those small-screened portable DVD players that were all the rage a few years ago, except this one also handles Blu-ray content. And, if you’ve got Ethernet available at grandma’s house or in a hotel room, it’ll even connect up to BD Live content and Panasonic’s Viera Cast service for more content.
“Panasonic was the first company to bring to market a portable DVD player and stand-alone Blu-ray players to feature Bonus View and BD Live, and with the B15 we continue that tradition of being first to market with unique technology,” said Panasonic’s entertainment group director Richard Simone, in a statement.
Panasonic Debuts Portable Blu-ray Player
Electronics giant Panasonic (née Matsushita) has introduced what it claims to be the world’s first portable Blu-ray player, the DMP-B15. The portable player will feature an 8.9-inch display and a rechargeable battery offering up to 3 hours of video playback time.
“As a pioneer in the development of DVD and Blu-ray expertise, Panasonic has always been in the forefront of cutting edge, consumer friendly technology,” said Panasonic consumer electronics director Richard Simone, in a statement. “With the introduction of this unique portable Blu-ray Disc player, the consumer can take this HD entertainment experience when they travel.”
Panasonic, Google Team on Internet TVs
Folks who want their Internet and their TV too may want to note a new partnership between Internet titan Google and Matsushita’s Panasonic business unit: the two companies plan to bring the Panasonic Viera PZ850 plasma television to market in the second quarter of 2008, with the capability to directly access YouTube and video-sharing site Picasa without an intervening PC or media server.
“We are thrilled to introduce Panasonic Viera PZ850 series Internet-Connected HDTV’s with virtual one-click access to YouTube and Picasa Web Albums from Google,” said Panasonic AVC president Toshihiro Sakamoto, in a statement. “This is the first time mainstream consumers will be able to easily enjoy YouTube videos from the living room with the enhanced quality of a fully integrated widescreen TV experience.”



