Peter Griffin: Panasonic fires up Amazon-powered TVs

Peter Griffin’s consumer tech columns appear fortnightly on listener.co.nz

If you buy a laptop or desktop PC, chances are it will have Windows installed, as about 75% of the world’s computers run Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating system (Apple’s MacOS runs most of the rest).

But it’s a different story in the world of TV operating systems where there are more options. Google TV is the closest thing to Windows in the TV world but has more limited uptake. The likes of Sony, Hisense and TCL opt for the operating system from the creator of Android, which is used on billions of smartphones.

Samsung, which claimed 16% of the global TV market last year, has invested heavily in its own Tizen operating system; LG has done the same with webOS, and Panasonic, which has withdrawn from the US and Australian TV markets but remains a popular brand in New Zealand, has its own bespoke smart interface dominated by My Home Screen for its high-end OLED TVs, but uses Google TV to run its LED TV line-up.

As a Panasonic OLED TV owner, I’ve come to grips with the pros and cons of this operating system. It’s simple to use and provides ultimate flexibility in adjusting TV settings, but it doesn’t have the richness of content options, voice assistance and home automation options built into its user interface that you’ll find available via Google TV or Amazon Fire TV.

The latter is the giant e-commerce operator’s equivalent operating system, which has been available locally for years as a streaming stick you can plug into your TV to replace its operating system. Amazon claims that 200 million people were using Fire TV in 2023 across streaming sticks and natively on TVs, making it the most popular way to access streaming content.

This month, Panasonic launches its flagship OLED TVs like the Z95A, Z93A, Z85A and W95A with the Fire operating system built into them for the first time. It’s a big move for Panasonic. NZ has had high uptake of Amazon’s Echo smart speakers powered by the Alexa voice assistant, but we don’t have the Amazon Prime delivery service here, which bundles in the Prime Video service.

But Fire’s arrival on Panasonic’s premium TVs came just in the nick of time, as the TV maker’s own operating system was looking increasingly dated compared to its competitors. App support is very good, as the Freeview streaming app and local streamers like Neon, Sky Sport Now, TVNZ+, Three Now feature on the TV, as well as Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, YouTube and Amazon’s own Prime Video. Music apps like Spotify and Apple Music are also supported.

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