Panasonic and Netgear team up for wireless IPTV

Posted on 18 Aug 2010 at 15:21

At least two companies are betting that the future of TV is connectivity: Panasonic has announced a deal with networking specialist Netgear that will see the latter's USB wireless networking dongles certified for use with the former's Internet-connected HDTVs.

While Panasonic TVs have featured the Viera Cast technology - which allows users to access content from the Internet, including video on demand from Amazon, YouTube, and photo sharing from Picasa - for a while, adoption has been stifled by the requirement to have a physical network cable plugged in to the TV: something which there is often a distinct lack of in most living rooms.

The agreement between the two companies will see Panasonic making Netgear wireless networking products - starting with the N600 Wireless Dual-Band USB Adapter - compatible with the USB port on certain Viera HDTV models: just plug the dongle into the TV and press the 'connect' button to link the TV to any compatible wireless router.

With companies looking towards Internet-connected TVs as the future of entertainment - and especially now that industry giant Google has thrown its hat into the ring and announced its own Google TV service, which competes with Panasonic's Viera Cast but requires an additional set-top box - this sort of technology is going to be a requirement, but many customers will be disappointed that the wireless connectivity isn't built in as standard and requires an additional purchase to enable.

All Netgear products that are supported on Panasonic's HDTVs will carry a "Compatible with Panasonic" sticker.

Author: Gareth Halfacree

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