First off, the service is exceedingly popular-a recent report calls Netflix "the 'gold standard' for new.streaming services." Second, it's available on numerous other devices, including select LG and Sony TVs, and Sony even upgraded its 2009 interactive televisions to stream Netflix last fall. We can understand current VieraCast owners not getting Skype, but lack of Netflix is a harder pill for them to swallow. The same goes for Skype, which requires a special jack to work with the yet-unpriced proprietary Panasonic camera/speakerphone needed to make video and voice calls. In short, we don't expect the company to ever make those older VieraCast sets Netflix compatible.
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That information is slightly more specific than what was said by Bob Perry, Senior VP at the company, in the latest update to his blog: ".due to the system requirement issues, Netflix cannot be added to pre-2010 models."
The explanation from Panasonic is that the chip that handles VieraCast in the older models lacks the necessary embedded DRM (Digital Rights Management) code to enable compatibility with Netflix. The answer, as confirmed by Panasonic Wednesday, is "nope." That little "Coming Soon" placeholder on the lower right of Panasonic's 20 VieraCast home pages won't say "Netflix" anytime soon.Īs soon as Panasonic announced that Netflix and Skype, among other services, would be added to its VieraCast interactive service for 2010 TVs and Blu-ray players, we wondered whether it would trickle down to the 20 models-namely the 800U, 850U, G10, G15, V10, and Z1 series TVs, and BD60, BD80, BD70V, and BD15 Blu-ray players.