Amazon Video On Demand Now Available on Panasonic's Viera Cast-Enabled HDTV's

Consumer electronics giant, Panasonic, announced Wednesday that Amazon.com's online Amazon Video On Demand service can now be accessed through Panasonic HDTV sets equipped with the company's Viera Cast over-the-top platform (note: the Viera Cast platform, which has a built-in Ethernet interface, is accessed by pressing a special button on the remote control and entails no usage fees). According to the company, its Viera Cast-enabled HDTV sets now allow viewers to choose from over 40,000 Amazon Video On Demand titles (including around 500 in HD); begin viewing those titles immediately upon selecting them (i.e. without waiting for them to download); view them in high quality, thanks to support for the H.264 codec and an automatic bandwidth detection feature that the company says plays back the best quality file at 300, 600, 900, or 1,200kbps (or, when a title is in HD, at 2,500kbps); and access and add to their "virtual library" of purchases, via Amazon Video On Demand's Your Video Library, and re-watch those purchases any time on their Viera Cast-enabled HDTV or online with a PC, Mac or other compatible device. However, owners of Panasonic's first Viera Cast-enabled television set product line, the 2008 Viera PZ850 series, will have to wait for a free, automatic software update and register their TV set with Amazon Video On Demand before they can access the service.

Panasonic says that, for 2009, its Viera Cast technology has been extended to three Viera plasma HDTV series; and that it is working with Amazon.com to bring Amazon Video On Demand to its 2009 line of Viera Cast-enabled Blu-ray Disc players by the summer. In addition to Amazon Video On Demand, Viera Cast provides access to YouTube, Picasa Web Albums, Bloomberg News and weather information: Panasonic says that consumers will have automatic access to additional Internet services as they are made available through the platform. "In talking to our consumers, Panasonic identified a strong desire to have access to a wide range of video-on-demand services directly through their television," Merwan Mereby, Panasonic's VP of new business development, said in a prepared statement. "The addition of Amazon Video On Demand's premium service to our Viera Cast offerings delivers the ultimate entertainment experience to consumers. Viera Cast owners now have access to Amazon's vast collection of movies and TV shows, including HD-quality new releases, as well as the extensive, consumer-generated content Viera Cast already offers via YouTube and Google Picasa. Through Viera Cast, Panasonic now offers consumers access to the most comprehensive library of entertainment content out there, all from the comfort of their couch."