Panasonic used its Tuesday morning CES press conference to reassert itself in CE while revealing a wide swath of B to B initiatives for 2016.
Topping the CE news was the announcement that Panasonic will introduce a 4K UHD Blu-ray player later this year. It also showed the CZ950 4K OLED 65-inch TV and the DX900 series of UHD 4K sets, which Julie Bauer, president of Panasonic Consumer Electronics and CMO of Panasonic Corp., said was the first to meet the new UHD Alliance standards.
Pricing and ship dates were not available.
In imaging Panasonic is debuting the Lumix DMC-ZS100 premium compact travel camera that features 4K photo and post focus, and can record 4K video. The camera will be available in March in silver and black at $699 retail.
Bauer also revealed that the Technics brand is making a big comeback, with the EAH-T700 headphones, Ottava SC-C500 HiFi system, and, due to the revival in vinyl LPs, the Grand Class SL1200G turntable to be introduced later this year. Pricing and ship dates were not available.
Bauer also discussed the ORA, Panasonic’s new smart home system that can control the 100-plus endpoints the average American home connects to on the Internet. Xcell Energy will partner with Panasonic to help manage energy use in the home via ORA.
Bauer also announced a partnership with Honeywell for the thermostat maker to integrate certain units into Panasonic’s DIY Home Monitoring System.
But what was potentially the biggest announcement was Panasonic’s deal with Denver to make it the “smart city of tomorrow, today.” Panasonic will provide the city and its airport with its smart city solutions to help control infrastructure, energy use and many other operations.
