Panasonic Embraces Mozilla's Open Source Firefox OS for More Smart TVs

Mozilla‘s open source operating system for TVs continues to hold its ground. This week, Panasonic announced a new series of smart TVs that will run Firefox OS.

The Firefox OS website still pitches the platform, which debuted in 2012, as an operating system primarily for smartphones. But Mozilla has had little success inserting its OS into the mobile device market. Instead, TVs have become the open source organization’s latest focus.

On Feb. 29, Panasonic announced an expanded line-up of DX-series ultra-high definition TVs powered by Firefox OS. The move follows the company’s announcement in January that Mozilla’s operating system would power another model of smart TV.

But that’s not all. Panasonic also says (and Mozilla confirms) that it will update its TVs with a new version of Firefox OS later this year. According to Mozilla, the updated platform will bring significant feature enhancements.

“This update will give you a new way to discover Web Apps and save them to your TV,” Mozilla says. “Firefox OS will feature Web Apps with curated Web content optimized for TV, such as games, news, video on demand, weather and more. You will also get an easy ‘click to watch’ content discovery experience with no installation necessary.”

It seems a safe bet that most people are still choosing which smart TV to buy based primarily on price and hardware specifications, not the software it runs. Many Panasonic consumers probably will not even notice that their TVs are powered by Mozilla’s open source OS. Still, for Mozilla, Panasonic’s sustained commitment to Firefox OS is a positive sign as the organization strives to generate revenue and build a brand that extends beyond its well known Web browser.