Norman Deards the owner of a Panasonic TH-L55VT60A LCD TV was told by
Panasonic Customer Service this week that a Netflix update for his TV will not
be released by Panasonic Australia until the end of May 2015.
Two
weeks ago SmartHouse was told by Richard Tassone the General Manager of
Panasonic Australia’s Consumer Group, that a Netflix application upgrade would be available this week for the Companies
$5,499 WT 600 4K TV model, now the Companies customer service team are claiming
that this top of the range TV will not get an upgrade for another six weeks.
Panasonic
TV’s are not on the Netflix Recommended TV list and management in Australia
have failed to explain why selected Australian customers including owners of
premium 4K TV’s are being denied access to the new streaming service which has
been available on Panasonic TV’s in the USA for several years.
The
service is also available on Panasonic TV’s in the UK and other European
Countries. Prior to Netflix announcing the launch of their service in Australia
they supplied specification to TV manufacturers in Australia who were already
delivering a Netflix app on their TV’s in other Countries.
David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.