Loading ...Feb 11 2010
It has been brought to our attention by one of our readers (thanks Mike!) that according to DTG, Panasonic’s current software version is due to be updated on Monday 15th February 2010.
We know that Panasonic have been working with the BBC to introduce iPlayer across their range of televisions (following Sony a few weeks back) but is this the date when it launches? We hope so!
We have contacted Panasonic and they have stated that they cannot release information coincidently until that very same date;
our 2010 line-up is under embargo until 9.00 GMT 15th Feb
We know quite a few of you have Panasonic televisions with Freesat built-in and are eagerly awaiting the availability of BBC iPlayer, so lets hope this is it!
February 11th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Yes! about time. I purchased my freesat TV last Feb with this day in mind
John EmersonQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I purchased my TV because of the Freesat HD content.. for iPlayer I can use my Wii or the Xbox or VirginMedia. Good news, but I want what I believed would be available a year ago…
Julian MooreQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Thats great news, my set is already hooked up to my router.
NatQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I’ve sent Panasonic 3 emails about when this is going to happen and they can’t be bothered to respond even with a ‘no comment’ As an ‘early’ adopter of Panasonic’s Freesat plasma it peeves me how long Panasonic have taken, take about last one to the party!
DanQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Great news… does anyone know whether the software will be available OTA or only via ethernet link?
Neil HuttonQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
@ Neil Hutton
It should be OTA like previous Panasonic Freesat updates have been.
GaseousClayQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Great I’ve been keeping a eye on CH999 so I’m looking forward to 15/2/10
hope it starts, I’ve got a Panasonic TV ready,so Good Luck
TERRY O’BRIENQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Hope so, it’s about time – Sony look much sharper getting their update out so quickly; especially when Panasonic were first with Freesat
mostlyharmlessQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Does the above include the Blueray recorders
GrahamQuote
February 11th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
that’s good news – panny plugged in to the router and waiting – broadband download limit being upgraded this month … bring it on!
Al CatrazQuote
February 12th, 2010 at 3:38 am
See my latest post on the main iPlayer thread. After an initial false start on Monday, the access system has now changed (although there is no guarantee it will remain, the bugs in the initial try appear to have been fixed)
With the Humax box, you now need to have a live internet link on the ethernet connection for the iPlayer option to become available. On pressing the red button, the box checks to see if one is present and then displays the main interactive menu with an iPlayer option or you can key in 7001. Without a live connection, the iPlayer option is replaced by a “Watch BBC HD” option – obviously on other channels but not on the children’s ones. Page 5483 or “LIVE” is no longer recognised.
As the Panny software is likely to be very similar to the Humax, make sure your router is connected to the back of your set or an iPlayer upgrade will not be obvious.
A 2Mb connection is said to be adequate for the higher quality option. Remember these files are pretty large so you should be careful if you have a monthly download limit.
PeterQuote
February 12th, 2010 at 11:12 am
There is still no iPlayer for LG7700 yet they keep saying working on triels any one know any more on this.
Alan MQuote
February 12th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Hi, Any idea when LG are getting BBCi player?
Peter StewartQuote
February 12th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
LG told me to expect end March/early April (groan). That’s assuming they knew what I was talking about.
keepayQuote
February 12th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Hi I live in France will be able to get BBCi player I have broad band
Don PenfoldQuote
February 12th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Don you have to have a UK IP address so no.
DanQuote
February 13th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
If you look at the DTG site it doesn’t actully mention a new Panasonic update at the time of writing:
http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/download_schedule.php
PaulMQuote
February 13th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
@PaulM
It does, that is what the end date shows; it means a new version will launch at that time.
adminQuote
February 13th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Panasonic should pull their finger out and give us this feature. When I bought my TV in July 2008 it was because Panasonic sales people (I rang their HQ) told me that they expected i-player by Christmas that year. So far we are 14 months late. The least they could do is give us customers who have bought in good faith a clue as to when they will deliver what they have promised.
RobQuote
February 14th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
surely the quote relates to their 2010 product range not functionality on 2008 range freesat tvs (81 series) or 2009 range (10/15 series) or recorders.
certainly hoping they don’t just update one of the ranges and leave others pending.
also hoping the long delay will have enabled them to have a perfectly working version.
finally, also hoping the implication of the 15th will indeed mean what we all hope. my 81 series has been hooked up since december 09 and waiting.
RozzoQuote
February 14th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Does OTA mean it get updated through the sattelite connection or through the aerial, I have no aerial connection.
GrahamSQuote
February 14th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
@GrahamS
Over-the-air, via satellite; Freesat doesn’t use an aerial connection.
adminQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Nothing so far…….where was this mentioned on DTG website, I cannot find any reference. Anyone had the update?
NewsboyQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 10:27 am
the update is just for the freesat recorders
Panasonic DIGA FREESAT RECORDER: B5850/750 X5350 3220 N 15-02-2010-Open,
GaseousClayQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 10:27 am
I’ve been checking regularly since 9 but neither OTA or ethernet software update is finding anything new. The freesat information channel doesn’t mention it either, although that probably doesn’t mean much.
DavidQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 10:36 am
I got the following response from Panasonic -
ISSUE DESCRIPTION: EMAIL REQUEST: Subject – BBC IPLAYER ON PZ81 – PLASMA. DETAILS: Hi,
When are you going to enable the BBC’s iPlayer service on your Freesat sets. I
find it rather disappointing that Sony have it on their Freesat sets, and yet
Panasonic, the 1st on the market with Freesat TV’s still haven’t enabled it!
ISSUE RESOLUTION: Dear Sir or Madam ,
Thank you for your e-mail enquiry. Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for the uncharacteristic delay in our response. Due to an unexpected increase in the number of contacts we have recently received we have been unable to provide as speedy a response as we would normally.
In response, unfortunately, we have no further information for new services at this time, other than that already displayed on our website. We would suggest that you please keep checking the following website for updates, as any information regarding new services will be added to this site as soon as it becomes available:
http://www.panasonic.co.uk
We are aware that features on Freesat such as BBC iplayer are in beta testing at the moment on some Freesat set-top boxes, but we have no further information on testing with other products
We trust that the above information will be of assistance to you. However, of course, if you should have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0844 844 3852 or email us using the following email address:
customer.care@panasonic.co.uk
Kind Regards,
Chris Swatridge
Dealer Support / Correspondence Team
Panasonic UK Ltd
DanQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Sorry, there is seemingly no iPlayer updates due today
We asked specifically about iPlayer when speaking to Panasonic and they said they would disclose today; it would seem the embargo was simply on the new range of televisions due for launch soon!
adminQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 11:39 am
February 15th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Do you notice that ALL correspondence from panasonic starts with “Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for the uncharacteristic delay in our response…” – it’s wearing a bit thin now chaps.
Al CatrazQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
when they say “we have no information”
they actually seem to mean “we refuse to provide any information”
somewhere within their organisation they must know what they are doing!
the refusal to provide planned info to loyal customers stinks. the uk and global websites don’t actually provide planned info for updates – the global website
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/index.html
then scroll to whats’s new
lists v1.2 for the freesat recorders available from today but this only deals with series timers, not i-player.
the same site under the TV sublist has not been updated since 2006 (six)!
as I said in post 20 above let’s hope it all gets sorted soon, plus we get told when we can expect the i-player. it won’t be long before panasonic turn out to be the last to get it running!
RozzoQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Its all very well, but any new customers should beware, Pansonic have not added the promised iPlayer now some 3 months after Humax, and, their much trumpeted Viera Link is just a vague shadow of what Panasonic are offering to their US customers.
Don’t buy Pansonic until they come up with what they promised. So far they all all Fur Coat and no nickers!
Disgruntled Pnasonic BluRay recorder customer
AlQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Al (31) – the new entry for panasonic updates on the DTG site mentions freesat recorders with a ref to 850/750 models (I don’t understand what the boxes all mean on that site, so I may be totally wrong!), so have you tried seeing if the new update applies to your box? maybe it’ll give you the elusive iplayer functionality – maybe it doesn’t!
Al CatrazQuote
February 15th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
My Panasonic 850 recorder has just started SW-DL (Software Download) when I switched it back to stand-by after unsuccessfully trying to get the iPlayer after reading #24 above. I’ll be surprised if it is the IPlayer update though, after reading the posts above. Incidentally the 850 automatically switched the HD version of Larkrise to record tonight instead of Sunday, only to get stuck on pause/record as the BBC have scuppered the change by putting on Wainwright which was presumably the original Monday programme. However I remain very positive about the 850.
NewsboyQuote
February 16th, 2010 at 11:31 am
My DMR BS850 was upgraded last night but I cant see any i player function.
drewbydrewQuote
February 16th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Another ray of false hope then. Panasonic you should be ashamed of yourselves.
DanQuote
February 16th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Meantime my Humax box in the bedroom is churning out iPlayer stuff….ZZZZZZZ!
I have been watching the unsolved murders on BBC Alba, which were partly in English and with English sub-titles, for the Gaelic bits. Scots, who are south of the border, like me should give it a try.
NewsboyQuote
February 17th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Is it me or has the entry for Panasonic Freesat TV’s been removed from the DTG update schedule? Are Panasonic going backwards? Come on – I only bought a Freesat TV for iPlayer!
Ian H
Ian HQuote
February 18th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
It says on http://www.freesat.co.uk/ that iplayer is launching on Freesat in the near future and that they are working on having itv player in the first half of 2010. There are many people who cannot get iPlayer yet not just Panasonic owners. I am a Technisat hdfs owner and we had the firmware for iPlayer last year and then it was withdrawn because of complaints. It will happen when it happens.Winging is pointless and self destructive.
Richard CrichtonQuote
February 19th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
You are right Richard. We are British and we should allow shoddy service to go unchallenged.
Ian HQuote
February 20th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
@ Ian H:
LOL!
We mustn’t forget the lies either. My local TV shop told me that panasonic were releasing support for the iPlayer in 2009. Seeing as that wasn’t true, can I take my TV back and claim a refund? (Then buy a nice new Sony)
Joking aside, it is very disappointing – and perhaps a little worrying that there is no officially announced release date. If they said we’re not getting it until May, then at least we’d know we were getting an update, and when to expect it. Keeping people in the dark doesn’t help anyone – if anything it makes the situation worse.
Brian DamageQuote
February 20th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I’ll ask the PR people, when they’ve all recovered from Munich. Panasonic Convention 2010 was this week, which is the main event for dealers and press from across Europe, with all the new products on show.
Understandably, a lot of people will have been busy working on that recently, and it’s not been as easy as usual to get hold of the right people.
Old sets, incidentally, will receive some of the VieraCast updates that were show, though not all; notably, the video on demand service won’t come to 2009 sets.
Nigel WhitfieldQuote
February 21st, 2010 at 1:05 pm
How big are these files.I have a limit of 10GB per month of which I use less than 1,5 GB
Mike BeecroftQuote
February 26th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
@ Nigel Whitfield.
Thanks – I look forward to hearing what the PR people have got to say.
Brian DamageQuote
February 26th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Don’t hold you breath, ok it’s not the reason I bought my plasma, but don’t wave the carrot under my nose then fail to keep your promises or let your customers, yes that’s right Panasonic CUSTOMERS know when we can expect iPlayer.
DanQuote
February 27th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
i have a humax box does anyone know ethernet conections
daveQuote
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Any further estimates of when Panasonic TV’s are expected to get iplayer???
NickQuote
March 12th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
At lunchtime today I saw on my Panasonic PZ81 an anouncement on the BBC Text homepage, stating that on page 7001, see iPlayer, the information mentioned the testing and that that other equipment will follow in the near future.
NewsboyQuote
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Still the same as what Newsboy said, wish they could give us a date to when it’ll work!
TimQuote
May 8th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
8th of may 2010 still no iplayer on panasonic 2009 series what is going on, my Wii even has iplayer , it can’t be that difficult to arrange.
jonoQuote
May 8th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
@jono
Check the latest information http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/panasonic-confirm-bbc-iplayer-schedule
adminQuote
September 8th, 2010 at 11:12 am
As of 7 September my GB10 has new firmware and access to iPlayer!!! Hurrah!!
PeterQuote
November 4th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Hi,
Just got a new Panasonic L32G10B. Have plugged in a devolo system into my router and one next to the tv and connected the tv to the device via the LAN cable. How do I now get iplayer on my television?
Cheers
AndrewQuote
November 20th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
I purchased a 50″ Panasonic TV a couple of years ago and am still looking forward to BBC iPlayer. I recently purchased a Sony Blu Ray player to find it had BBC iPlayer with a really good picture which impressed my friends. I decided to upgrade the Sony with a Panasonic Blu Ray player as it will player SDHC cards from my Panasonic HD camcorder (brilliant). I was shocked not to see BBC iPlayer however. I can get BBC iPlayer from from Humax Freesat Recorder but the quality is not as good as the Sony. Has my investment in Panasonic equipment (I have lots) been justified? I saw a demo of Panasonic 3D recently but was not overly impressed with the 2D picture on the same TV. I have been buying Pansonic since forever. Should I have gone for Sony?
David from Marsden
DavidQuote
November 29th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
I purchased a panasonic bs850 blue ray recorder in june this year and I am still waiting for the BBC I-PLAYER. I have contacted panasonic many times, and keep getting a feeble excuse about them still testing to their high standards.
I was thinking of upgrading my Toshiba television to a Panasonic next year, but now I will definitely be looking at other options
KenQuote
December 8th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Received a letter today offering a refund on the DMR-850 Blu-Ray recorder purchased recently as BBC iPlayer will no longer be available on this PVR!
Well done Panasonic, I guess my TV will not now receive it either.
After 35years a customer (and a house full of their gear) I will never again buy a Panasonic item. This is the second time they have pulled this kind of stunt and shows their obvious contempt for their customers.
PeterQuote
December 9th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
i too have just received the same letter. it was one of the reasons why i bought the recorder in the first place. now what do i do? trade in for a later model or upgrade the television instead. Any advice?
MelvynQuote
December 10th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Melvyn….. Well I think I will keep ours as it still is good value, but as you will remember this was a selling point at the time and was a very attractive part of the deal. As I said we are in the same position with our TV a PZ model so we can take it as read it will not be updated! Another problem is the guide does not function on the banner around midnight either, guess we are stuck with this as well. So for me caught twice (it was similar with their first Freeview box) is quite enough, never again.
PeterQuote
January 4th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Also Noticed on channel 903 ITV Player coming soon in 2011 on my Pannasonic freesat 42″
Joe WareingQuote
January 15th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
hi ,
have 2 panasonic screens freesat one being 46pz81 and one 32ldz any one know if the will get iplayer at any stage?
conorQuote
January 22nd, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Conor.
I too have the 46PZ81.
It looks like Panasonic are saying you’ll have it:
Christmas 2008, Christmas 2009, January 2010, March 2010, June 2010, August 2010, September 2010, October 2010, Christmas 2010….
Your guess is as good as anyones but I wouldn’t hold my breath!
HighlandQuote
February 15th, 2011 at 7:57 pm
I have just received the following email from Panasonic which I hope some will find helpful.
“I am pleased to confirm that a tentative release date for the update has been set:
2009 models (DMR-BS850/DMR-BS750,DMR-XS350EB)
21/02/2011 – available via Network download
22/02/2011 – Over Air Download via satellite which will begin at 10:00am”
customer.care@panasonic.co.uk
Kind regards
Mark Solesbury
Customer Communications Centre
Panasonic UK Ltd
StewartQuote
February 16th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
iPlayer for PZ81 models. Email from Panasonic Customer Service (?) Today 16th Feb 2011 – “Currently, we anticipate the provision of an upgrade for BBC iPlayer in September 2011. However, as always, this is subject to the testing required to ensure that it will not be detrimental to the product specification.”
Hands up all those that will buy Panasonic again!
John PrimmerQuote
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:43 pm
got my update today to 1.50 which now has bbc iplayer.
bigboyQuote
July 6th, 2011 at 8:55 am
I have a Panasonic Freesat TV model TX-L37G10B and when I plug in my ethernet cable to the set I get the message that I am not connected to the Internet. I assume that Panasonic have not yet been able to modify the software on this model to allow it to pick up the BBC I Player. Has anyone got an update on this?
BillQuote
September 18th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
i have panasonic TX-32LZD81 have tried ethernet cable to broadband router but tv does not recognise device ( modern BT router) any hope in near future ??
patrickQuote
December 18th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
17th December 2011. Have just tried to run BBC Iplayer on TX-32LZD81. Runs OK. No problems. My TV software is rev 2.606
BarryQuote
January 20th, 2012 at 10:38 am
TV is Panasonic TX-L37G20BA and I’ve only just become aware of the catch up service on Freesat. It works fine on BBCi player and “Viera cast” but ITV player although listed in the channel numbers comes up “ITV player is not available on your TV” (or similar) I’ve done a hardware update in the last couple of days. Anyone got it working yet?
RogerJQuote