Everything Panasonic announced at CES 2018
As the company turns 100, it's investing in a slew of newer technologies ranging from electric cars to voice assistant integrations.
- She has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
One of Panasonic's new OLED TVs, introduced at CES 2018.
Panasonic wants to be everywhere.
Marking the company's 100th anniversary, Panasonic at CES 2018 ran through a wide range of areas in tech where it wants to make inroads, including highways, cities, cars and of course, your living room.
"We can take pride in our ability to help consumers with their needs of today and tomorrow," said Panasonic Canada President Michael Moskowitz on Monday.
Though Panasonic used to be one of the bigger names in consumer electronics, the company has made something of a retreat in recent years. As CNET's Ian Sherr pointed out, in 2017, while the company showed off a variety of products from a turntable to a toaster oven, Panasonic didn't announce a new TV.
This year, Panasonic's North American Chairman and CEO, Tom Gebhardt, started off its CES press conference by highlighting several initiatives and partnerships -- like one with the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, to work on smart cities projects, including a high-tech US Olympics museum. Gebhardt also talked about partnering with Tesla on building better batteries for electric vehicles.
On a more familiar front, Panasonic rolled out OLED TVs -- the FZ950 and FZ800 series -- featuring Panasonic's HCX video processor and supporting HDR10+ dynamic metadata technology. Past Panasonic OLED TVs haven't been released in the US.
In addition, Panasonic introduced Ultra HD Blu-ray players, which will also have the HCX video processor, as well as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integration.
For any vinyl-lovers out there, Panasonic's longstanding high-end audio line, Technics, has two more models -- the SP-10R and SL-1000R -- which are rebuilds.
"There's a real nostalgia for our past," Moskowitz said.
Branching out from home entertainment, Panasonic brought out representatives from Amazon and Google, separately, to talk about integrating Alexa and Google Assistant into cars via its Skip Generation In-Vehicle Infotainment platform, something the company announced last year.
With Alexa, for example, you could ask about driving distances, where the nearest electric vehicle charging station is, or find out what's on your calendar.
There's also a new line of 4K camcorders with new sensors and lenses (HC-WXF1, HC-VX1K and the HCV-800K, which is a full HD camcorder) and the new Lumix GH5S, which promises increased low light sensitivity.
What to expect from the big screens of 2018: From OLED to QLED to Micro LED, CES is the place where screen time is absolutely friggin' huge. Here's a peek.
CES 2018: CNET's complete coverage of tech's biggest show.