Viera Link allows the control of other Panasonic home AV devices via the television remote control.

By pressing the Viera Link button on the television remote, it is possible to turn on and navigate the menus of other Viera Link equipment. Please note, Viera Link requires an HDMI connection between the television and the external source.

More control functions have been added with each new generation of Viera Link compatible products. However, it is important to note that the newer functions only work if both products are from the same year of manufacture. Therefore, if an older source is used with a newer year of television, only the older functions common to both years will work.

Beginning 2009, Amazon Video on Demand service was added.The first Viera HDTVs with Viera Cast, the TH-PZ850U series, appeared in May 2008. Panasonic introduced Netflix video streaming service and Skype to its Viera Cast line-up beginning with the 2010 model year. Panasonic TV's with Viera Cast from the 2008 or 2009 model years are not able to access Netflix or Skype.

The Viera HDTVs and Blu-ray players featuring Viera Cast have a built-in Ethernet interface; many models also have wi-fi and thus no external box or PC is required. The service is accessed via a single button on the HDTV remote.Viera is planning to extend the feature to three series of the company's 2009 Viera G, V and Z series of HDTVs. Panasonic also has three new stand-alone players and one portable Blu-ray player that supports the technology.

In 2012, Panasonic added the UK BBC iPlayer service for Viera Connect.

Viera Cast is a Smart TV platform by Panasonic that makes it possible to stream multimedia content from the Internet directly into select Viera HDTVs and Blu-ray disc players. Announced on Consumer Electronics Show in January 2008, Panasonic initially partnered with Google to make it possible for YouTube videos and Picasa Web Album photos to be used within the product, while Bloomberg News and The Weather Channel were also available.

Beginning 2009, Amazon Video on Demand service was added.The first Viera HDTVs with Viera Cast, the TH-PZ850U series, appeared in May 2008. Panasonic introduced Netflix video streaming service and Skype to its Viera Cast line-up beginning with the 2010 model year. The Viera HDTVs and Blu-ray players featuring Viera Cast have a built-in Ethernet interface; many models also have wi-fi and thus no external box or PC is required.

Availability of services differs per region/ country/ language. : In the Netherlands it's mostly English content/services, but also some German (Bild.de, Tageschau). In Australia 7plus is available on most models and Bloombergs sharemarket service will be discontinued from August 2011

The Viera Cast service is being replaced by a new platform called Viera Connect which is not backward compatible. The new service should improve the number of applications on offer as the platform is open to third party developers.

Many Panasonic Smart Viera TVs and AV devices come with Swipe & Share, which lets you stream pictures, videos and music from your smartphone or tablet to your TV.

MyHome Screen features on Panasonic's DT60 and WT60 LED-backlit TVs and its flagship ZT60 plasma, all of which include lightning-quick Hexa-Processing.

Called MyHome Screen, it's essentially a customisable page that can hold several 'visual bookmarks' (short-cuts to apps), though always around a live TV feed that occupies at least two thirds of the screen real estate.

Viera Connect, its collection of apps such as BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Lovefilm, stays just how it is, so we got to grips with its main new prong: Swipe & Share 2.0.

You can download apps to log in to Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Picasa, as well as a Social Networking TV app that overlays Facebook and Twitter feeds on your TV screen.

In keeping with the division between its TV and AV divisions, Panasonic has separate remote apps for TVs and Blu-ray devices.

Made for the second-screen age, it's like a more functional Apple AirPlay, where files can not only be shared between devices, but edited and sent back and forth.

Smart TV screens packed with apps might seem like a good idea, but how many does the average user actually need? That depends on the user, which is why Panasonic has developed the idea of a personalised, voice-activated user interface that can be customised-- and that means easily removing unused apps and widgets.

We do wonder whether these custom-built 'smart' platforms have a long-term future (they seem to dramatically change every year, which can't but dent confidence in previous buyers), we did like Swipe & Share 2.0.

It offers face recognition in sets with built-in cameras, which automatically determine just whose account should be activated, loading up their apps and layout.

Most 2012 integrated home theatre models can be controlled with the Panasonic Theatre Remote app for iPhone/iPad, and 2012 Blu-ray players and recorders have the Blu-ray Remote App for 2012 on iOS and Android.

Swipe & Share 2.0 is available on all of Panasonic's upcoming Smart Viera LED and plasma TVs, due around March, which will also include a MyHome Page that's customisable by up to five people in a household.

In our demo we had a networked Android tablet and iPhone (usually WiFi, though both hard-wired in this example because of competing WiFi networks) in front of a brand new Panasonic LED TV, and pushed a photo from the tablet to the screen using a push of one finger on the touchscreen.

The IFA 2012 consumer technology show in Berlin saw Panasonic unveil a Kids category for its app market, a UNESCO World Heritage Special video library, and an updated remote control app.

In a bid to keep up with its rivals Panasonic-- most famous for its concentration on picture quality over flashy features-- has introduced some second screen-savvy functions and personal touches for its 2013 Smart Viera TVs.

The latest version of Swipe & Share also lets you share files from an SD card plugged into the TV to your handheld device, or to a friend's device.

Viera TV owners can download the free Viera Remote App for the iPhone/iPad or Android tablets and smartphones, which works with a variety of 2011 and 2012 models.

MyHome Screen is divided into three pages-- TV (for apps like YouTube, BBC iPlayer and on-demand films), Lifestyle (ShoutCAST Radio, various widgets, a calendar-- and a new shopping list apps that's shareable with a smartphone app) and Info (weather, news and a web browser). All have a dynamic treatment beyond that, too; engage the web browser and a new screen appears that hosts a 4:3 browser window alongside a column of bookmarks. You could even place a visual shortcut to, say, the BBC News website on the front of MyHome Screen.

In the 2012 product line-up, there are six Blu-ray players with Viera Connect, from ₤ 100 up, and 12 Blu-ray home cinema systems. Of Panasonic's hard disc TV recorders and Blu-ray combos, there are seven with Viera Connect, including the flagship Blu-ray/hard disc TV recorder, the DMR-BWT720.

The new SmartViera Remote App share content from an SD card or hard disc connected to their TV or from their smartphone or tablet, via the TV, to other phones and tablets on the same network.

So far, so dull, but this version also offers video-- and much more versatility. It's perfectly possible to push a video from a tablet to the TV, watch it, then bring it onto a smartphone.

News stories for Panasonic Smart VieraVieraConnect is a cloud-based service, so there's an online app store like Google Play, and some apps will even use processing power from online servers to deliver search results and high quality graphics way beyond the processing power of your TV.

There are about 25 games in the Viera Connect market, most of which are simple arcade or puzzle games. However, you can buy the driving game Asphalt 5 or the popular mobile title, Let's Golf 2.

MyHome Screen is divided into three pages-- TV (for apps like YouTube, BBC iPlayer and on-demand films), Lifestyle (ShoutCAST Radio, various widgets, a calendar-- and a new shopping list apps that's shareable with a smartphone app) and Info (weather, news and a web browser). As you enter the living room and say "MyHome Screen" a small camera pops out of the TV, engages its face recognition mode, and switches to your personalised settings. Fine, though how often do people watch TV alone? New for this year is a cursor-style TouchPad remote for Panasonic's Smart Viera TVs, which adds a microphone. Best of all, it all happens without ever interrupting live TV.

VieraConnect is the broadband-connected, cloud-based portal on Smart Viera TVs, with apps for video, music, social networking, games and more. It launched in Spring 2011, replacing the more simple first-generation Viera Cast smart TV service provided by Panasonic since 2009.

Better still, it's even possible to use a Touch Pen accessory to edit-- or, more likely, deface - a photo on the TV and transfer back a completely new file.

Smart Viera is Panasonic's name for any of its TVs with advanced features such as apps and video on demand, remote control via phones and tablets, and interacting with your music, video and photos on computers and handheld devices.

Panasonic has a strange divide between TV and home entertainment products, so the Smart Viera badge isn't used for Blu-ray or DVD products, and digital TV recorders.

Panasonic will also allow app developers 180 days of free access to its Developer Portal to encourage a greater choice and higher quality apps.

Rather surprisingly-- and possibly pointlessly-- MyHome Screen activates automatically via both voice and video camera. As you enter the living room and say "MyHome Screen" a small camera pops out of the TV, engages its face recognition mode, and switches to your personalised settings. Fine, though how often do people watch TV alone? It's also apparent that that pop-up camera doesn't automatically sink after the, err, sync.

The free UNESCO app has been produced by National Geographic Channel, and will feature nine documentaries covering the Amazon, Taj Mahal; Kyoto, Statue of Liberty, Kilimanjaro, Cappadocia, Borobudur, Great Barrier Reef and Palace of Versailles.

In our demo, voice searching was perhaps the most useful part of MyHome Screen. New for this year is a cursor-style TouchPad remote for Panasonic's Smart Viera TVs, which adds a microphone. Saying 'search Paris by internet' or '... by Google Maps' into the Touchpad mic brings up a web search. Best of all, it all happens without ever interrupting live TV.

Viera Connect Apps Navigator is a cloud-based app marketplace like iTunes, from which you can download apps for Video & Movie, Music, Sports, Games, Kids, Social Networking, News & Weather, Health & Fitness, and Lifestyle & More.

There's also enhanced Voice Interaction, allowing voice commands to control the TV and search for content, with text-to-voice so the TV can verbalise what's on the screen.

There are 21 video apps on Viera Connect, and the major players include Netflix, Acetrax and YouTube. Other interesting apps include Viera 3D World, a showcase for 3D clips, KyLinTV from China and German public broadcaster ZDF.

It's clever stuff, but it reaches its zenith when a connected tablet or smartphone can take video files stored on a USB thumbdrive in the TV's side. It all requires apps to be installed on each device, but it's clever stuff nonetheless-- and fast.