CES 2015: Panasonic Will Ship TVs In 2015 Powered By Mozilla's Firefox OS

Firefox OS is coming to a bigger screen near you as Mozilla partners with Panasonic to bring the open-source mobile operating system to smart HDTVs. It’s a first for the OS, which had previously been restricted to a small set of mobile devices: 16 smartphone models throughout 29 countries.

Mozilla and Panasonic tout Firefox OS as an easier way to access and navigate through HDTV content. “This new platform enables developers and service providers to create a wide range of applications and services to deliver a new user experience," Li Gong, senior vice president of mobile devices and president of Asia operations at Mozilla, said in a press release.

The partnership with Panasonic will expand the devices on which Firefox OS runs even further as it gets integrated into Panasonic's Life+ smart LCD HDTVs, rolling out throughout 2015. Panasonic has also hinted at Firefox OS’ role in powering the smart home, touting the ability to monitor and operate smart appliances throughout a household.

As content creators and television manufacturers battle it out in 2015 with big pushes for 4K ultra HD content and display technologies, developers are also vying to create the software that power those televisions. The addition of Firefox OS to Panasonic HDTVs follows a similar move by LG in recent years as it integrated WebOS into its television sets after acquiring the operating system from Hewlett-Packard.