Why isn't the Panasonic AS650 smarter?

When purchasing a television the choice used to be about size and display technology. Does sir want a smaller LCD or a larger more power-hungry but with oh-so-deep blacks plasma model? After a pointless detour into three dimensions and the death of plasma the competition has become about who has the smarter features. You need the latest model from the right brand to get catch-up services from all the channels, and YouTube and Skype and Miracast and half a dozen mysterious other features. So why, with my latest model Panasonic AS650 television do I inevitably end up plugging it into a laptop via an HDMI cable, as I used to do with my non-smart previous television?

Everything that follows will be about the AS650 with the firmware from 10 June 2014, and could potentially be improved with updated firmware.

BBC iPlayer

Usually works for about one minute, then the white circle of despair appears and never leaves. Only one programme that I have attempted to watch has reached the end. All others have started buffering and never continued. This television is not certified by the BBC to work with the iPlayer, though it has been advertised as having iPlayer support by vendors. The BBC are responsible for what I suspect is a faulty iPlayer app for this television, but they are not obliged to support this television. I don't know if money changes hands, or if Panasonic have to repeatedly plead for the BBC to provide the support. However, it is Panasonic's fault if they advertise this feature but it doesn't work.

4oD

This catch-up service works, but is surprisingly limited in what is available compared to through a web browser on a PC. For example, if you can't get enough of Phil and Kirstie then you'll currently find 11 series of Location, Location, Location on PC but only 2 on the AS650. Or potentially worse, you sit down to watch episode 3 of the latest series of Fresh Meat on the AS650, and after the two minutes of advertisements you receive the message that the content is unavailable. You immediately try on the PC and it works straight away. As well, on PC you can set up your favourites. On AS650 you cannot.

Freetime

This seven day "backwards EPG", allowing catch-up via the EPG interface, was heavily promoted with this television. However, it's so slow as to be unusable, it only works for the BBC and ITV, and it gets extremely confused. For this image on the right it took a few attempts to get the EPG to appear instead of hanging. When it did show up I navigated to Channel 4, then pressed the button to see earlier programmes. This is the screen which appeared. At the top, it has BBC FOUR Secrets from the Asylum, which is odd because that programme is on ITV. In the column of channels icons on the bottom right it's hard to make out, but Channel 4 is highlighted, though above it is displayed the text ITV. The five programmes listed are all on ITV. I have no idea what the television thinks it is doing. Also, note how the layout leaves very little room for programme names. My previous 32" television displayed fifteen programme names at once. This larger television has annoyingly room for only six or seven.

Showcase

Prominently displayed when the television is switched on is a Showcase feature. When clicked it reaches a screen which says "Top picks to watch on TV and On Demand", and then a huge Coming Soon banner. I have no idea how this will actually operate, or whether it will ever appear. These televisions have been on the market for 4 months, and only have another 8 months until they are superseded by the 2015 models.

My Stream

Supposedly this analyses what you watch, and makes recommendations of other things you may like. I think it might be connected with the mysterious star button on the mini-remote, but that button only works on live television as far as I can tell. I can't be bothered pressing the "like" button - why can't the TV just look at what I'm watching? If I knew what My Stream was trying to do I might be able to get it to do something useful for me, but for now it's a dud.

Miracast

It works! I can connect from a fast Windows 8.1 laptop sitting a metre from the television. However, it is in jerky blurrovision, and has a tendency for a second or two delay in sound, so is not actually watchable. I don't know if the problem is with the laptop, the television or the protocol, so I won't criticise the television for this.

Voice input

This television comes with two remote controls, a standard many-buttoned affair, and a mini one featuring few buttons, a touchpad, a microphone and Bluetooth control. I tried hard to use the mini remote exclusively, but couldn't get over the fact that speaking to the remote to change the television input, for example, is a tediously slow procedure.
On the big remote:

1. press input button a few times until the desired input is displayed. 

On the little remote:

1. press voice input button 
2. say "change input" 
3. use touchpad to navigate on-screen list of inputs 
4. click okay on mini-remote  

YouTube

The YouTube app is by far the best Smart feature of this television. It seems to be as fully featured as other YouTube app implementations, such as Chromecast. As an example of how this is useful if I see a clip referenced whilst I'm reading a blog, and I can't be bothered watching right then, or I want to see it on a bigger screen than the computer, then I click the Watch Later button in the embedded YouTube player. This stores it in a Watch Later queue associated with my Google account. I have also associated my account with the YouTube app in the TV, so the queue is waiting for me. Alternatively, the YouTube app is fully integrated with the Android YouTube app, so you can control what you watch from your phone. It's all very sensibly designed, and the picture quality of high definition YouTube videos is amazing.

Conclusion

I now only use the television as a dumb monitor for my PVR, with occasional bursts of YouTubery. If these faults, especially the Freetime sluggishness and generally daftness, the iPlayer hangs, and the 4oD missing programmes were fixed then it would be nice, but without them, as a non-smart TV, it displays a good picture and produces a pleasant sound, and that's all I really need in a television.