Panasonic has teamed up with Yahoo Japan for the joint development of the industry's first flat-panel television to be compatible with Yahoo Japan's auction service, Yahoo! Auctions.

Since its launch in 1999, Yahoo! Auctions has become an extensive online auction service in Japan. Now, Panasonic and Yahoo Japan have teamed up together to develop a television-based auction service with user-friendly screen design and operations, and simple payment systems, to bring to the whole family the enjoyment of the service. The companies aim to release the product commercially next spring.

Panasonic will showcase the concept model at the CEATEC JAPAN 2010 exhibition at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, east of Tokyo, from October 5 to 9. The concept model on display also offers an electronic magazine viewing feature for several types of magazines, including Yahoo Japan's X BRAND, Viewn Corp.'s Viewn, and the lifestyle magazine Tokyo Calendar published by Access Co., Ltd. The addition of these new online services will further expand Panasonic's own "TV de Net" online service content.

Separately, Panasonic agreed today to begin joint research with Rakuten, Inc., a company deploying a variety of online businesses including Rakuten Ichiba, Japan's largest online shopping mall. This agreement looks toward commercialization of television-based e-commerce (TV-EC) products. Together, Panasonic and Rakuten are pursuing the easy operation of TV-EC products and services and to provide these services in Japan, Europe, the U.S., and the global markets in the future.