You know, it's pretty funny just how some companies decide to give up on the idea of “democracy” altogether and opt to impose some specific rules for people who decided to spend their hard-earned cash and purchase their products. And this is exactly what Panasonic has done, by removing support for third-party batteries from the latest firmware update to be implemented in a fairly large number of its digital cameras.

Hence, claiming that it discovered that some aftermarket third-party batteries did not meet the rigid safety standards Panasonic uses, thus possibly adversely affecting its products, the Japanese company has developed a specific technology that can actually identify a genuine battery from a non-Panasonic one, and stop the camera from working if the inserted battery is not an original one.

The manufacturer goes on to say that at least some of the third-party aftermarket batteries available are not equipped with internal protective devices to guard against overcharging, internal heating and short circuit. If these aftermarket battery packs were used, it could lead to “an accident causing damage to your camera or personal injury.” Plus some injuries to Panasonic's accounts and sales figures, I'm sure.

For the time being, this firmware update will apply to a handful of digital camera models from Panasonic, including here DMW-BCF10, DMC-FX40/FX48, DMC-FX550/FX580, DMC-FT1/TS1, DMC-FS4, DMC-FS6, DMC-FS7, DMC-FS8, DMC-FS15, DMC-FS25, DMC-FS42, DMC-FS62, DMW-BCG10, DMC-TZ7/ZS3, DMC-TZ6/ZS1, DMC-TZ65, DMW-BLB13, DMC-G1 and DMC-GH1.

Of course, it's very likely that the new Panasonic models will come pre-loaded with this fresh firmware, which might make older versions (whose owners have decided not to go through the upgrade process) quite valuable, especially since third-party replacement batteries tend to be a lot more affordable than the original ones (albeit, in some cases, not as reliable as the originals).

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