– Panasonic rolls out a recommendation engine for its TV sets that recognizes viewers’ faces and offers up suggestions from both viewing history and what friends are watching. Viewers can also customize a home screen, one for each member of the family. (ZDNet)
– Despite legal battle, Aereo lands $38 million in new funding and announces plans to expand to 22 U.S. cities later this year, starting in late spring. (AllThingsD)
– Second screen startups convene at CES to talk about TV’s great discovery problem. “It takes the average person eight minutes to find something to watch when they sit down,” says BuddyTV CEO Andy Liu. “You end up watching Karate Kid 3 — with commercials — and in SD. It’s what we call ‘sub-optimal.’” (TheNextWeb)
– Continuing its expansion into original content, Hulu is today offering previews of its new programming for 2013, which includes its first animated Hulu Original Series, “The Awesomes,” co-created by Saturday Night Live’s head writer Seth Meyers. (TechCrunch)
– Several social TV execs offered their predictions on a CES panel. Jack Flanagan of BlueFin Labs predicted that at least one major national TV advertiser will put a secondary requirement around social engagement on their ad buys. (CNET)
– New York-based Boxee has joined forces with system-on-chip solutions provider Sigma to move its content streaming and DVR services beyond its own dedicated hardware and into smart TVs being produced by other manufacturers. (TheNextWeb)