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Will ‘tru2way’ Breathe New Life into Two-Way Interactive Cable?

CableLabs believes a good ol' fashioned name change will kick-start the two-way interactive cable technology formerly known as OpenCable.
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Along with a new name, colorful new logo, and a simple depiction of the technology, the former ‘OpenCable’ initiative is expected to thrive as ‘tru2way’.

My colleague Jason Knott had an easy time recently justifying Matsushita's official changing-of-the-name to Panasonic. I've failed in the past to give proper coverage to OnQ's name-change to On-Q, and X-10's change to X10. (Never underestimate the power of a hyphen.)

So allow me to properly herald "tru2way" from CableLabs, the organization that represents the cable industry, and often toils with the nuances of marketing. Here's how we got to tru2way, the successor (in name only) to OCAP and OpenCable.

First there was the digital cable box with true two-way (spelled the uncool way) communications between the TV and the cable company, allowing consumers to enjoy VOD, PPV and electronic program guides.

But we didn't want no stinkin' settop box, and neither did Congress or the Consumer Electronics Association. So our lawmakers mandated, at the very least, a one-way digital solution that would eliminate the cable set-top.

After kicking and screaming for years, CableLabs finally gave us CableCard, which was begrudgingly built into many a TV set. That gave us box-less digital cable of the one-way, non-interactive variety (no VOD, PPV, or EPG) but oh so many headaches for which the CE industry blamed the cable industry and vice versa.

All the while, CableLabs professed to be working on "CableCard 2.0" which would really eliminate the settop box and provide true two-way cable to TVs throughout the land.

The enabling technology was dubbed OCAP for OpenCable Application Platform, with the wise marketers at CableLabs shortening the term to OpenCable for us regular folks.

Despite its loving embrace by Panasonic and other big CE brands, OpenCable still hasn't found its place in the hearts of TV makers and American households.

And now we know why: It's the brand, stupid.

The CableLab folks worked feverishly to remedy that branding thing and have now replaced the onerous "OpenCable" moniker with "tru2way."

And look how well it's working.

CableLabs in a press release recently declared, "Tru2way Technology A Hit at 2008 CES."

From the release:

"The 2008 CES was a landmark event for the cable industry," said Dr. Richard R. Green, CableLabs President & CEO. "It permitted us to showcase our partnerships with leading consumer electronics manufacturers to develop TVs and other devices that will free consumers from the set-top box. The deployment of tru2way technology is the next evolution of TV in America."


The press release goes on to laud Panasonic, Samsung, LG Electronics and Thomson, which showed a total of six TVs and settop boxes with tru2way compatibility.

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Panasonic has implemented tru2way in its new Anyplay portable DVR, developed in conjunction with Comcast.


In the mean time, CableLabs praises PC vendors for adopting the "intermediate" CableCard solution that "currently allows some cable content to flow to PCs." That solution is called OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver or, more playfully, OCUR.

A good dozen or so Media Center PC vendors have now incorporated OCUR into their products through built-in CableCard slots or external receivers. It's been a long, slow, painful ride.

We know how CableLabs can hasten OCUR's adoption: Call it "tru1way."

Meanwhile, the cable industry is "working with Microsoft and other companies in the personal computer industry to enable tru2way on future Windows Media Center PCs, thus allowing reception of all cable digital services through the PC without requiring a separate set-top box."

Don't get too caught up in today's cute cable nicknames. They may all disappear with the software-based Downloadable Conditional Access System.

DCAS ... just trips off the tongue.

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Article Topics

News · CATV · CES · Catv · All topics

About the Author

Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
As a co-founder of EH Publishing in 1994, Julie has edited and contributed to all of the company's publications at one time or another. An authority on home automation, networking, integration, digital convergence and the CE pro channel, Julie speaks often about these subjects at industry events. She graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, and received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player.

5 Comments

Posted by Louise  on  01/25  at  10:39 AM

Julie!!! 
Great article, but, really, DCAS tripping off the tongue?  Pity the poor regular consumer who can’t make heads or tails of the alphabet soup they get served with every piece of electonics they buy..I think somebody could make a million$ just publishing a consumer electronics dictionary for dummies…we could call it CEDD!
Louise

Posted by jbrown  on  01/25  at  10:49 AM

Hallelujah! I think 2-way CableCARDS will ABSOLUTELY revive the format.

This and the new DirecTV interface will be a big shot in the arm for Media Center PCs since we all know “content is king”. And since Hollywood is full of a bunch of greedy idiots who can’t figure out how to allow free use of our DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, that pretty much leaves cable and satellite TV as our next best choice for content in Media Center.

Posted by Joe  on  01/25  at  11:28 PM

Wow, this was the start of a great story, it seemed like it was laying the ground work for a major revelation of profound insight, then it abruptly just ended. Now I know Julie had something more to say. Can we just get our TV over the net and cut out the cable company, cable TV is about obsolete; cable companies have no business doing anything beyond providing bandwidth. No phone companies, no cable companies just bandwidth providers.

Posted by Gene H  on  01/26  at  06:48 AM

2 way cable cards would be great as long as TV manufacturers give us a digital audio output and mounted the slot on the side… That sort of collaboration will take years! Save the box until this is done. And don’t forget about your DVR. Media Center never made it and never will. Way to complicated and the average family will never use it. No more Microsoft please.

Posted by Julie Jacobson  on  01/26  at  08:05 AM

Joe—This was meant to be sarcastic. I don’t think people got it. (welcome to my world.) The Cable industry thinks a clever marketing name is going to make everything right.

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