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

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.



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.