Tru2way™ Technology A Hit at 2008 CES

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Numerous manufacturers and software companies show new integrated equipment and interactive services that will work on all cable systems without a separate set-top box

As the cable industry was rolling out the new tru2way™ brand for consumer and retail marketing of interactive digital video during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January, numerous consumer electronics, software and high-tech companies were showing tru2way-enabled products and services to attendees and the press.

Tru2way technology (formerly called OpenCable™) is built into televisions, set-top boxes, and other devices. The technology enables cable companies and other interactive television service and application developers to "write" interactive applications once and see them run successfully on any device that supports the specification. Existing applications include interactive guides, "start over" applications, and games; future applications might include, for example, interactive ads, chat, web browsing, and t-commerce. With tru2way technology, consumers will be able to access two-way digital cable programming without the need for a cable operator-supplied set-top box.

Tru2way will support all cable services now delivered to set-top boxes and other devices currently leased to consumers as well as future services written for the platform. Major cable operators have committed to support the tru2way platform on systems covering more than 90 million U.S. homes by the end of 2008.

Four of the world's leading consumer electronics companies, representing more than 28 percent of global television sales (iSuppli Corp., 9/07), demonstrated tru2way-based products at CES 2008:

• Panasonic – Displayed 42" and 50" tru2way plasma televisions, part of their Viera line that will operate without a set-top box from a single remote and that will be in the marketplace by the 2008 holiday season.
• Samsung – Demonstrated a tru2way HD set-top box that was running the Comcast/TV Guide program guide, model DCB-H670C.
• LG Electronics – Showed its Model 42LG51 - LCD television with tru2way functionality.
• Thomson – Exhibited a tru2way set-top box, the "9000 Series – HD MPEG-2/4 Interactive Cable Decoder for the North American market".

At the show, Panasonic and Comcast also teamed to announce a new portable digital video recorder (P-DVR) that uses tru2way technology. The device, called AnyPlay™ P-DVR, allows customers to record programming at home and take it with them for viewing wherever they go.

Additional companies are developing software, toolkits, chipsets and interfaces to support the cable industry's plans to use tru2way technology to deliver interactive services to consumers. Companies that exhibited specific tru2way innovations at CES included:

• VividLogic – Demonstrated tru2way software. Its customers include Funai, Mitsubishi and Pioneer.
• ViXS and Advanced Micro Devices both showed CableCARD™ chipsets that support tru2way technology.
• Digeo – Demonstrated its Moxi Media Center, which integrates content sources throughout an advanced user interface and centralizes all sources of entertainment on a single TV screen.

The cable industry also 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.

• Dell – Showed an interface to Media Center PCs.
• Hewlett Packard – Demonstrated an interface to Media Center PCs.
• Sony (Vaio) – Exhibited an interface to Media Center PCs.

The interface to Media Center PCs has also been built into high-end home media management systems. These include:

• Niveus Media – Debuted an interface to Media Center PC integrated into a high-end home media management system.
• Life/Ware (Exceptional Innovations) – Showed an interface to Media Center PCs built into high-end home media management and home automation systems.

To facilitate the growth of tru2way technology, CableLabs is strengthening resources for both hardware and applications developers, and plans to make specific announcements regarding developer partnerships in the near future. More information about CableLabs' application developer resources can be found at opencable.dev.java.net.

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