Two-way Cable Cards Ushered in by Sony

This just in from the "better-late-than-never" department: Sony has negotiated a deal to allow for itself and other television manufacturers to integrate two-way CableCARD technology into television sets. This new technology (which should have been announced, perfected, and released years ago) is dubbed "tru2way" and finally brings two-way technology to the completely stalled, but now mandatory, CableCARD revolution. To-date, the problem with CableCARDS has been that they lacked two-way communication - meaning they lacked program guides, Pay-Per-View, on-demand, interactivity, and any of the many other features that make cable set-top boxes work. All that is about to end and Sony has apparently helped usher in the future of the advanced two-way technology.

For a Primer on CableCARD technology, please see our article on the subject.

The problem with two-way CableCARDs has never been the technology, but the paranoid legal stalling by the CableTV industry. With the release of two-way technology, the cable industry is effectively opening itself up to all sorts of security risks with regard to accessing pay content. Because of this a strict and specific set of implementations guidelines was needed. This is the apparent reason the excessive delay in bringing the technology to consumers.

Now that CableCARD finally has the ability to allow manufacturers to include all the features of a cable company's services, you can expect some really cool set-top boxes to hit the market. I, for one, can't wait as I hate the fact that my cable company's idea of innovation is the inclusion of a "Start Over" feature - the first real feature change to their set top boxes in over 7 years. TiVo, hailed by many as the perfect set top box, is great - but I'd rather get that kind of intuitive service without the hassles of an additional monthly fee.

Signing on to the deal were Cox, Time Warner, Comcast, Charter, Cablevision, and Bright House - the six big companies behind CableTV. At CES this year, Panasonic announced a deal with Comcast to integrate tru2way into its Viera LCD line, but this agreement by Sony is the first to include an acceptable set of terms which includes all 6 major CableTV companies. Sony also made the agreement "open" so that any other manufacturer can sign on using the same arrangement. This effectively eliminates any remaining hurdles for two-way CableCARD technology to hit consumers.

Tru2way is an idea that has been around for years, but never implemented due to the reasons mentioned above. It's essentially a "middleware stack" meaning that it is software that resides between the actual application and the operating system, thus allowing for any amount of customization of the interface, DVR functionality, program guide, etc, while still being able to interact with the CableTV provider's data and services.

While we don't yet know how this new technology will look, it's almost certain to be good for consumers who have been hamstrung by a lack of innovation in this sector for far too long. At long last the CableTV companies will be able to focus on broadcasting and distributing television while consumer electronics manufacturers are finally freed to do what they do best. Let's hope these products hit the market and mature quickly.