CableLabs Hails CES as "Significant Milestone" for Interactive TV

US cable-industry research, development and standards organization, CableLabs, is hailing the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as marking a significant milestone in the cable industry's efforts to bring interactive digital TV services to consumers that will not require the use of a leased set-top box. According to a press release issued by the organization, over a dozen manufacturers used the show to demo two-way, plug-and-play TV sets, set-top boxes and other cable-ready devices that will employ the OCAP middleware platform to enable the delivery of interactive TV services. The release added that major cable operators will be rolling out support for OCAP this year and next.

According to CableLabs, 13 companies displayed two-way, plug-and- play, cable-ready products at CES this year:

• Samsung (which previously achieved CableLabs certification for a two-way, OCAP-enabled digital television set) demo'd an HD DVR set-top that included a CableCARD interface. The company also revealed (see article in this issue) that it has signed an agreement with Cox Communications that calls for the companies to accelerate development of OCAP-based interactive services on Samsung HDTV sets and other devices. Some of these services--including an EPG developed by GuideWorks, a joint venture between Comcast and Gemstar-TV Guide--began testing in Cox's Gainesville, Florida division last month.

• Panasonic demo'd an HD plasma TV running the Comcast i-Guide and enabling VOD and other interactive applications using OCAP middleware. The device is set to be trialed with Comcast this year (see article in this issue), and to be available in retail next year.
• LG Electronics demo'd a two-way, plug-and-play, cable-ready digital plasma TV that runs OCAP.

  The TV was recently certified by CableLabs (see article in this issue).

• Thomson demo'd a two-way, plug-and-play, cable-ready, OCAP- enabled set-top box, the DCI 9000, running NDS's implementation of the OCAP middleware.
• TiVo demo'd its DVR interface on an OCAP-compatible leased set-top from Motorola running TV Navigator (see article in this issue), and says that it plans to port it to full OCAP.

  Comcast plans to offer TiVo service as an option to its DVR customers

• Scientific-Atlanta demo'd its Explorer 8550HDC two-way, cable-ready set-top box, which supports CableCARD, OCAP, advanced codecs and DOCSIS. The demo included a Flickr photo-sharing application running on OCAP.
• Motorola displayed a new line of OCAP-enabled interactive set-top boxes, and announced that it had expanded its purchase agreement with Comcast to include a number of new OCAP-enabled set-tops (see article in this issue).

• VividLogic showed reference designs for OCAP-enabled set-top boxes and digital televisions. It has secured deals with Mitsubishi, Pioneer and Funai that see those companies licensing its OCAP middleware stack.
• ADB displayed a prototype two-way cable-ready set-top box featuring OCAP support and a CableCARD interface.

• Digeo demo'd a multi-room Moxi DVR with a CableCARD interface; the company has ported the Moxi DVR application to OCAP.
• Broadcom displayed a reference design for a two-way cable-ready television or set-top that uses OCAP and a CableCARD.
• CableLabs says that at least two other companies also demo'd new OCAP-related products in private meetings.

In addition to the debuts of a range of OCAP-enabled devices, CES saw widespread expressions of corporate support for a new technology interface--dubbed the OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver or OCUR--that will allow consumers to view HDTV and other digital cable content on new Microsoft Vista-powered PC's. While the interface currently only supports one-way services (as its name implies), a two-way interactive version is in development. According to CableLabs, companies that were displaying the interface at CES included Microsoft, AMD, Dell, HP, Gateway, Toshiba, and Niveus (which demo'd a dual OCUR design that allows viewing of two channels simultaneously).

CES also saw CableLabs holding a briefing with OCAP specialist, Vidiom, and with 10 of the companies (ADB, AMD, Digeo, Digital Keystone, Funai, LG, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, and Toshiba) that have signed its CableCARD-Host Interface License Agreement (note: the agreement, generally referred to as CHILA, allows companies to build approved, two-way, cable-ready products that support interactive services such as EPG's, VOD and interactive TV applications, without the need for a set-top box). According to the organization, the briefing included information on what the major US MSO's are doing to enable support for OCAP on their networks this year and next; on lab support activities it will offer in the course of the coming year; and on developer conferences planned for the year.