bdraw
02-09-2008, 10:07 PM
CableLabs is terrible at marketing, but not sure what we'd expect from a technology consortium created by the cable industry.
When most of us think of the word CableCARD we think of a PCMCIA card that fits in our TV or TiVo, but while this is true, the term CableCARD 1.0 actually refers to a standard specification created by CableLabs in order to comply with the FCCs mandate for separable security. And while the CableCARD 1.0 specification includes the ability for a CableCARD host device to utilize a CableCARD to access premium programming there is no way for the host device to communicate up stream with the head-end. As of July 1st 2007 any newly deployed STB from every cable co' in the US must include a CC with the exception of FiOS which was awarded a 1 year waiver.
It is a very common misconception that the reason this isn't possible is because the CableCARD doesn't include this ability, but in fact it does. You see the card itself only deals with conditional access, the host device is the box that needs the transmitter that would send the upstream communications. Every one of the new STBs deployed today has the same CC that you can use in your TV or TiVo and as we know they work fine with VOD etc. The problem is that CableLabs has just now ratified a standard for 3rd party host devices to support two-way communications and in the same way this whole mess got started CableLabs has once again done a poor job at naming it. While someone -- CableLabs denies it was them -- coined the term CableCARD 2.0, this isn't the name. It was officially named tru2way at CES this year, after being called OpenCable or OCAP (OpenCable Application Platform) most of last year.
The real problem with tru2way is that it includes your cable co's software. What I mean is that if you don't care for the software on your cable co's STB, then you won't like the UI on your new CableCARD equipped tru2way TV either, as they will be one in the same. What will happen after the CC is installed is that the software will be downloaded from your cable co to your TV. While the TV manufactures like this because it saves them the time to develop a UI that can take advantage of your cable co's services, companies with a huge investment and patents in a UI are at a disadvantage because they can't leverage their software in their STBs. This makes it harder for them to compete, as every CC host device will have the same software. TiVo has taken a hybrid approach to this and will utilize their software for everything except for things like VOD, which will use the cable co's UI.
I believe this entire thing is a mess on purpose. The cable co's have never wanted to play nice and the FCC hasn't done enough to enforce the telecommunications act of 1996 that got this whole thing started. In the end most customers just don't want a STB, but do want all the services that their cable provider offers, lets just hope that tru2way is a good compromise.
When most of us think of the word CableCARD we think of a PCMCIA card that fits in our TV or TiVo, but while this is true, the term CableCARD 1.0 actually refers to a standard specification created by CableLabs in order to comply with the FCCs mandate for separable security. And while the CableCARD 1.0 specification includes the ability for a CableCARD host device to utilize a CableCARD to access premium programming there is no way for the host device to communicate up stream with the head-end. As of July 1st 2007 any newly deployed STB from every cable co' in the US must include a CC with the exception of FiOS which was awarded a 1 year waiver.
It is a very common misconception that the reason this isn't possible is because the CableCARD doesn't include this ability, but in fact it does. You see the card itself only deals with conditional access, the host device is the box that needs the transmitter that would send the upstream communications. Every one of the new STBs deployed today has the same CC that you can use in your TV or TiVo and as we know they work fine with VOD etc. The problem is that CableLabs has just now ratified a standard for 3rd party host devices to support two-way communications and in the same way this whole mess got started CableLabs has once again done a poor job at naming it. While someone -- CableLabs denies it was them -- coined the term CableCARD 2.0, this isn't the name. It was officially named tru2way at CES this year, after being called OpenCable or OCAP (OpenCable Application Platform) most of last year.
The real problem with tru2way is that it includes your cable co's software. What I mean is that if you don't care for the software on your cable co's STB, then you won't like the UI on your new CableCARD equipped tru2way TV either, as they will be one in the same. What will happen after the CC is installed is that the software will be downloaded from your cable co to your TV. While the TV manufactures like this because it saves them the time to develop a UI that can take advantage of your cable co's services, companies with a huge investment and patents in a UI are at a disadvantage because they can't leverage their software in their STBs. This makes it harder for them to compete, as every CC host device will have the same software. TiVo has taken a hybrid approach to this and will utilize their software for everything except for things like VOD, which will use the cable co's UI.
I believe this entire thing is a mess on purpose. The cable co's have never wanted to play nice and the FCC hasn't done enough to enforce the telecommunications act of 1996 that got this whole thing started. In the end most customers just don't want a STB, but do want all the services that their cable provider offers, lets just hope that tru2way is a good compromise.