Unlike basic CableCard technology, which doesn’t work with interactive services like Video On Demand (VOD), tru2way is designed to be a complete replacement for traditional cable company provided digital cable receivers.

There’s been quite a bit of interest from consumer electronics manufacturers, most notably Panasonic. Earlier this year an official from the National Cable Trade Association told the FCC “cooperation and open communication between cable and CE has never been better.”

Unfortunately the date by which most US cable customers were supposed to have access to tru2way compatible service (July 9,2009) has come and gone.

The longer it takes cable companies to bring tru2way to consumers, the more entrenched competition from new internet-based services will be and the more ground they’ll have to make up. Offerings like Netflix Watch Instantly and Xbox Live seem to gain in popularity every day.

Cable company executives are used to thinking of their companies as established incumbents. But the market they’re hoping to capture with tru2way enabled devices is one that’s still being defined. Continued delays mean more time for other companies to establish the kind of dominance cable once enjoyed in the home entertainment landscape.

Especially if consumer electronics companies like Panasonic can’t get a reasonable return from their cable technology investments.

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The standard pertains to notebooks, in-car systems, Internet tablets and mobile phones.

Mobile TV has been extremely successful in Japan and other Asian nations but has seen slow adoption in the US. Until late last year, Samsung and LG had rival standards but decided instead to partner up and the Mobile DTV Standard was thrown together.

Verizon and AT&T currently offer TV via the FLO TV network but that service is a paid one and offers more national programming than local.



PCWorld explains that “ATSC Mobile DTV is carried alongside the regular over-the-air DTV broadcasts that U.S. stations have been delivering exclusively since analog TV was discontinued across the country in June. It uses a system called Vestigial Side Band modulation, with an IP (Internet Protocol) transport system, according to the ATSC. The technology can send H.264 video and HE AAC v2 (High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding, Version 2) audio. It can support interactive services, subscription-based TV and downloading of content for later viewing.”

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