New Agreement May End the Cable Box

esocid clues us to news that Sony and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association have come to agreement on the way forward for two-way TV without set-top boxes. The actual agreement was not made public, pending review by other members of the Consumer Electronics Association, and as a result the coverage of the agreement is uniformly pretty incoherent. The background is that the NCTA and the CEA submitted competing proposals to the FCC on how to handle two-way, interactive TV services. None of the articles I turned up made clear what the future of the CableCard is to be. This was an interim solution to allow competition in set-top box manufacture, but its adoption has been plagued with problems. "Sony and the cable companies — Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision, and Bright House Networks — agreed to adopt: the Java-based 'tru2way' solution powered by CableLabs; new streamlined technology licenses; and new ways for all those involved to cooperate in the development of tru2way technology at CableLabs."

Set-top already gone

[atamagabakkaomae]

without set-top boxes

Set-top boxes have been gone for ages..
flat-screen TVs are just too thin for that

Managed Internet

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks like those of you who wanted a brand-new Internet might just get it.

Re:Lovely...

[AdamPee]

I shudder to think what would constitute a hand sign to get to the playboy channel.

Re:Lovely...

[FilterMapReduce]

Not that sort of two-way TV. This story discusses a sort of two-way TV where there can be commands sent by the viewer, for interactive applications or choosing a pay-per-view program for instance.

In before Big Brother references! :)

That's a shame. TVs with built-in cameras would have allowed us to use the term "Orwellian" with some actual legitimacy for a change. ;)

Re:Lovely...

[veganboyjosh]

In my experience, that means that 'tru2way' technology will be a sRteaming pile of shit.
There, I fixed it for you.

In my experience, that means that 'tru2way' technology will be a stReaming pile of shit.
There, I fixed it for you.

Brought to you by...

[norminator]

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