Cable companies miss tru2way deadline, insist it's no big deal

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 4:13AM

Remember that tru2way-related Memorandum of Understanding that was all the rage about this time last year? It appears the 6 cable companies haven't lived up to at least one part of their agreement, collectively missing the deadline of July 1 to have 100% of their digital cable headends compatible. No word on how close they got, but Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House still insist it's "not that far off" though we don't see how missing important milestones is helping move the technology forwards.

Filed under: Cable

Tags: bright house, bright house networks, BrightHouse, BrightHouseNetworks, cable, cablevision, charter, comcast, cox, deadline, headend, milestone, mou, time warner cable, TimeWarnerCable, tru2way

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

mitchelljd @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:08AM

cable companies never made Tru2Way a huge initiative they got behind anyway. They view cable box reciever rentals as profit centers. so for the fully functional version of the card, which can do downloads of VOD and more, i guess they are continuing the delays and lack of full support.

Neutral

Ashley @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:53AM

First off, i don't know what rock i was under when this happened, but didn't realize charter was in bankruptcy! Anyway Richard's point is well taken i think that Brighthouse (with a history of less-than-up-front practices) and the rest of this motley crew needs to get their act together and, if nothing else, actually be transparent with where this is going. "not that far off" ain't cutting it.

Highly Ranked

MI @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:56AM

Meet the new cable card, same as the old cable card.

Highly Ranked

bull3964 @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:10AM

What a shocker, cable companies not living up to their promises.

I suspect that we shall soon find out that water is wet.

Neutral

Maxx @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:49AM

I would do backflips if I could buy a better cable box that my 2 Motorola 6412's or 6416's or whatever they are. I just want a model that doesnt run so frackin hot. You could cook an egg on mine. Nope no exageration, you could really physicaly cook an egg. No problem it would cook.

Neutral

Cableguy @ Jul 3rd 2009 4:28PM

amen to that! i work for comcast cable in chicago and i seen plenty of stuff melted on those boxes, i could just see an egg and 2 strips of bacon sizzling on them things

Neutral

Dan @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:55AM

I'm about half tempted to tell Congress to open up the cable lines to any company that wants in and give these monopoly giants a run for there money. Heck, I might as well run for Congress!

Neutral

Dave @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:18PM

"the delayed broadcast digital TV transition were among the elements that played a role in cable's inability to hit the original July 1 commitment"

Cable companies had nothing tied to the analog cutoff. Someone care to explain how a totally non related wireless analog broadcast from different companies had any influence on missing the July 1st date?

I sure hope it wasn't "well we only had analog decoders in the headend for the local channels" so we had to switch them out.

I wish SureWest or Verizon would fire up some fiber at my place, so I could ditch the antiquated analog cable I'm still receiving channels 1-99 ... Not to mention the crappy cable boxes and even worse "Navigator" software to boot.

I mean timewarner isn't any better than GM, they have no product to really be proud of. They just keep trying to stretch out any bit profit they can manage before being handed their hats.

Neutral

Dave @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:20PM

Although I should have add,ed GM now does have some decent cars to be proud of. Lets home timewarner can do a 180 and get on the same path.

Neutral

Matt @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:31PM

I am a little behind on the tru2way and have a question. Is this the technology that will work with switched digital video? For example at the present time I need a tivo, a cable card AND a special box that works the sdv. Is it correct to say if the tru2way worked that I would just need the tivo and the cable card?

Neutral

Ezra @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:02PM

With tru2way, you only need a cable card to get encrypted channels, if it's unencrypted switched video would work even without the cable card. So if your Tivo supported tru2way you would not need the special box anymore.

Neutral

darklighter @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:12PM

Nope. You'd have to have a tru2way-compatible host, which the TiVo HD/Series 3 are not.

Neutral

hallr7 @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:06PM

i have a tivo, cable cards are bad enough, now Time Warner has taken away all but 70 of the 200 channels i should get. I only get local in HD not the other 15 that cable box users get. When i call no one knows what i'm talking about, they are confused about tivo needing an adapter and don't know what switched digital is. When i call they know i don't get the channels because i have a tivo but when i say there is a product that they are beta testing and i know someone who has one, they think i'm making it up. I can't decide who is worse, Cable companies or cell phone companies.

Neutral

foxb @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:21PM

The adapter you want is called tuning adapter. If they claim have no idea what you're talking about, threaten to file a complaint with FCC. A few cable companies just recently get fined by FCC for this same reason.

Neutral

Ultatryon @ Jul 4th 2009 2:58AM

Um.. You are not describing an SDV issue, but a lack of authorization. Sounds to me like your cablecard need to be re-paired (not repaired, but paired again). Instead of calling insisting that you need a Tuning Resolver, just bring up the cablecard menu on the tivo, and have them double check the pairing information. I would be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that the Data number has changed, and needs to be re-entered in their controller.

Neutral

DavidB @ Jul 4th 2009 6:29PM

If anyone here can show me a picture of the Tru2way TV or cable box they bought you can complain about this delay.

Anyone? Anyone? Hmm. Thought not.

Nobody is hurt by a 1-2 month delay, and that's how close most systems are to launching.

Neutral

Randall Lind @ Jul 4th 2009 10:59PM

Brighthouse just switched out my SA8300hd box that died for a Samsung SMT-H3090 I believe it is tru2way but, I only have one TV so no big deal.

The thing I like it reboots in like 20 secs instead of 2-3mins like the SA8300hd box.

Neutral

rendezvous65 @ Jul 9th 2009 1:48PM

Leased cable boxes aren't profitable for the cableco's. The rental fees are regulated by the federal government. With tru2way you can keep your own box but now have the option to purchase your own. They'll still charge fees for it. Now you'll have to pay some fess like renting the cable card and paying the IPG royalty fee. I don't forsee cablecards being available for purchase. You'll still have to lease them. The cablecards are still made by Moto and SA. Hope this helps.

Highly Ranked

Paul @ Aug 3rd 2009 4:58PM

Tru2way (AKA OCAP) is a hoax:

1. Tru2way is all about the java-based software (middleware), not the CabeCARD. (formally known as Open Cable Application Platform – OCAP)

2. Java is 19 years old technology (200 y/o in computers years). Java failed in any real life commercial product, with the exception of toy applications (simple games) and one-of-a-kind special apps. Java is the academia’s favorite language/platform, but it is only good for education and quick demos, not mission-critical applications.

3. The bigwigs that swallowed the tru2way story, did so for the multi-platform promise: Write once, Run anywhere. They simply do not understand software. The cost of software development is in:
a> Establishing what the software (app) should do
b> Developing data-structures, algorithms, user-interface, protocols, etc.
c> Coding
Java, theoretically, addresses only Coding; However, once you have the app completed on one platform (say, Motorola box), it is cheap and the straightforward to port (re-code) the application to whatever other hardware platforms (Cisco/SA, Samsung, Pace, Panasonic, EchoStar, etc.) Witness the gaming industry; they do it all the time.

4. In order to save the little cost of porting the application (Guide/VOD) from box A to box B, which can be done quickly by a small team, the geniuses at CableLabs adopted Java-based OCAP, that adds to millions of boxes the cost of memory, CPU and royalties. If tru2way/OCAp cost extra $50 for each box, then do the math how much it cost to outfit millions of boxes with the technology. Compare it to paying 8 software engineers to port the (C/C++) application in 4 month from box A to Box B (remember, it’s only coding/porting, not developing the application!)

5. Designed for obsolescent: It is 10 years struggle to make OCAP (tru2way) platform run the basic Guide/VOD applications. The hardware cost is high. Today’s available products can barely run today’s apps (users report slower performance than legacy boxes). Any enhancement to the applications will:
a. either will not happen, because 2009 hardware cannot handle more, or
b. will be incompatible with today’s hardware; hence generating multiple versions (!) of each app and many unhappy customers.

6. Computer-science first? OCAP/tru2way promises to deliver TV applications on the fly, such as voting/polling, commercial-specific apps, etc. It means that the technology should: Download, allocate resources (memory, file handles, etc.), instantiate, execute, then de-allocate memory, etc. all in REAL TIME! This was NEVER done in computer science history. It cannot be done in Java.

7. All in all, tru2way (OCAP) was born as a tactic to fool the FCC that the Motorola/Cisco duopoly will end and retail Digital-Cable-Ready solutions will be available. Then, some industry executives fell for it.

8. SOFTWARE platforms are always created and controlled by monopolies. There are no examples in history that a complex SOFTWARE platform or an Operation System, designed by a committee, did well in the wild. Multiple-implementation “software platforms” do not allow applications to float between them. Conversely, applications can be ported (re-coded) to run on multiple platforms.

9. Tru2way is bad for:
a. Cableco’s, because it confines their innovation and takes away their box-rentals cash cow.
b. CE manufacturers, because it limits their ability to product-differentiate, while just adds cost to their products (see TiVo cold feet re tru2way)
c. Consumers, because they will have to pay for the hardware & license, just to "save" the Cableco’s the cost of porting their Guide code; Meanwhile customers will see their Cable box stuck in time (200 years), while non-Java solutions move ahead at the speed of the computer industry.

10. Tru2way faith? It will live, but after a surgery to remove its OCAP (Java) heart.

PSA: Modern Warfare 2 won't unlock on Steam until Friday Xbox 360 Wireless N Networking Adapter out this week in North America [update] Monkey Island: Special Edition team unearths lost dialogue	Phytrix: a Tetris-Meets-Match-3 Time Waster Tutorial9 offering free icon sets, Wordpress and Tumblr themes Google's next-gen search, aka Caffeine, may arrive soon
MobileMe mail offline for 'some users'... again Apple poised to take over the (tech) world Hiring a new sheriff: Apple clamping down on jailbreaking to soothe corporate angst?	Nationwide home prices fall in 123 of 153 metro areas Clearwire nabs $1.5 billion A four-pack of income fund favorites
Reminder: Left 4 Dead demo now available 4 all Games on Demand has a high-price Monopoly Xbox 360 Fancast 142 -- ODSB	Renault-Nissan vows to build world's cheapest car? Nano-nah-nah-nah-nah! VIDEO: Top Gear Season 14 returns this Sunday Atom Smasher: UK-bound Ariel V8 to command $200,000?
ESA founder gets Lifetime Achievement Award from AIAS Child's Play 2009 charity fund drive begins Interview: Prometheus designer chats about latest UDK-based game	Bernard Pollard Accuses Chiefs of Trying to Have Him Blackballed Brian Westbrook's Ankle Injury Flares Up Texans Should Just Stay Away From Larry Johnson