Formerly known as OCAP or the Open Cable Applications Platform, and largely based on the European MHP open standard, Tru2way is being presented as the future of interactivity for cable television in America. A developers conference is being held in advance of The Cable Show in New Orleans, produced by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association in partnership with CableLabs.
The developers conference will provide a forum for cable operators, programming providers and interactive television companies to share ideas and information regarding the latest tools and trends in rollout of the Java based Tru2way platform.
“Tru2way is the path to the future of television,” said Dr Richard Green, the president and chief executive of CableLabs. “The participants in this conference are developing the guidelines and applications that will influence the design of new products and services that will benefit consumers for years to come.”
“Because Tru2way is built on open standards, the opportunities for developers, cable operators and programmers are nearly unlimited,” added Dr William Check, responsible for science and technology at the NCTA industry association. “The Tru2way Developers Conference will plant the seeds for exciting new ideas and applications that will become the interactive television future.”
The conference will include a Developers Showcase Challenge will play a key role at the conference. Individuals in the Java development community can access the Tru2way toolset before the show, develop an application and submit it for review. Those with the most interesting applications will be invited to attend the conference and present their concepts both at the Developers Conference and throughout the show in the CableNET Technology Showcase.
The NCTA is the main trade association for the cable industry in the United States. Cable operators have invested over $130 billion over the last decade to build a two-way interactive network. They are the main providers of high speed internet access, but with the exception of video-on-demand services, successful interactive television applications have so far been few and far between.
The Cable Show runs from 18-20 May 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Tru2way Developers Conference will take place over the preceding weekend on 17-18 May.