Ok, at least you did't see it in 1982. How about Open Cable by Spring?????????????????//
multichannel.com
Will OpenCable Specs Be Final by May?
By LESLIE ELLIS
The decision by the cable industry to support multiple operating systems and application-program interfaces in OpenCable set-tops showed unique industry solidarity, but it also complicated the process.
What happens next, now that the functional boundaries of OpenCable set-tops are in place, will likely be a wave of deals between individual MSOs and vendors while the specification itself is written.
"Now that the industry has acted as a group, you'll see individual business deals," said David Beddow, senior vice president of Tele-Communications Inc.'s TCI Technology Ventures Inc.
In interviews last week, executives with MSOs and vendors involved in OpenCable planning lauded the decision to not select a single operating system -- that of Microsoft Corp. -- while acknowledging that their jobs just got harder.
"It's true that there is a long list of issues that need to be resolved," said Jerry Bennington, senior vice president of Internet technologies for Cable Television Laboratories Inc. "The good news is that as an industry, we're getting better at reaching consensus."
Bennington was referring to strides in cable-modem-interoperability specifications, which will be used as a model for the OpenCable process.
Bennington said he's optimistic that a "core-functionality" specification will be mapped out in time for the National Show in May.
"That's my personal goal," he said. "I don't know if it's doable, but it's my goal."
Allen Ecker, chief technical officer for Scientific-Atlanta Inc., said his reaction to the OpenCable decision is "very positive."
Ecker said the decisions pave the way for an organized progression of digital set-tops that can track with better processors and software.
David Robinson, vice president and general manager of NextLevel Systems Inc.'s Digital Network Systems division, said the decision "is consistent with our recommendation that the platform enables downloadable operating systems and other pieces of middleware."
"Middleware," as defined by OpenCable, will consist of commonly available software like HTML (hypertext markup language) and scripting languages like JavaScript, among others.
One of the key considerations echoed by MSO executives last week is that future OpenCable systems are backward-compatible with the digital set-tops used for broadcast video that are starting to launch now.
"It's critical that the industry does not stand still while we wait for this [OpenCable] to be finished," said Mike Hayashi, vice president of advanced technology for Time Warner Cable. "It's also critical that whatever we specify works with the systems that are deployed in the interim."
Beddow described OpenCable not as an end point, but as a continuum of products that will evolve indefinitely.
"OpenCable has started a process that I don't think will ever end," said Beddow. "We now have a mechanism for dealing with all of the issues that are going to follow."
Beddow said those "issues" are unknown at this point, but as the cable industry starts moving "in lockstep" with the computer industry, OpenCable provides a mechanism to address them.
The decision to support multiple operating systems and APIs was made at a CableLabs Executive Committee meeting attended by cable CEOs in New York two weeks ago.
Beddow and others said the industry agreed on multiple operating systems as a way to thwart control issues from software providers.
For example, executives said, if OpenCable had decided to support a Microsoft-only solution, the industry would also be inextricably tied to Microsoft's APIs, or content-authoring software that dictates how content is displayed on TVs. That's because any operating system comes with a set of software tools so that content-developers can build applications that will run properly.
"What was behind the decision was simple: protection," said Beddow. "You don't at any point in time want to be held hostage to any particular vendor."
Arguably, the industry has been "tied" to a shortlist of set-top vendors for some time, because those vendors provide the security mechanisms that keep customers from receiving premium programs without paying for them.
And it is the security issue, roughed out through a "harmony agreement," that is high on the list of implementation difficulties. "The agreements are in place, but we still have all of the implementation to do, and it will be difficult," said Beddow.
Over the next six months, OpenCable -- which will be shepherded by CableLabs and its member companies -- will write a list of interfaces for digital TV signals, consumer privacy, copyright protection, high-speed data and interactive-content authoring.
It is likely that there will be two sets of specs, at least as far as signal security, operators said -- one set for operators that will buy advanced set-tops for lease-back to customers, and another for set-tops that will be available at retail.
That's because operators need to support customers who don't necessarily want to buy their own cable boxes, said Hayashi.
For example, in the operator-specific version of the OpenCable specification, a built-in slot for a removable network-security card will likely be unnecessary, since each cable operator will make its own security decisions and own the associated hardware.
But in the consumer model, a slot will be necessary, so that if a cable subscriber buys a box in Denver, then moves to Orlando, Fla., the issuance of a new security card from the new cable provider will work.
"It's an interesting situation because of the regulatory undertones," said Beddow, referring to the Federal Communications Commission's work on retail navigational devices, or set-top boxes. "Selling everything at retail is not necessarily consumer-friendly. There will be people who don't want to buy a box." |
