Hi-def and DVRs go together like peanut butter and jelly, but even with all the great DVRs available today, none are perfect. TiVo offers the best overall user experience and features, but lacks a few fundamental features that most cable STBs have -- like VOD, for starters. Although this isn't TiVo's fault, when it comes down to figuring out what's right for your family, it really doesn't matter. During Tivo's earnings call yesterday, it was reaffirmed that TiVo is working one step closer to making the ultimate cable DVR by including two-way functionality using the latest CableLabs standard tru2way. For those who haven't been keeping track at home, tru2way has undergone an identity crisis, and if you go back long enough, you'll find that it was called CableCARD 2.0 -- by someone. The way this would work is that you'd have a way on a TiVo to access the cable company's UI, so good or bad, when you're accessing VOD content, you'd see the same thing as if you were using a Moto or SA Cisco box. What isn't known is if current HD TiVo owners, with the help of a tuning resolver and some software, would have access to the same features. We don't see why not, but this stuff is already way more complicated than it should be, and at this point we wouldn't put anything by CableLabs.

In the latest episode of as the cable industry turns, the rumors that CableLabs would rename OpenCable to tru2Way are indeed true. For those keeping track at home, once upon a time the world dreamed of ditching their cable box, but wanted to continue to take advantage of all the services their cable co' forced them to pay for. Then after an act of congress and ten years time; along came CableCARD, but left out VOD and PPV, so we all waited with baited breath for CableCARD 2.0 -- but it never came. But hope wasn't lost, as CableLabs released OCAP, which was marketed as OpenCable, but there was still no love from the industry. So what is CableLabs to do? It does the same thing anyone does when in this predicament; give it a new name. Whether a new name is what's needed to gets things moving remains to be seen, we're at the largest consumer electronics show in the US this week and although we've yet to see any tru2way enabled HDTVs or DVRs just yet, we'll keep you posted.

We got a chance to touch Motorola's sexy new 250GB DCX series MPEG-4 / Dolby Digital Plus / MoCa / OCAP cable STB tonight. You already know the important information so we'll get you to the in the wild pics without much ado other than a quick recap of what ports the promo unit was sporting on its "not available for photographs" backside: HDMI, USB, eSATA, component, digital audio out (S/PDIF and coax), 1394, ethernet, M-Card.

Looking for a dash of DRM right on your television set, without having to turn to your cable or satellite provider? LG has just the thing, as it's finally getting set to drop a 42-inch HD plasma that sports "built-in OCAP (open cable application platform) technology," presumably nestled close to the integrated downloadable content protection (DCAS). The 42PC1DN also rocks multistream CableCARD support, "iDCR interactive capabilities," and HD interactive services such as HD VOD. While the full skinny of specs hasn't yet been revealed, be sure to keep an eye out for more tidbits on this set during the buildup to CES.

In a move that would surely delight advertisers but enrage consumers, Philips is trying to patent a method for flagging digital TV content to not only prevent viewers from changing the channel during commercials in live broadcasts, but to actually lock out fast-forwarding capabilities during ads in recorded programs as well. Even worse, the patent specifically applies to the already widely-deployed Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) middleware system standard, meaning that many Europeans' current TVs would be susceptible to these Orwellian controls. Since the US version of this platform, OCAP, is largely based on the MHP architecture, it's not a stretch to imagine such flagging being applied to American sets as well. Although we're certain that a workaround would be developed if Philips' evil plan ever actually materializes, just the thought of our DVRs going impotent is enough to fill us with fear and trepidation.

Update 1: Reader Paul B, who also happened to chair the group that wrote the MHP PVR specification, writes to inform us that "there is no such flag as standard in the spec. Philips could add one as a Philips-specific flag but it wouldn't apply to the other manufacturers. Secondly, as currently specificed there is no way for an MHP application to take control of the channel switching function, so changing channels always works." There you have it folks; it seems that all your MHP-equipped gear is safe -- for now.

Update 2: Royal Philips Electronics, ever mindful of their Engadget-reading customers, had this to say in a note to us: "(Philips) filed a patent application, as yet not granted, that enables watching a television movie without advertising. However, some people do want to see the ads. So, we developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads. It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services. Philips never had the intention to force viewers to watch ads against their will and does not use this technology in any current Philips products, nor do we have any plans to do so."

[Via New Scientist]