We already saw Panasonic's 50-inch TH-50PZ80Q plasma doing the tru2way thing at CEDIA 2008, but the official lever has just been pulled in Denver and Chicago. As of today, Comcast's tru2way platform is active in the aforesaid cities, and the very first tru2way-capable HDTVs are arriving to retail. Eager consumers in the Windy or Mile High City who are ready to ditch the set-top-box altogether without sacrificing VOD and such can polish off their wounded credit cards, as both a 42-inch (TH-42PZ80Q; $1,599.95) and 50-inch (TH-50PZ80Q; $2,999.95) VIERA plasma will be on sale by "late October." As for the rest of the US anxious to dip in the cool, cool waters of tru2way? A few undisclosed locales should be going live with the service "in the coming months," though your guess is as good as ours as to what exactly that means.

They said they were going to do it, and do it they did. While Samsung's tru2way "demonstration" was barely more than a hack job used to show off what the technology was about, Panasonic demoed the real deal at its CEDIA booth. The 50-inch TH-50PZ80Q plasma contained a real CableCARD (yes, we checked) and was receiving a live signal from Comcast. Denver is just one of a few markets where tru2way is theoretically ready to rock, and according to a Panny rep, the set we saw today is a production unit that will ship sometime "later this year." The idea here is to provide buyers with the ability to insert any CableCARD from any carrier (if you move, for example) into an HDTV, thus eliminating the cable company's stranglehold (best known as a "carrier-issued set-top-box") on you. The demo we saw went over very well -- everything was responsive and image quality was excellent. See for yourself in the gallery at Engadget HD.

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.

The oldest of the "three screens" -- television – is generally far from the wisest. Sure, an endless array of set-top boxes and AV components packed with processors have appeared in the last few decades to use its screen as a surrogate, and now a high-definition, display for video games, PC content, Web pages, multimedia, videoconferencing and other entertainment. But while much television programming -- especially news and sports programs – has become cluttered with contextual trivia and tickers, the core TV viewing experience has remained stubbornly passive. Now, though, with backers citing the need to reclaim appeal from PCs and cell phones -- especially among multitasking kids, teens and young adults -- the first screen is fighting back.

Correctly recognizing that upconverting DVDs posed a serious challenge to high-definition discs, the backers of HD-DVD focused on the mandatory Internet connectivity of its players and support of it in some of its late content (the movie 300 was one of the best showcases). In HD-DVD's defeat, the Blu-ray camp has picked up the cause via BD-Live, part of the Blu-ray 2.0 specification. A forthcoming title that will take advantage of the Internet connectivity is Disney's 50th anniversary platinum release of its classic Sleeping Beauty. And it is not your wicked stepmother's princess.

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.

While we're all a little new to tru2way, Panasonic isn't wasting anytime integrating the newly renamed CableCARD 2.0 standard into its TVs. We hope this will revitalize CableCARD, which had been dropped from just about every manufacture's lineup. The big difference this time around is that now your CableCARD enabled HDTV can take advantage of VOD and PPV. But before you get any bright ideas that your home media experience will drastically improve, keep in mind that these sets will run about the same software that your cable box does in what is known as the miracle of OCAP.

Admit it -- you've got a continual backlog in your DVR that you never get through. Welcome to the downside of massive storage. Until someone invents a longer day, Comcast and Panasonic are making it so that you never have to be parted from your content as a stopgap measure. The Comcast AnyPlay Portable DVR does normal duty as your home HD DVR. But presto-change-o, the P-DVR can be removed from its dock and strapped to the AnyPlay P-DVR TZ-LC100, allowing you to view your content on a 8.5-inch LCD (not HD, it's safe to say). The module also gives you 60GB of recording room for filling up on the go. If this is just what you've been waiting for, say thanks to the now officially renamed tru2way.