Tru2way TVs at CES 2008
We took a stroll around the CES floor, taking a straw poll on the state of tru2way among TV manufacturers. Our results were mixed -- three exhibitors had tru2way displays and four did not. Follow us after the break on our tour.
We wanted to start off on a high note, so kicked things off at the Panasonic booth. As promised, they were showing off the solution developed jointly by Comcast and TV Guide. Notice the color-coded softkeys on the remote for accessing cable shortcut functions like Display, Save, Filter and Options.
LG was showing the exact same thing, but on an 42LG51. That's not a knock -- when it comes to new standards, delivering a 'reference' solution early can be more important than taking the time and resources to cook up your own.
Finally, Samsung had their in-house developed solution off in a corner of the booth. It looked awfully similar to the UI scheme the other two companies ended up with!
All three of these companies are targeting the end of 2008 for availability of tru2way sets, but a lot can happen between now and then. But at least these three companies (and also OCAP-compliant TiVo) have a head start over Philips, Pioneer, Sharp and Sony, who had no signs of tru2way.
