Okay enough waiting, where is tru2way?
It seems like forever that we've been waiting to see a tru2way TV at the local big box store and honestly we're starting to think it's all vapor ware. Our gut started telling us things weren't going well at CES in January when we actually saw less tru2way on display than the year before. Then there was the supposedly insignificant missed deadline this pass July, but what's worse is that even after a year, Panasonic and Comcast have only worked together to offer tru2way TVs in three markets (Chicago, Denver and Atlanta). A new report from Light Reading Cable Industry Insider confirms our fears, stating that the tru2way retail forecast is "cloudy." At least one member of the industry believes that the cable companies want to perfect it on their own boxes before opening it up to 3rd party retail devices, which makes sense, but how long exactly do they expect this to take? The bottom line is that consumer want tru2way because they want to have access to the same experience on their new HDTV, but without the two remotes and the ugly set-top-box under their TV with the wires dangling down. We asked CableLabs what the hold up was and although they were proud to tell us about all the tru2way developers enjoying their conferences, they said we'd have to ask the TV manufactures or the cable company what the specific hold up was. We do wonder though, if it's possible for the window for tru2way to close. What we mean is that with more and more TVs coming with network capabilities, maybe we'll just go back to vanilla CableCARD TVs and get our guide data and VOD from the internet instead -- now if only everyone had a network connection behind their TV.
