enableTV Launches Royalty-Free Commercial Version of CableLabs' tru2way Reference Implementation

enableTV, the interactive TV software and services company that was spun out of Vidiom Systems last year by Vidiom founder, Tim Wahlers, announced Thursday that it is offering a tru2way/OCAP deployment solution that includes a royalty-free, commercial version of CableLabs' recently launched tru2way Reference Implementation (note: the latter is an open source implementation of CableLabs' OCAP middleware specification that is billed as providing device manufacturers and application developers with a consistent interpretation of the spec; it was released June 15th on Sun Microsystems' open source project site, Java.net--for more on the RI, see the article published on itvt.com, June 16th). According to the company, its OCAP middleware package includes full source for the Java-based middleware, and is the sole source of example porting layers, porting layer test suites, porting and testing documentation, technical product support and optional porting services. The company also says it will provide OCAP 1.1.1, and the DVR I05, Device Settings I01 and Front Panel I02 OCAP extensions. In addition, it says, the Home Networking and Multi-Screen Manager extensions will be provided as updates. "We have worked closely over the past five years with CableLabs and the OCAP Development LLC (the joint venture between Comcast and Time Warner Cable) to develop the OCAP Reference Implementation for the industry," enableTV president and CEO Wahlers said in a prepared statement. "We are proud to offer a product and services solution based on the CableLabs tru2way RI to reduce the time to deployment for set-top boxes and retail devices and to support the interactive services community targeting them."

In addition to its OCAP middleware offering, enable TV says it offers a full OCAP test facility with Motorola and Cisco headends, over 10,000 fully automated OCAP-specific and platform performance tests, remote testing and tru2way pre-certification services.

enableTV also announced Thursday that it is launching a tru2way Reference Implementation Support Program for companies that license the tru2way Reference Implementation directly from CableLabs. The company claims that the new program is the sole source of full technical support for CableLabs' open source tru2way middleware, introductory and technical training on the middleware, and experienced engineering, porting and testing services to augment the CableLabs RI offering. "enableTV is dedicated to providing a deployment ecosystem to make OCAP a success," enable TV's Wahlers said in a prepared statement. "We have built our OCAP and professional services solutions expertise for 10 years, including five years of development with the CableLabs RI codebase. Now with the release of the CableLabs tru2way Reference Implementation, all the effort has come to fruition."