Denver based CableLabs has announced that it will release a source code reference implementation of its tru2way specifications. The organisation hopes this will speed up adaption of the interactive standard.
“This marks a key milestone in the cable industry’s deployment of a common software platform by giving device manufacturers and application providers a single, compliant software stack for building tru2way enabled products and services,” CableLabs said in a statement.
CableLabs plans to publicly launch the reference implementation later this year under both a free open source license and a commercial licence. CableLabs will make the reference implementation available for use on a PC, making it easier for device manufacturers and application developers to design and test new features and services on the tru2way platform without having to connect to a cable plant.
As new features are added to the tru2way platform and approved for inclusion in the specification, CableLabs also will issue an updated version of the reference implementation and a new compliance test plan. This will allow device manufacturers and application providers to easily and cost effectively incorporate these new features into their products and services.
In cooperation with Sun Microsystems, the reference implementation will be hosted, developed and evolved in an open source community within the OpenCable Project located on Sun’s java.net.
Because the tru2way specifications are based on the Sun PhoneME Java stack, the same Java core that powers Blu-ray and the DVB Multimedia Home Platform, the release of the reference implementation could enable exciting device convergence possibilities.
CableLabs will continue to support tru2way device manufacturers and developers in ongoing events such as developer conferences and interops as well as access to a development lab.
