Louisville, Colorado, February 12, 2008—In order to expand resources for tru2way™ application developers, CableLabs® has established the OpenCable™ Project on Sun Microsystems' Java.net site.

Cable operators are delivering on their promise to deploy tru2way interactivity to consumers' homes in the form of tru2way-enabled set-top boxes which utilize Java-based applications. Time Warner Cable already has deployed nearly 600,000 tru2way set-top boxes and Comcast has made the commitment to deploy support for tru2way devices system-wide by the end of 2008.

“The delivery of tru2way functionality into consumers' homes will open up a new universe of application development opportunities,” said Mike LaJoie, Chief Technology Officer of Time Warner Cable. “To support the growth of this application development, we felt a 'go to' resource website is essential for independent, third party tru2way application developers. For instance, application developers need a resource where they can understand the specifications, stay updated, test their work-in-progress, and have the opportunity to exchange ideas with other application developers,” he added.

The tru2way brand is the cable industry's marketing identification of interactive applications for consumers. The tru2way term succeeds OpenCable Platform which will continue as the term describing the underlying set of technical specifications that support tru2way applications. Tru2way has foundations in MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) and is similar to Blu-ray Java (BD-J) both of which are also based on Sun Microsystems' Java platform. “Having such common standards allows application developers to draw from their existing knowledge base while providing cross-platform application development opportunities going forward,” stated Mark Coblitz, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Comcast.

“Since OpenCable is based on Sun Microsystems' Java language, it was a logical step to take advantage of Sun's already established Java.net resource” stated Dr. Richard R. Green, President and CEO of CableLabs. “The resources that Sun Microsystems is providing will ensure a vibrant developers' community.”

“We are pleased that CableLabs has made the decision to initiate the OpenCable Project site in the Mobile & Embedded Community on Java.net,” stated Roger Brinkley, Mobile & Embedded Community Leader at Sun Microsystems. “By participating in the Mobile & Embedded Community, CableLabs will have direct access to thousands of experienced Java application developers who will naturally engage with the OpenCable Project located on Java.net. CableLabs will be able to draw from years of experience of application development expertise from within the wireless phone industry. Further, CableLabs won't have to re-invent the wheel by starting their own resource website,” added Brinkley.

More information about the OpenCable project on Java.net can be found by following this link: opencable.dev.java.net.

It is CableLabs' belief that a strong base of OpenCable application developers will be of interest to content providers. “We are constantly thinking of creative uses where 2-way applications can benefit our viewers,” said David Preisman, VP of Interactive Television at Showtime Networks. “Now we'll have a readily available talent pool whose resources we can tap. Together, we can get applications off of the drawing board and actually in front of our customers.”

CableLabs has plans to continue publicity of OpenCable application development by participating in conferences throughout 2008 such as JavaOne (May 6–9 in San Francisco) and CableNET® (May 17–18 in New Orleans).

About CableLabs: Cable Television Laboratories (www.cablelabs.com) was founded in 1988 by members of the cable television industry. A non-profit research and development consortium, CableLabs delivers innovations that enable cable operators to be the providers of choice in their markets. Cable operators from around the world are members. CableLabs maintains additional web sites at www.cablenet.org.

CableLabs® is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Other CableLabs marks are listed at http://www.cablelabs.com/certqual/trademarks. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.