Samsung Electronics has achieved certification status for an OCAP-enabled interactive digital television set in a recently concluded test held at CableLabs.
OCAP is the OpenCable applications platform specification for middleware software. It is intended to enable the developers of interactive television services and applications to design products so that they will run successfully on any cable television system in North America, independent of set-top or television receiver hardware or operating system software choices.
Samsung licensed technology from CableLabs last fall to implement the required OCAP middleware on its interactive DTVs and set-top boxes (STBs). Other companies licensed to build OCAP-enabled devices include LG Electronics, Panasonic and Digeo. Samsung is now the first consumer electronics manufacturer to build a two-way integrated digital television, CableLabs said.
Glenn Britt, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable and chairman of the CableLabs Board of Directors, said the Samsung digital television device can connect directly to the cable system, and receive current advanced and premium cable services, as well as future interactive applications. Samsung said it would commercialize interactive digital cable-ready TVs and STBs and accelerate the rollout of OCAP across the North American cable industry.
The OpenCable initiative, managed by the Advanced Platforms and Services group at CableLabs, began in 1997 with a goal of helping the cable industry deploy interactive services over cable.
