True2way,, the cable industry’s newest interactive platform is all the rage, at least early on at the Cable Show, taking place in New Orleans this week. In a “nutshell” tru2way is an open platform for interactive application development that the cable industry is banking on for some competitive advantage. The hope is that third party application developers will grab hold of tru2way and begin developing a myriad of interactive applications exclusive to the nation’s cable operators. I heard it described on CNBC this morning as bringing the Facebook experience of application development to the cable TV experience. Interesting way of looking at it, but a little bit of a stretch. In some regards, tru2way is the cable industry’s response to the promise of IPTV application development, which has been slow to get out of the gate, but also promises a myriad of interactive applications for consumers.

The true manifestation of tru2way will happen at Best Buy, Amazon.com, and Radio Shack, where consumers will be able to buy electronics equipment that can interface directly to the cable network. For example, Panasonic has already announced 42-inch and 50-inch tru2way TVs will ship this Fall. Tru2way TVs will not need a set-top-box (STB), but will have access to all of the interactive and digital features that current customers need a STB for today. That’s the first step in the tru2way lifecycle – STB-less televisions. The cable industry hopes it’s but one small step in a series of huge competitive leaps that tru2way will bring to their entertainment and triple play experience.

Comcast Media Center and Motorola are teaming up to offer smaller cable systems a consolidated digital platform which allows for the deployment of advanced services including HDTV, DVR, VOD, and tru2way applications. The new platform will allow smaller cable operators with as little as a “330 MHz system [to] expand its service offering to customers by converting some of its analog channels to digital, utilizing programming on the HITS platform, and then using that reclaimed bandwidth to offer hundreds of additional linear HDTV and SD channels and a library of VOD programming with over 2,000 titles also available through the HITS platform.” It’s somewhat analogous to what Avail Media and IP Prime provide small telcos for IPTV.

This development could have implications on the competitive landscape. Smaller and rural cable companies have had a more difficult time upgrading their older plant to provide competitive triple play offerings than their larger MSO brethren. Small telcos have seized on that, and are launching IPTV powered triple play platforms to win over customers wanting a more robust video experience. In theory, this new Comcast/Motorola platform will allow smaller cable companies, who normally couldn’t afford to upgrade their plant, to now get in the two way digital, triple play game. If it gains traction, and quickly, the competitive landscape in smaller markets across the U.S. may begin to look very different.