Cox, NDS Unveil Trio IPG

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 5/17/2010

LOS ANGELES — NDS, developer of advanced program guides and conditional access security systems for cable and satellite-TV services, said Tuesday it has developed with cable multi-system operator Cox Communications the first Tru2way-enabled advanced user interface and interactive program guide.

At the same time, the company said it has extended its contract to continue professional services with Cox as the MSO launched its Plus Package with Cox Advanced TV, featuring the Trio interactive program guide developed with NDS.

NDS, meanwhile, said that while Cox owns intellectual property rights to the Trio guide, NDS can offer it other manufacturers.

Features in the guide include threepane navigation; integrated search across TV, video-on-demand and DVR recordings; and multi-room DVR. It was designed for 16:9 widescreen displays.

The guide runs on Tru2way on Cisco Systems’ Explorer 8642 HD DVR, which includes a 500GB hard drive. Multi-room DVR support is provided via the Multimedia over Coax Alliance specifi cation, to up to two Explorer 1642 HD set-tops.

Cox plans to have the system deployed system-wide by year’s end and will roll out in two undisclosed markets shortly.

The NDS professional services team has handled end-to-end management and implementation of Cox’s Tru2way system and managed third-party developers to ensure consistency in the development process, the companies said.