Sony Introduces Passage

UncleCrispy writes "Sony, a newcomer in the cable industry announced its new technology, Passage, on the opening day of the BroadBand Plus Show to the receptive ears of the cable community. "Sony's Passage Technology is a simple, elegant solution that allows equipment from multiple vendors to peacefully co-exist on legacy digital CATV networks" Now you won't be stuck with the SetTopBox your cable provider forces on you, but with Passage you should be able to go to the store and buy any box you want. If you want a DVR box, you can buy it, and you'll no longer be stuck with the rental fees. Sounds like it's a good deal for the cable providers and consumers, but how will current SetTopBox monopolies take the news?"

Comments

What is this thing?

[ArcSecond]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this doesn't sound like a Sony product for the home, but one for the cable companies, right? I'm sure Sony will have consumer products associated with this (ie PS2, some new PVR, other integrated A/V gear), but with stupid-sounding buzzwords like "Legacy CA Agnostic", it must be aimed a the pointy-haired crowd out there.

Anyone know who they are competing with? Is this a transport protocol + hardware, or the other way around?

Re:What is this thing?

[grammar nazi]

...but how will current SetTopBox monopolies take the news?

Easy. They will do what all monopolies do when competition enters their markets. They will either squash Sony's box through legislation or deals with the cable companies, or, they will lower their prices.

Competition == Good for consumers
ALWAYS.

Choice - for whom?

[Bazzargh]

This reads like it gives /cable companies/ more choice in STB's, not consumers. So it will let them change suppliers on a whim. This might provide consumer benefits (lower rental costs) but since the alternate destination for the savings is higher margins for the cable co's, I wouldnt bet on it.

Quote from the passage blurb: "With Passage, operators can introduce[...] innovative set-top boxes". I don't see how you can read this as "With Passage, operators can introduce innovative services on commodity set-top boxes", which is what the /. article imples.

-Baz

Re:Freedom to choose _multiple_ STBs?

[papasui]

Sure, around 1996 the FCC passed a bill that would require the cable companies to support 3rd party digital cable boxes besides the ones that they rent out. Just as there's a the DOCSIS standard for cable modems, there's standards for the digital box. Any fairly new cable box should work on most digital cable systems, it does require that it be provisioned (authorized) on that cable system by enter the box number into the system.

Be carefull...

[onlyabill]

Just be carefull here... Remember that Sony is the same company that uses digital rights technology in their MP3 players.

To quote from their site:

Passage is efficient. With Passage Technology the customer experiences no degradation of existing services. A typical Passage system requires between 2-10% additional bandwidth* to deliver the same content and services including the new, secondary CA system. This means that Passage can be introduced in a system without changes to the existing channel line-up.

*Utilization of bandwidth overhead is controlled by the MSO. Utilization of more bandwidth increases security levels.

Is 'security levels' another word for digital rights management? I just have a hard time believing a company that goes through so much trouble to install DRM into their audio products would not do the same in the video market. Other posts have mentioned freedom to choose your own set-top box. That is not discussed on the Sony site. The freedom of choice is for the cable companies, not you or me. This could be good and it could reduce consumer costs but don't bank on it. It may just give the cable companies even more control over what you watch and how.