Like this?
But next month, a new federal rule goes into effect that's aimed at creating a retail market for set-top boxes and fostering more competition and innovation in a business dominated by Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. and one other company.
While that may sound like admirable policy, some cable equipment analysts doubt it will work well: They say consumers will be reluctant to pay a few hundred bucks for a box when they can rent one for a few dollars a month, as they do now. Electronics manufacturers, including TV industry upstart TiVo Inc., beg to differ.
What seems more certain is that consumers' monthly cable bills are likely to rise a few dollars after the new rule takes effect. That's because the cable box born from the regulation costs more to produce, a cost likely to get passed down to TV watchers, analysts and cable operators say.
The rule change pivots on security technology, which allows consumers to watch only the channels they've paid for. That technology is integrated into the set-top box. As of July 1, it will be separated via a "cable card" that's plugged into a slot in the back of a set-top box.
The rule change doesn't require cable customers to get a new cable box. Only boxes deployed after July 1 must have separable security. And cable companies can pre-install the security card before delivering boxes to new subscribers. That's what Comcast, Chicago's dominant cable provider and Motorola's largest cable customer, plans to do.
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Competition is good. It would be nice if extra odious security restrictions weren't attached, but one can't have everything.
Personally, I'd prefer that CableCard things were on the TV and not on a separate box. I've got a couple of Picture-in-Picture TVs that don't seem to be possible to make fully functional with our SA cable box. It's unclear, though, whether [link|http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-8900_7-5581176-1.html|CableCard is now usable]...
Cheers,
Scott.