Cable industry initiative could harm Cisco

Cisco may have high hopes of success in the consumer market via the cable television technology of its Scientific-Atlanta acquisition but the cable guys are not standing still. According to the WSJ, cable operators are creating an Open Cable Application Platform that will help solve the problem of the cable industry having to support disparate equipment, such as DVRs, remotes and set-top boxes. But Bloggingstocks points out that as consumer giants Panasonic, Samsung and LG begin building their TVs to this platform, there won’t be a need for set-top boxes like those from Cisco’s Scientific-Atlanta arm.