Washington - Sony Electronics (NYSE: SNE) and six major U.S. cable TV providers have announced an agreement that will enable Sony to develop and sell televisions able to connect directly to cable TV services without the need of a set-top box. The agreement between Sony and cable providers Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Cox, Charter (NASD: CHTR), Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) and Bright House Networks -- which collectively serve 82% of U.S. cable subscribers -- will allow "two-way" digital TVs and other devices to deliver both standard cable programming and interactive services like pay-per-view and video-on-demand.

New York - Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's largest cable TV provider, will this week finally begin offering TiVo's (NASD: TIVO) digital video recorder interface to subscribers, initially in the Boston area, USA Today reports. The deployment is the first to utilize new Tru2way technology, which allows greater interoperability between consumer electronics and cable systems, and will feature TiVo's interface on Motorola-made set-top boxes. The offering will not include TiVo features like access to media on home computers, or transfer of recorded shows to laptops or mobile devices. Comcast told USA Today that it plans to roll out to additional markets later this year; its partnership with TiVo runs through 2014.

Las Vegas - Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), the nation's largest cable TV provider, announced on Monday that it has partnered with electronics maker Panasonic, part of Japan's Matsushita (NYSE: MC), to develop a portable digital video recorder (DVR) and DVD player that can record programming from both Comcast and other cable TV providers. The AnyPlay device sports an 8.5-inch display, features 60 hours of recording capacity, and is currently slated for release in early 2009.