2007 News Archive

Harvard University business professor Clayton Christensen coined the phrase “disruptive innovation” to describe a new product so advanced and appealing that it displaces all technology that preceded it. The SlingBox is a low-cost video streaming device that allows users to beam what they're watching at home to a computer or smart phone anywhere in the world.

Wow! What Slingbox somehow does is enable you to take your TV room at home with you anywhere in the world. Another nice thing in this age of being fee'd to death is that the Slingbox is a product, not a service. So once you buy it and set it up, there is no service fee

Wayne Carmona is line producer for HBO's popular Entourage, a series that's as much about the Los Angeles celebrity demimonde as it is about celebrity itself. Now he's got 16 Slingboxes piping video from the day's shoot to various members of the production team, and their work is a bit easier as a result.

Best video placeshifting device: Sling Media Slingbox Solo. Can't spend any time away from your favorite TV shows? Slingbox is the answer to your prayers. Bottom line: it's the traveling couch potato's best friend.

Many executives have come to rely on the Slingbox to let them catch their local news, sports and programs while traveling on business. The Slingbox, which attaches to the television at home, captures a local TV signal, digitizes it and sends it via the Internet to your hotel room. “I’ve got to be in Rome for a month in January,” Mr. Brancatelli said. “The presidential race will be decided then. Yeah, they have CNN but not the same CNN we have here. I’ll be able to fire up the Slingbox and see all of the primaries.”

Slingbox’s latest model allows you to watch and control your favorite TV or TiVo, including HD content, from anywhere in the world on your notebook or cell phone. You’ll need a high-speed connection (WiFi or 3G), but there are no monthly charges, just the cost for the device (about $180).

No TV fanatic who travels should be without Slingbox Pro. Use a laptop or phone to watch your local TV programming anywhere with an Internet connection. This HD-ready model streams up to four independent sources, such as a cable/satellite box, DVR or DVD player, so you'll never miss favorite shows.

Slingbox Edges Ahead: If overall buzz and an unexpected acquisition can be used to declare an early leader, if not an out-and-out winner, for the TV gadget business in 2007, then the $380 million acquisition of Sling Media by the satellite TV concern EchoStar (DISH) fits the bill. Sling makes the curious Slingbox, a device that lets users watch their home cable TV channels and videos stored on a DVR from a laptop or mobile device on the road.

The latest technology will ensure that the television lovers in your life will never have to miss their favorite shows again. The Slingbox Solo ($179.99) lets them watch and control their television, DVR, digital cable, satellite receiver and DVD player from their laptop or cell phone, no matter where they are.

Sling Media Slingbox SOLO: This trapezoid-shaped video-streaming gizmo lets you watch and control your television — from your cable or satellite box, or your DVR — on any broadband-connected Windows- or Mac-based computer anywhere in the world. For an extra $29, Slingbox users can buy software that streams the video to Windows Mobile-, Palm- or Symbian-based smart phones.

The Slingbox Solo is a slimmed down and less expensive version of the Sling Media Slingbox. Like other Sling models, it allows you to take your recorded shows from a digital video recorder (including high-definition video) and play them back on a laptop or a smart-phone while you're traveling.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is a blur of high-tech goodies, from ultra-thin cell phones to WiFi-enabled picture frames. The CES Innovation Awards, now in their 11th year, aim to help you cut to the chase. Dell, Sanyo, Kensington, and Sling Media all took home awards for sleekly designed products from slim laptops to smart set-top boxes.

The Slingbox is kinda perfect. I showed it to a bunch of friends, and the next day they all went out and bought one. Another amazing thing about the Slingbox: It's not a subscription service. You buy it, you own it. There are no additional charges beyond the cost of the device

It isn't always easy to get a broadband connection from your home office to your living room. The folks at Sling Media, which makes the Slingbox that sends your recorded TV shows over the Internet to your portable devices, realize this. So they created the SlingLink Turbo 4 Port network hub.

It comes in handy when you want to watch TV upstairs, but your fancy high-definition TiVo is downstairs. It’s also great when you’re in a hotel room, bristling at paying $13 for a movie when your video recorder back home is a veritable Blockbuster. And Slingboxes are also a blessing when you are overseas and longing for the news, or the sports broadcasts, of your hometown. the Solo does well what the Slingbox has always done well, but now for less money, in less space and with more flexibility.

The new version, Slingbox Solo, handles HD digital output. The software for the unit, Sling Player, mimics whichever set-top box you have, so the on-screen remote controls your TV as if you were sitting in the same room, rather that a world away.

Megawhat.tv takes an exclusive look at the D-Link DSM-330 HD Media Player and Sling Media's Slingbox PRO.

Mr. Scott said he became a supporter of the Chelsea Football Club while he was working in London in 1994. He bought the Slingbox in 2006 to track the club as his international business travel increased. Now, he said, he also follows tennis and international motor sports like Formula One while on the road. “Sports is one of the few live television events that one must see when it’s happening,” he said, “or it loses its drama.”

The Slingbox Solo is a first-class entertainment product. The best thing we can say about the Solo is that Sling Media was smart enough not to mess with a good thing. Setup is still incredibly simple. Once we were up and running on our MacBook, we were impressed by the picture quality and frame rate that the Solo provided using the SlingPlayer software.

As you can see in my video below the client works great on the Nokia N93 via WiFi. Video plays back very smoothly and the audio levels are clear and consistent. This is great timing for Sling Media with the 3G-enabled Nokia N95-3 now available at the Nokia Flagship stores.

You can take your mobile phone and be anywhere in the world (with an internet connection) and still watch your TV shows! Sitting in the airport waiting for your flight, you're covered. Also, sports maniacs are now covered, as well. You can now watch your local sports games from anywhere in the world. Business trip to China? No problem.

The news came only hours after EchoStar agreed to buy Sling Media, whose set-top box technology allows consumers to shift their TV signal to mobile and broadband devices anywhere in the world, for $380 million in cash.

The acquisition gives the privately held Sling entree to EchoStar’s 13.6 million DISH satellite TV network customers as well as access to technology EchoStar has created specifically for its digital video recorders. “This combination paves the way for the development of a host of new innovative products and services for our subscribers, new digital media consumers and strategic partners,” Charles W. Ergen, EchoStar’s chief executive, said in a statement.

EchoStar's planned purchase of Sling Media is likely to step up a battle between the satellite TV provider and a raft of rivals. It may also bring EchoStar a few new ones. Although considered something of a curiosity at the outset, the so-called place-shifting concept behind Slingbox is taking off.

“Two key things made the deal interesting to us,” Krikorian said. “One is the ability to continue with our business and our business model…and not be beholden to one particular operator.” The other? The entrepreneurial nature of the EchoStar and its founder and CEO Charlie Ergen.

Sling Media rolled out Slingbox Solo, a set-top box that lets you watch a home-bound HD source from anywhere in the world on a PC, Mac, Palm OS or Symbian mobile device. Solo is a worthy addition to the Slingbox line, and unlike the Slingbox Pro, requires no optional adapter to get it working with HD sources

the Slingbox Solo remains an excellent way to stream your home TV programming to an increasingly wide variety of broadband-connected computers and smart phones. The Solo is a nice choice for those who need HD compatibility and/or pass-through outputs

EchoStar doesn't plan to hoard Sling's technologies after the acquisition, which the companies say should close by the end of the year. "We hope to work with Dish Network," says Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. "But we have the ability and OK to license our technology to other companies and partner with them, as well. We'll be a stand-alone company."

"This is an excellent outcome for the Sling Media guys who really executed well," said Ward Williams, vice president of marketing for iChip India, an IPTV start-up. "They did a good job of taking what is essentially a great feature and communicating to consumers why they needed the service. For the rest of us, deals like this are encouraging."

Krikorian: "Our pockets will be a lot deeper so I don't have to be out there raising money every 12 months. We're going to continue to run like heck. We're only on step two of 10 that we want to achieve."

Of course you can’t blame Krikorian, who’s about 40, for being so, well, psyched. He just signed a deal that values his three-year-old company, which makes devices that let consumers watch TV over the Internet, for a cool $380 million.

“With EchoStar, we’d gotten to know them, to know Charlie. Charlie is one of the real pioneers. He’s a guy who helped build an entire industry, he’s a founder, he’s an entrepreneur. Clearly, there’s a lot I can learn from him. He understands us ... He knows what it’s like to be this passionate about what you do. I’m very confident that the position we’re being put in here, the opportunity being provided us is one that will only accelerate what we’re building.”

Diederik Karsten, CEO of UPC Netherlands, said: "The Slingbox brings a new digital TV experience to our customers. They can view and record their favourite programs remotely by using a broadband internet connection. We believe the Slingbox will certainly enhance UPC's leadership position in the Digital TV market."

Cable giant UPC and Sling Media are to trial the “place shifting” Slingbox device in the Netherlands. The deal was announced at IBC, and will allow UPC customers to use a Slingbox to remotely control their set-top boxes, and view the box’s output anywhere on the planet where they have access to a broadband connection.

6. Sling Media Slingbox AV: Want to watch TiVo'd shows at a coffee shop, the ball game on a plane, or C-Span at a sports bar?

Californian 'place-shifting' TV firm Sling Media has partnered with Liberty Global-owned UPC Broadband to supply its technology to the latter's digital TV customers in the Netherlands.

These are 12 of the best mobile applications available. Wther you're a music freak, a news addict, or an IM gunslinger, you'll find something here to suit your fancy. If you have a Slingbox, SlingPlayer Mobile lets you tap into it to watch TV from your cell phone. It even works with TiVo.

Windows Mobile and Palm devices won't be having all the placeshifting fun for much longer. Though carrier Hutchison 3 has had its own version for some time through its X-Series line, a generic, widely available SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian has eluded the populace for ages; thankfully, it looks like that's all about to change with Sling announcing a private beta for its upcoming S60-based player.

SlingMedia is in the process of introducing SlingPlayer for S60 3rd edition devices here in the States. Imagine... portable TV in my pocket!

We are respectful of copyright, and I would argue that the reason those sites exist is because the media companies that own that content have been incredibly slow in getting their content out there. We want to cut deals with cable and satellite TV providers so that our technology is integrated into their set-top boxes or modems or routers or whatever they're deploying into the home.

Blake Krikorian, the CEO of Sling Media, said the conference was both a time for intense learning as well as educating media executives about his company's technology, which allows people to view their home cable boxes from remote locations over high-speed Internet connections. As soon as TV executives realize that viewers still see the commercials and the viewership counts for Nielsen ratings, they usually warm up, Krikorian said. "They can see what you're made of and not a terror trying to destroy their business," Krikorian said.

And speaking of deep, really deep, Blake Krikorian of Sling Media, one of the conference hotties because his company’s technology allows consumers to time- and platform-shift content, said the morning’s private equity presenters were also terrific, but complicated fun.

If Dan Slentz has his way, soon there will be several live weather-traffic cams situated throughout Zanesville, Ohio. Slentz, chief engineer for WHIZ/AM/FM/TV, hasn’t suddenly come into a small fortune which he’s kindly donating to his operation. Instead, he’s in the process of testing a Slingbox from Sling Media Inc., which is essentially a consumer product designed to reroute all the content from a home TV cable or DBS source to a dedicated laptop or desktop computer anywhere in the world via a typical broadband connection.

Sling Media's Blake Krikorian returns to Sun Valley with a technology to help media companies craft new business models. Big media had been wary of his Sling Box device that lets viewers watch television on Web-connected laptops and smartphones.

But to really turbo-charge your multimedia content, check out the SlingPlayer Mobile client for Windows Mobile, Palm OS or Pocket PC ($30). If you're a Slingbox owner, the SlingPlayer Mobile client can stream content from your Slingbox to your phone.

The next time you’re on a business trip stuck in a hotel room without HBO, you’ll wish you had a Slingbox so you won’t miss Entourage again. The Slingbox AV is a bargain for what it can do, period. It has changed the way I consume media.

SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS is now out of beta and version 1.0 has been officially released. Combined with the Slingbox, this solution enables users to view their own live television and entertainment media on the go via the Treo 755p or 700p smartphone.

One of the worst things about work is having to pry yourself away from your TV. The Slingbox Pro turns your PC into your TV. These devices will help you escape the grind and free your mind with technological efficiency.

Dispatching content from a home television to hotels and other far-flung locations where a subscriber chooses to send them is good for the "average revenue per unit" of a cable-system operator, the vice president for Europe of Sling Media said Thursday. "People upgrade their broadband when they have Sling,'' Stuart Collingwood said

While the Slingbox was originally designed to allow consumers to “place-shift” their television viewing, by using an Internet-connected laptop or PC to remotely watch what's on their home TV set while on the road or at work, professional video users have found the Slingbox to be a very effective way to cheaply transmit video, particularly where video quality is not a big concern. Cable operators are using Slingboxes to monitor commercial insertion, content owners are using it to monitor video-on-demand delivery, and studios are using it to transmit dailies to remote executives, says Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. “These vertical markets or b-to-b applications are popping up like wildfire,” he says. “It's pretty exciting to see.”

I saw a product on the internet called Slingbox, it was a big hit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. This product claimed to help with the separation anxiety I would experience being away from my TV. It was time for a Troubleshooter Fame or Shame! I give the Slingbox Pro a definite FAME! It is a must have for any television junkie.

Do those Sling Media folks ever sleep? We just had version two of the Palm beta and today SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile 6 launches this morning for the U.S. and U.K. with Japan coming soon. It doesn't matter if you have WinMo 6 Standard or Professional, once you download the new client, you're all set to watch content from your television, DVD, DVR and more right on your handheld.

4 Mice Review. Slick hardware and software lets you watch your TV over the Internet. I know that, thanks to my Slingbox, I’ll never miss another game, and that makes it worth every penny.

The company today announced its SlingLink Powerline Ethernet Adapters, aimed at providing high-speed Ethernet connectivity via power lines within the home. I like the 4-port option, as the tech-savvy home is increasingly coming with Ethernet ports, and an adapter like this can put all of those devices onto a single powerline adapter instead of relying on another technology for connecting to the home router.

I thought the Slingbox was an amazing product then and at the time didn't see how they could improve on it. They have. Slingbox Pro ($300) looks better and works better than the original, and you now have the ability to view HD content on your computer.

What impresses me about the experience of using both of these products vs. the typical mobile TV experience is that they make me feel at home, as if I am simply accessing media I already arranged to have in my living room or on my PC. I don't have to choose all over again from another menu of selected brands that happened to partner with the carriers or a mobile aggregator. These solutions let me, as the consumer, mobilize my media experience.

While Major League Baseball continues its long, drawn-out War on Fans, the NHL, the little league that could -- disappear without too many people noticing, that is -- has done something smart. I'm talking about the NHL's agreement with Sling Media, a company that baseball is fighting. Good for the NHL. The Slingbox is a hot gadget, and clearly it's no Tamagotchi. It doesn't take a soothsayer to see that "place shifting" isn't some fad. It makes sense as an attractive way to use your television.

He can connect up through a Slingbox (a device from California-based Sling Media Inc. that transmits video) so it picks up his satellite and cable reception in the office and then connects to the network. So from anywhere in the world, he can watch something off his satellite receiver. And that's insatiable in the basketball world. The more you give these guys, the more they want.

Slingbox may actually be helping Major League Baseball by letting fans watch online.

The National Hockey League has entered a unique with Sling Media that will allow consumers who have purchased a Slingbox--the company's innovative device that allows users to stream live or recorded programming on various broadband devices--to record and share NHL programming with other Web users. Just days ago, Major League Baseball lawyers told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is mulling a legal against Sling Media because of potential copyright infringement issues. Yet the NHL does not seem to share such concerns.

Sling Media, a developer of "place-shifting" technology that lets consumers access their home TV channels while away on any Internet-connected device, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with the National Hockey League (NHL) to allow Slingbox users to clip and share live or recorded clips of NHL programming. The announcement comes a week after Major League Baseball said it believes the company's service allows consumers to illegally stream out-of-market games over the Internet.

Under its deal with Sling, the NHL will be able to cash in on fans' enthusiasm for sharing highlights from the games they watch, rather than trying to stop them from uploading those clips. Why would the NHL want to encourage viewers to do this? For starters, they're doing it anyway. What Sling is creating is a way for the NHL (and other copyright owners) to move the action to a new video site where the league can control the advertising inventory associated with the hockey clips.

But that’s not the point: it’s that they are working with Sling to see what the future holds, not working against them to see how lovely the fresh air was back in the 1970s. MLB can’t act like the music industry when it comes to Internet distribution, they must make deals with tech companies, experiment, and look to increased revenue through innovation, not lawsuits

The National Hockey League has partnered with Sling Media to let Sling users share live and recorded portions of NHL programming. Under the agreement, users will be able to share the content online.

There's been a lot of discussion here, and everywhere else about the NHL poor ratings and what can be done. One solution is potentially online video. The NHL has net a deal with Sling Media which definitely has a bright future.

Bob Bowman, MLBAM's president and chief executive, suggested a softer approach. "The way to win this is with good content and good technology, not with lawyers." Major League Baseball is conscious of its reputation for antagonizing its fans -- the most recent example was a dispute over its Extra Innings television package.

"This company (Sling Media) can help enhance baseball and help build its base of fans," said Robert Tuchman, president of TSE Sports & Entertainment.

"I think (MLB is) deploying that rhetoric to chill innovation in this segment. I don't think it's working, but I think it would be a big blow to the entertainment industry if they went to court and lost," said Fred von Lohmann, attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Major League Baseball seems to have its head stuck up where the sun don't shine. Because I have Sling Box at home, I end up watching MORE baseball, not less. I can watch the Red Sox games here at my desk at work, on the road in a hotel or where ever I happen to be. NESN, home to Red Sox baseball, should be thrilled that I am watching more of its programming live - meaning I am not skipping ads.

Someone should get MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to pay closer attention. Instead of spending his time fretting about the day Barry Bonds hits his 756th homer, Selig should dread the blowback that will result from any move against Slingbox. I can't predict which teams will play in the World Series, but you don't need to be Nostradamus to forecast the outraged fan reaction that would follow a lawsuit.

You pay for 24-7 access to hundreds of TV channels, but you only have access to them for the 2-3 hours a day most Americans spend watching TV. With the Slingbox you can watch and control your TV any time of the day or night from anywhere in the world using your laptop or internet enabled phone.

Sling Media is working on a Windows Mobile 6 compatible SlingPlayer Mobile player and invites users with the right device to participate into the Beta. If you have a supported Windows Mobile smartphone (like an upgraded T-Mobile Dash or a brand new T-Mobile Wing), Sling Media is currently looking for people to participate in a private Beta of the new Windows Mobile 6 compatible version of the SlingPlayer Mobile.

SlingMedia has heard your cries fellow TV fiends. They have now begun offering beta versions of Windows Mobile Professional and Standard compatible software.

Sling fans ahoy! Instead of releasing new virtual remotes (the onscreen remotes you use to control your set-top boxes) with big software updates, now Sling's going to release more frequent updates with just the remotes.

With the T-Mobile Wing and the Windows Mobile 6 version of the Dash both in wide circulation, growing pains were pretty much inevitable; Sling's well aware of the issue and has an updated player on schedule for release in the next few weeks

While some broadcasters are actually utilizing the Slingbox and appreciating its benefits, leave it to Major League Baseball to further alienate its dwindling fanbase. Reportedly, the CEA has indeed come to Sling's side by proclaiming that this case is a "classic instance of copyright owners trying to suppress innovation purely because it empowers consumers."

For being "America's favorite pastime," the MLB is apparently populated by a bunch of whiners. Since Sling refused to pay extortion/licensing fees to the MLB, the league's currently contemplating that favorite of legal actions: a lawsuit. Them's fightin' words. Which is surprising, coming from a pack of whining, weeping, crying crybabies.

Sling Media has taken steps to mollify its critics in Big Media, introducing encryption. A Slingbox VP reminded Ars last year that the device's EULA made it clear that the device was for personal use only. So far, none of the Slingbox's critics has been upset enough about the technology to challenge its use in court, despite over a year of saber-rattling.

32 MEDIA-STREAMING DEVICE: Slingbox Pro 99 MOBILE VIDEO PLAYER: Slingbox SlingPlayer Mobile

On a recent visit to the doctor's office, Jack Stifle's young children, Isabelle, 3, and John Robert, 5, were getting a little rowdy in the waiting room. He whipped out his cell phone, dialed up his home television and had the Disney Channel beamed in to distract them. Stifle was able to do this through the Slingbox, a set-top device that connects the home cable or satellite TV hookup to the Internet.

I decided to call Sling Media's tech support...just to see if they had any shortcuts for me. Boy, did they ever! All told, it took less then 15 minutes from when I called, to when I hung up, feeling shocked that such support was still out there.

Blake Krikorian says if some of Sling's new advertising deals work out the company could "ease up pressure on pricing." Right now, the Sling Box sells for $179 and Krikorian says if you cut that price to $99 sales "shoot through the roof."

But viewing quality depends on Internet connection strength, and so later this year Sling Media will add a virtual button to its PC and cell phone software that will boost home broadband service speed.

Home Entertainment Device of the Year - Readers' Choice: Slingbox PRO

Commodore Zatz, now a full-time employee of Sling Media, posted an insider’s video on how Apple TV and Sling player work together. I say the video could’ve used some Digital Underground, but at least it’s thorough.

One of the newest additions to the SlingPlayer software is the ability to control the AppleTV, giving you the ability to place shift your entire iTunes collection. Dave Zatz has put together a video on how to have literally your entire music collection in your pocket.

The CBS O&O in San Francisco has found a very innovative way to use Slingbox to transmit live video to air from both fixed cameras and live shots.

While some news channels are busy busting out HD feeds of the six 'o clock rundown, San Francisco's CBS 5 is cutting costs in a huge way. By placing some 20 low-end cameras in various locales throughout the city, the station is utilizing Slingbox Pros and wireless EV-DO cards to beam live footage back to the station.

The Slingbox is known best for its ability to let consumers watch their home TV channels remotely using a laptop or smart phone. But a local San Francisco news station has found a way to utilize the trapezoid-shaped set-top box to cheaply and easily deliver live news, traffic and weather updates wirelessly back to its studio.

Sling Media has released the Mac version of its SlingPlayer viewing application. It's only nine months or so behind schedule, but better late than never we say. More to the point, the UK version is available from day one.

It’s been almost two years since Sling Media, the makers of the Slingbox place-shifting video device, announced that they intended to make a Mac version. I caught my first glimpse of the SlingPlayer software running on a Mac in early 2006 at Macworld Expo. But although Sling Media said they were targeting spring 2006 for arrival of their Mac player, the release of Intel Macs slowed the pace.

The day has finally come, Apple users -- your Mac SlingPlayer client is officially at v1.0 (and out of beta), and supports all of Apple's Human Interface Guidelines. Did we mention the Apple TV support? Yep, does that too. Get it while the gettin's good -- it's free, but as you well know, the box'll cost ya.

Sling's Slingplayer Mac beta moves to version 1.0.2.190, which gives it the Apple TV support I was waiting for. Yay! Aside from wanting to click on the Apple TV's UI instead of the Slingbox's virtual remote, it works fine over the LAN (video after the jump). The simplified Apple remote is easy to navigate over Slingplayer.

Sling Media said Monday that it had released the first version of its SlingPlayer application for the Mac OS platform. The release ends the company's year long trek from concept to release, as it first confirmed its existence in an interview with BetaNews in April of last year. In addition to the standard Sling features, the SlingPlayer for Mac also supports Apple entertainment products including Apple TV, Front Row, and iPods in either a iPod Hi-Fi or universal dock, the company said.

Sling Media today announced the availability of SlingPlayer for Mac, a software client for Slingbox customers who want to view their home TV or Apple TV on their Apple Macintosh desktop or notebook computer.

SlingMedia is adding commerce engine software from GetConnected (GCi) into its Slingbox system, enabling Slingbox users to upgrade their connection speed from their cable, DSL or satellite service provider.

Sling Media has announced the release of SlingPlayer for Mac, software that enables Mac users to watch their TV on the Mac. SlingPlayer works in cooperation with the Slingbox, a “placeshifting” device that lets you watch your TV on your computer over a local network or the Internet. SlingPlayer is a free download.

Sling Media's TV-streaming software device delivers good performance and integration with other Apple hardware.

On Monday, Sling Media released SlingPlayer for Mac 1.0, a Mac OS X version of its media player software for the Slingbox device.

Five months on, Sling has moved the Mac version of its viewing software from beta to version 1.0--and this time, the Apple faithful will find it more to their liking. This one's got a native "Aqua" interface, so it looks more at home on the OS X desktop.

Sling Media today announced the availability of SlingPlayer for Mac, their software client that allows SlingBox and Apple TV users to stream their set top box directly to their computer from anywhere in the world. Version 1.0 includes photo-realistic remotes with the ability to program your favourite channels. In addition, its wide range of viewing modes allow you to truly experience the Macs look and feel.

I've been testing the SlingPlayer Mac OS X software for a few months now, and today Sling Media announced the official release of SlingPlayer for Mac version 1.0. SlingPlayer for Mac is available to download for the U.S. and Canada.

Fans of both Apple and the SlingBox who've been wanting to watch home TV (also content from an Apple TV, Front Row, an iPod in an Apple Universal Dock, or an iPod in an iPod Hi-Fi, for that matter), on their Mac laptops or desktops: Sling Media is with you. The company announced today that Version 1.0 of SlingPlayer for Mac is now available as a free download. The player includes "photo-realistic remote controls as well as the ability to program favorite channels with a full range of viewing modes all leveraging the iconic Mac® OS look and feel." It supports all Slingbox hardware, as well as both PowerPC and Intel platforms running OS X 10.3.9 and later.

Sling Media today launched the finished 1.0 version of SlingPlayer for Mac, a new version which adds controls unique to any version of the software. Designed to play content on a computer streamed from a Slingbox attached to a TV, the finished Mac version includes not only support for controlling cable boxes, DVRs, and other general media receivers but also Apple-specific devices. For the first time, SlingPlayer can control the Apple TV and play its content from any broadband Internet connection, accessing virtually the entire home iTunes library while away.

I’ve been using the beta version of SlingPlayer Mac for couple months already. Aside from little annoyances, it worked pretty well. Now the final 1.0 gold has been released and Sling Media added support for controlling Apple TV.

With so many streaming media devices flooding the market, we take a close look at the Slingbox, now playing on our Treo 700p.

Watch Celebrity Love Island on a lovely island!

CBS (CBS) made a big move today to embrace new Web distribution platforms for its shows. It signed deals with AOL, Microsoft, CNET Networks, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh to distribute ad-supported shows like CSI, The Late Show with David Letterman, Survivor, and the CBS Evening News. Notably snubbed in the press release was Google (and its little video site, YouTube).

CBS Corp. said on Thursday it has created a broad Internet distribution vehicle for its popular programs through deals with 10 partners, including Time Warner Inc.’s AOL, Microsoft Corp.’s MSN and Comcast Corp.

CBS yesterday revealed agreements to distribute its programmes through a dozen internet partners in an effort to broaden its reach beyond television.

Sling Media chief executive Blake Krikorian believes broadcasters should recognise place-shifting as a timely chance to build revenue and hang on to their audiences – not as an imminent threat.

CBS Corp. forged agreements with AOL, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and eight other companies to distribute its programs throughout the Internet as part of a broader plan to draw more advertising.

CBS has solidified its online distribution strategy announcing today the creation of the CBS Interactive Audience Network.

CBS unveiled a video-distribution network Thursday that will allow users to share clips and full-length content for free. The broadcaster announced partnerships with a variety of online properties and video-sharing sites, including Brightcove, Joost, Veoh, Sling Media, AOL, Microsoft and CNET Networks (publisher of News.com).

Network makes deals with AOL, Microsoft, Comcast, and Joost, among others.

It's yet another sign of how quickly things move in the online space: CBS has already one-upped the joint venture News Corp. and NBC formed just two weeks ago.

US TV network CBS is to launch a video sharing internet channel after agreeing deals with 10 online distributors.

It's not YouTube, the online video giant run by Google. Nor is it NewTube, the joint venture between NBC and News Corp. designed to create a YouTube rival. So what to call the new effort from CBS, which said Thursday it had partnered with a large roster of Internet portals and video sites to distribute its programming?

When we first reviewed Sling Media's Slingbox the technology seemed groundbreaking. It's a ‘place-shift' enabling set-top box that lets you access anything playing in your living room over a broadband.

The cell phone, introduced 24 years ago, has already evolved into a camera and music player. But the cell phone of tomorrow will be a map, a credit card, a TV remote and a taxi stand.

Online TV offers the ultimate in a la carte programming-entertainment slices instead of cable and satellite bundles. But watching it on the living room set means bridging the gap between the Internet, with its do-everything PCs that demand close attention, and television, which does one thing well while we relax.

You've been waiting for it, and your patience is finally being rewarded. Slingmedia is releasing the Slingplayer Mobile for PalmOS public beta. For those of you unfamiliar with the marvel of Slingbox, we'll take a look at the basics and Palm specifics.

Sling Media is now allowing Treo 700p users who want to try out the beta of the Palm OS version of SlingPlayer Mobile to download it.

The people who make Slingbox, the clever television re-broadcasting devices that let you watch video on your computers and smart phones, have announced the release of public beta of their Sling Player Mobile software for the Palm Treo 700p. It’s available a free download on the Sling Media Website.

The Slingbox enables you to watch your home TV programming anywhere so long as you have access to a broadband Internet connection. It takes your home TV source, digitizes it, streams it onto your home network, and--if you'd like--onto the outside Internet as well.

If you are looking for a mobile TV solution, and have an EvDO Treo connection, then the Slingbox/ SlingPlayer for Palm OS combo should be at the top of the list. True, you have to provide the entertainment source (cable or dish), and the broadband connection. However, the types of people looking for this kind of entertainment already tend to have those services in-place. The advantages over MobiTV are enormous: you have access to your shows; and if you have a DVR, your library of stored content. If you have the itch, the network and the means, the SlingPlayer for Palm is one heluva lot of entertainment fun, in the Palm of your hand.

Sling Media has finally released a beta version of their SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS. This means that all your Treo 700p users can finally hook up to your Slingbox on your Treo. The current beta only works on the Treo 700p but other devices will be supported in the future.

Hey you, rabid Palm OS fan, 700p owner, and Sling advocate -- remember that SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS Beta you signed up for last month? Well, it's time to lose a little more sleep over it, but this time you'll be enjoying the niceties of streaming media on your handset instead of sweating the release date.

And that's all folks! Now you've seen everything (OK, except all the channel logos) and you should be downloading this to your Treo right now.

SlingPlayer Mobile links a handheld or smartphone to a Slingbox device, which is attached to a user's television. As a result, users can 'placeshift' cable, satellite, or digital video recorder (DVR) content to wherever they are in the world through a wireless broadband Internet connection. In the case of a DVR, for example, users can not only watch recorded shows, but pause and rewind live TV or queue new recordings from their device as well.

After playing with the private beta for a few weeks I’m excited to give the first screenshot tour of the anxiously awaited SlingPlayer client that is now available for download as a public beta.

The PalmOS version of the SlingPlayer Mobile software is now available as a public beta at Sling Media's Web site. The initial version of the Palm software is designed to run only on the Palm Treo 700p. The new software adds Palm to the list of supported platforms to which Slingbox products can stream home TV programming.

When I got my Sprint 700p about a year ago and checked out SprintTV, I was disappointed and said so in my initial review not so much with the quality, but with the selection of channels. MobiTV and the similar smarTVideo (never tried the former, but reviewed the latter) were an improvement, but still, a disappointingly tiny channel line-up.

This is a vintage year for futuristic gadgets - but do you know your Wii from your iPhone? Luke Peters has the lowdown on a high-tech revolution.

SF Gate explores how people are balancing March Madness and work.

Just over a year ago I brought a SlingBox into Canada, prior to its Canadian launch, in order to be able to watch the Turino Winter Olympics on the CBC while I was working on an assignment in California with no CBC stations - even on cable. The Canadian networks provide over 16 hours a day coverage -- mostly live -- as opposed to NBC's spartan three hour nightly snapshot of events whose results are already well known. In fact I reported on it here and here. SlingBox had its Canadian launch a couple of months later in April, 2006.

Makers of the Sling Box are expanding the product line and eyeing the channel beyond retail

The growth of TV carried over Internet pipes means that more viewers will be watching in public on personal devices. Fortune's Stephanie Mehta tunes into the future.

Second-generation versions of the much-buzzed about Slingbox “place-shifting” device from Sling Media, Inc. have reached the Canadian market, available through Best Buy, Future Shop, and London Drugs starting today. The Slingbox is a rectangular-shaped device that can be connected to a video source, like a set-top box or DVD player, at home, then lets you to access content from this source remotely on your PC (or compatible handheld device), anywhere in the world. All that’s required is the included software, and a high-speed Internet connection on both ends.

Sling Media, a growing company that needed help fast, finds the Netli CDN to be the right fit.

Sling Media need to be able to distribute its player application more efficiently to customers across the globe. Director of technical marketing Olav Phillips explains how they did it in this edition of Voices from IT Roadmap.

Sling Media wants to make it easy to post live TV to the Web. Will it fly? Only if the company gets networks on its side, says Fortune's Stephanie Mehta.

Being away from home doesn't mean you have to miss your favourite TV programmes anymore.

Our viewing habits have been transformed in recent years - and many more changes are in the pipeline.

Want to be a part of television history? If you’ve got a computer, it’s easy. The digital world is taking television out of the living room and spreading it just about anyplace an Internet signal can reach. And more than ever before, it’s relatively easy to watch TV or movies anywhere without a background in advanced computing.

Why wait for mobile broadcast TV? If you've got a Window Mobile handheld, SlingPlayer Mobile does a great job of delivering viewable content right now.

Sling is happy to placate media's jittery giants

A lot has happened in the past two months, including CES and the Macworld Expo. In this podcast, we cover these two events, review the Slingbox AV and Microsft Zune, and discuss Apple’s new iPhone. This, plus some of our mini-segments, make up this milestone. (MP3 Podcast)

The most action I saw anywhere at the Sands—including the cell phone accessory booth with bikini-clad models in a hot tub—was at Sling Media and its partner area. Scant hours before the show was closing when other action was dying down, the demo space for Sling was full, the various hardware solutions were getting attention and people were milling about the booth. Sling took up a lot of expensive real estate and looked very slick in the process...

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has shown that the digital living room is now a reality but the battle to become the dominant player is still to be won.

The Slingbox sent your TV signal anywhere in the world, now the company launched the SlingCatcher that acts as a “reverse Slingbox” to deliver video to TVs located around the home as well as in remote locations. You'll want it because anything that can be viewed on the PC can thus be viewed on a TV.

Tech firms offer new ways to connect to music, TV and more.

Streaming Web and PC video to your television proved to be one of the most common themes at this year's show, including solutions offered by heavyweights Microsoft and Sony. The irony is that one of the coolest demonstrations was from Sling Media, a company known for delivering the opposite -- streaming television to your computer.

This is the first video I have seen where someone has had a one to one overview of the Apple iPhone. The more I see the phone the more it makes me wonder how much of it is smoking mirrors and how much is real.. What are your thoughts?

The good news about the coolest gizmo to grace the Consumer Electronics Show this year is that you probably already own it: the television set.

I don't think I can recall ever being so enthusiastic and totally blown away by any product I've ever reviewed as I am over Slingbox. What is a Slingbox you ask? It's a little black and red box that connects to your TV and broadcasts a signal over the Internet. Hook a Slingbox up to your TV video receiver box whether cable, satellite, or DVR. In conjunction with your router, it will broadcast your TV signal, digital and analog, over the Internet so you can pick it up anywhere in the world. If your router is not located conveniently near your TV box, you can use a Slinglink to connect the Slingbox to your router through the electrical wiring in your house

Pointing at the success of YouTube partnership, network CEO says tech firms may be more friends than foes.

New technology and novel ways to distribute television shows and video clips will help U.S. broadcaster CBS Corp. better connect with communities of viewers, its top executive, Les Moonves, said on Tuesday.

CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves unveiled a partnership with technology company Sling Media during his Consumer Electronics Show keynote address Tuesday that allows users to share their favorite entertainment content in an instant.

In a glitzy presentation yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, CBS Corp. tried to send a strong message to the technology industry: We get it.

CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said yesterday his company would embrace products and technologies that allow viewers to "time shift" and "place shift" his network's shows and interact with them in new ways.

CBS President and Chief Executive Les Moonves was all about touting the benefits of multi-platform convergence during his keynote address on Tuesday. And while he and assorted other personalities, including YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, did a fine job of driving the point home, Moonves was eventually upstaged by Sling Media and its Chairman and CEO Blake Krikorian.

A wave of new technologies that link home computers to televisions could threaten traditional media distribution methods as consumer interest in online video entertainment continues to grow.

The giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has always been about bragging rights: Who has the slickest computers, most-miniature camera and most awe-inspiring gizmos and gadgets.

At the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, CBS topper Leslie Moonves telegraphed that his network is trying to get closer to tech-savvy consumers, incorporating their ideas into TV shows, creating CBS-branded virtual worlds, and delivering video content in more convenient ways. Trotting out Internet entrepreneurs including YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and Blake Krikorian, co-founder of Sling Media, as well as show creators like Anthony Zuiker of the "CSI" franchise, Moonves explained that CBS is "using technology to connect with our audience, learn from them, and form deeper, more interactive communities around our content." He labeled CBS "an audience company," not just a content company.

The maker of Slingbox, a device that lets people watch their home television on laptops away from home, now plans to reverse that flow and bring Web video to television sets.

CBS, which has pushed to reach new consumers on the Internet, will be joined in a Tuesday presentation by representatives from Web-savvy companies Sling Media and Linden Lab, producer of Second Life, the network said.

Hot startup Sling Media pitched a new product and grabbed an Emmy for an existing one at the Consumer Electronics Show Monday (Jan. 8).

Sling Media, maker of the TV place-shifting Slingbox, announced a new service that allows its users to record short clips of live or recorded content and upload them easily to a web portal.

Here's the first bit of news from CES and it's cool enough to deserve a story all its own: SlingPlayer is officially coming to the PalmOS this quarter. This means that, among other things, Windows Mobile Treo users soon won't have "I can watch my own television wherever I want" bragging rights over their Palm OS bretheren.

CBS, which has pushed to reach new consumers on the Internet, will be joined by representatives from Web-savvy companies Sling Media and Second Life in a Tuesday presentation, CBS said.

Companies rolling out plans to let TVs talk to digital devices.

San Mateo's Sling Media, which unveiled a box last year that streams what's playing on television onto the computer, is also expected to respond to Apple's iTV with its SlingCatcher. The SlingCatcher, which will be priced at less than $200 and reach the market this summer, lets users beam content from a computer onto a television wirelessly, from photos to video clips on YouTube to movies downloaded from Apple's iTunes online store.

The SlingPlayer Mobile software, which lets smart phone users watch live and recorded television from their home cable box, satellite receiver or digital video recorder, is already available for devices that run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile operating system.

Owners of third-generation Treo smart phones running Palm Inc.'s operating system will soon be able to watch television using a set-top box and software from Sling Media Inc.

Owners of third-generation Treo smart phones running Palm Inc.'s operating system will soon be able to watch television using a set-top box and software from Sling Media Inc.

This little box connects to any television in the house and is capable of receiving video from a Slingbox. That means you can stream content from, say, your fully decked out living-room TiVo system to your simple little bedroom TV. Using its built-in SlingPlayer for TV application, the SlingCatcher lets you watch your content around the house, or even remotely. I have been waiting for a device that could do this effectively for a long, long time. In fact, once I have this baby installed, I'll never have to get out of bed.

Slingmedia announces today at the CES a new device called SlingCatcher. The SlingCatcher brings Slingbox TV programing onto the TV - YES, I want that!

FOCUS ON CONVENIENCE EVIDENT AT ANNUAL VEGAS ELECTRONICS SHOWCASE

Electronics firms focus on linking all your devices

The maker of Slingbox, a device that lets people watch their home television on laptops away from home, now plans to reverse that flow and bring Web video to television sets.

Although Sling Media's first CES announcements aren't until Sunday night, thanks to GigaOm we have a few details of Sling's latest product: the SlingCatcher. This is another device designed to bring more media to your TV; not only will it allow you to view content from your Slingbox like you can with your PC, but it also will allow you to view whatever is on your PCs screen, on your boob tube.

The new SlingCatcher still seems somewhat subversive, at least to some companies’ plans. Users can use the device, which hooks to a TV and comes with software called SlingProjector, to sit with their laptops and wirelessly send anything from the Internet to a TV screen — including video streamed from services like YouTube.