[photopress:SlingboxPRO_HD.jpg,full,center] Need 1080i content every-freaking-where in the world? Get ye a $399.99 SlingBox PRO-HD. This monster can send digital TV and HD content almost anywhere, provided your pipe is fast enough to support the upload speeds — Sling suggests FiOS. Blackberry fans will be happy to note that they will now be able to watch Slinged (Slung?) content on their wee handhelds. The software will be available for $29.99 later this year. → Read More
If you’ve been pondering the purchase of a Slingbox then this may be your chance to get on the wagon. Woot has some refurbs for only $75 shipped. It’s a refurb and that may deter a few of you, but Woot is covering you for 90 days in case it kicks the bucket. Why not try it out? Woot → Read More
If you’re a Slingbox owner who happens to be of the opinion that there just aren’t enough ads on television already, you are weird. You also might be seeing even more ads if Sling Media puts into play the technology described in a recent patent. The patent basically entails using various methods of delivering ads including video overlays, pre- and post-roll ads, pop-up windows, and even serving ads to you via “a phone call, a fax, or the postal service.” The ads would be targeted to you based on what you’re watching at the time, so you’d get ads for golfing websites while you’re watching a golf tournament, for instance. → Read More
The Times’ David Pogue, who always comes across as an incredible nerd, is old. How old? Why, he’s so old, small things like the Slingbox Solo knock his socks off. What, it can transmit video from my home TV to my laptop halfway around the world? That’s insanity! It can, and it’s not. Pogue’s overview of the just-released Solo had to have been written with luddites in mind. Once you parse through all the hand-holding—high def signal use component cables, my Linksys router is giving me trouble—you’re left with very little. If there’s a quick way to sum up his many, many words, it’s this: the Solo works splendidly for less money than previous models, though our very own Blake had some problems. Once Upon a Time, There Was a Slingbox [New York Times] → Read More
A new UK startup launches on Monday called BlinkBox. Users take pre-created clips from movies and television shows (the clips can be shortened by the user) and add a personalized message at the beginning. The clips can then be shared via a link, embed or mobile device. Here’s an example of (a very funny) one that was created for me. There’s a pretty deep catalog of movies and TV shows to view. The company’s business model is to pitch buying or renting the movie or tv show after viewing the clip. They’ve built their own (heavily DRM’d) platform for delivering this content to buyers, although it only works on Windows machines at this time. The concept is similar to Slingbox’s Clip+Sling, which allows Slingbox users to create short content clips and share it with friends. The site is not working 100% for me – embeds don’t work and most of the clips can’t be selected when creating a blink. This may be pre-launch jitters, or licensing issues restricting me because I’m U.S. based (it’s launching only in the UK for now). We have more on this at TechCrunch UK. → Read More
Sling Media will formally announce tomorrow morning its new Slingbox place-shifting media device — an announcement that will come fresh on the heels of the proposed EchoStar buyout of Sling Media. Dubbed the SOLO, the new unit will fit between the starter AV unit and the high-end Pro model. The ambition of this new device is to deliver higher quality features for a more reasonable price. I’ve had the opportunity to check out a pre-production unit for the past few days and I’m ready to report my first impressions. → Read More
I love me a SlingBox. And so will millions of Dish Network subscribers if this works out like I hope it will. The satellite TV provider is buying the privately-held place-shifting wonders to the tune of a cool $380 million. Of course, EchoStar is no stranger to partnering with smaller companies that make great products. About a year and a half ago they teamed up with Archos for some mobile Dish products. Nobody really noticed, but it was a good partnership. Sling Media is one of those amazing smaller companies that managed to gain a footheld in the marketplace by making a useful and innovative product, and making it well. Sony may have come out with place-shifting media products first, but Sling’s were simpler, cheaper, and could be used on screens that weren’t proprietary LCDs (a move Sony has since been forced to follow.) Of course, the one thing Sling was missing was money and marketing muscle. Now they’ll have it. So unless things get really watered-down and corporate over in Sling headquarters, I’m hoping this will give more people an opportunity to watch their shows on the road. via NY Times → Read More
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