Slingbox

The Slingbox is a TV streaming device made by Sling Media that encodes video into the VC-1 format for transmission over the Internet and provides an infrared blaster. The video encoding and IR blaster can both be operated remotely over the Internet. These features allow users to remotely view and control their home's cable, satellite, or personal video recorder (PVR) system from an Internet-enabled computer with a broadband Internet connection.

Operation

A Slingbox can redirect one of its inputs to a single computer or mobile device located on a local network or remotely, when using a broadband Internet connection, anywhere in the world. To avoid copyright infringement, only one user can access the stream from a Slingbox at a time. This way of accessing content is known as placeshifting.

A Slingbox connects a TV source (via coaxial cable, composite cables, component cables, or S-video cable) to an existing Internet connection. Digital video recorders and cable or satellite set top boxes can be controlled through a separate infrared (IR) cable that lets users change channels from the remote location. Software on a user's computer or mobile device connects to the Slingbox and provides the user interface for viewing the video stream and changing channels. Onscreen virtual remote controls are provided for controlling almost all connected devices. Note that all control inputs are done in the SlingPlayer window via computer mouse. There is no provision for use of hardware IR remote control units while watching SlingPlayer even if the PC has an IR receiver.

SlingPlayer software

The Slingbox utilizes Sling Media's proprietary SlingPlayer to display audio and video on Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh running Mac OS X, and selected mobile devices. SlingPlayer is not available for Linux, BSD or other open source systems. While old versions of SlingPlayer ran under old versions of Wine, there is presently no way to run SlingPlayer in Linux using current releases of either. The latest stable SlingPlayer version for Windows is version 2.0.4. This version includes a live video buffer to pause, fast-forward, and rewind up to 60 minutes of live video, an integrated channel/program guide (USA only), and a web-based account to assist in finding and connecting to the Slingbox via the internet.

Sling Media announced a Mac OS X port of the SlingPlayer at the January 2006 Macworld Conference and Expo with a promised release date of Q2 2006. The release was later delayed to Q3 2006, and then again to Q4 2006, leading to allegations that Sling Media was promoting vaporware. In September 2006, Sling Media began selling new Slingbox hardware in packages that had the official Mac OS X logo on the outside, indicating support for the Macintosh platform even though the Mac OS X port of the player software was still not available. Sling Media released the first public beta of their player for Mac OS X on October 31, 2006. A completed version was released in early 2007. Version 1.0 works on both PowerPC and Intel Macs as long as it runs at least Mac OS X v10.3.9. The latest stable SlingPlayer version for Mac OS X is version 1.0.10.

During the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show the company announced a future feature known as Clip+Sling that allows users to share clips of their favorite TV shows with each other through a hosted Web service. The announcement was made during Les Moonves' keynote speech.

Applian Technologies released a PC-based recording program for Slingbox in 2006 called At-Large Recorder 1.0. Following that event, Sling Media added an encrypted protocol to the communication between SlingPlayer and Slingbox, rendering At-Large Recorder 1.0 useless with newer firmware. In October 2007, Applian Technologies released At-Large Recorder 2, which is once again able to capture and record Slingbox streams on a Windows PC. At-Large Recorder 2 includes a circular recording feature for use in continuously capturing feeds from security cameras or media monitoring.

mReplay provides no-cost rich internet applications that allow Slingbox users to watch, control, record, edit and share the content of their Slingbox all in Internet Explorer or Firefox without traditional software installation called mReplay Live. There is also a mobile version available for Windows Mobile phones for free called mReplay Mobi.

Sling.com

On December 2, 2008, Sling Media announced the public launch of Sling.com, an online video entertainment destination. Users can go to Sling.com to watch a huge selection of clips, TV shows, films, news and sports in high quality, for free, anytime they want. This includes video programming from over 90 content providers spanning 150 content brands. In addition to the on-demand offerings, Slingbox owners could connect to their Slingbox through the website, making their Slingboxes available without a software client download.

On January 6, 2009, Sling Media unveiled a prototype of their HD solution for Mac OS X. SlingPlayer for Mac HD is a web-based version of the SlingPlayer software that will be accessible from Sling.com. Sling Media also revealed that they would not release a standalone desktop version of SlingPlayer for Mac HD. This signaled Sling Media's intent to cease development of the standalone desktop versions of their software, and to begin migrating users to Sling.com for access to their Slingbox.

Mobile

Sling Players are available for various mobile platforms from Nokia Symbian OS, BlackBerry OS, iOS, Android OS, Windows Mobile, and Palm OS based devices.

Apple iPhone/iPod Touch

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone was demonstrated at Macworld Expo 2009 in January and has been submitted to the App Store in March 2009.

The announcement of the iPhone/iPod Touch application touched off a controversy among owners of older Slingboxes as Sling Media has announced that only the Slingbox Solo, Pro and ProHD models will be supported by the iPhone client (older Slingbox models Classic, Tuner and AV are unofficially supported, although they do appear to work with the application nonetheless). Owners of these models have been offered a $50 discount, although they in turn have pointed out that this does not bring the price down to even what Amazon currently sells Slingboxes for.

Sling Media themselves have not currently offered any public explanation for the cutoff, although one possibility may be related to the DSP in newer models being programmable at runtime to deliver an H.264 stream (the iPhone's preferred format) while older boxes may only be able to deliver a WMV-encoded stream. Other communications from Sling refer to the need to upgrade to be ready for "new features" not yet disclosed.

On May 12, 2009, the SlingPlayer App became available at the Apple App Store, but only for US, Canadian and UK accounts. It sells for $29.99 and will only use wi-fi to stream content. Sling's promotional email confirmed that the SlingPlayer for iPhone works with wi-fi connections only "At Apple's request" - a decision believed to have been made at the behest of incumbent iPhone network operators such as AT&T and O2.

On February 4, 2010, the SlingPlayer App gained the ability to stream content on AT&T's 3G Network. This change was done 100% by AT&T as the SlingPlayer App already features quality scaling of content based on connection type.

Apple iPad

On November 24, 2010, Sling Media announced the release and immediate availability of the SlingPlayer Mobile app for the iPad. The price is $29.99 for the app. The iPad-specific app will take full advantage of the iPad's large screen by offering a higher resolution stream than on other devices with smaller screens.

Nokia Symbian S60

SlingPlayers also work on Nokia Symbian OS S60 platform based mobile devices, such as Nokia N73, Nokia E65, Nokia N95 and Nokia 6120 classic.

Minimum technical requirements:

• Symbian S60 phone (Symbian OS 9.1 S60 3rd edition or above), with 3G (HSDPA or UMTS) wireless service and/or WiFi Internet connectivity
• Symbian UIQ phone (Symbian OS 9.1 UIQ 3.0) with WiFi Internet connectivity

BlackBerry

SlingPlayers will work on BlackBerry devices with the following minimum technical requirements.

• [Blackberry 9700 aka. Bold 2 aka. Onyx] - no Mobile Sling Player available (won't install) as of Dec2009
• BlackBerry Bold – minimum 4.6.0.0 and above; optimal at 4.6.0.167 and above
• BlackBerry 8820 – minimum 4.5.0.0 and above; optimal at 4.5.0.110 and above
• BlackBerry Curve 8320 – minimum 4.5.0.0 and above; optimal at 4.5.0.81 and above
• BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 – minimum 4.6.0.0; optimal at 4.6.0.174 and above
• BlackBerry Pearl 8120 – minimum 4.5.0.0; optimal at 4.5.0.110 and above

Android

Slingbox released its Android player on June 21, 2010 via the Android Market.

Windows Mobile

Sling Media released a Windows Mobile version of their player on April 26, 2006 which allows users to stream their video over Pocket PCs and smartphones.

Windows Phone 7

On November 9, 2010, Sling Media announced the availability of SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Phone 7. The app is priced at $29.99 and is available through the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Palm OS

A Palm OS client "SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS" is available. The current version as of October 2010 is 1.00.22 which was released on April 10, 2009.

Palm webOS

When the Palm Pre (the first Palm webOS device), was announced in the spring of 2009, Sling Media was a "launch partner", indicating that they would make their SlingPlayer Mobile software available for the Palm Pre at or near the launch of the handset. As of October 2010, no version of SlingPlayer Mobile for webOS has been made publicly available. This has led to complaints from users and allegations of Sling Media promoting vaporware. Using the Classic emulator in webOS, "SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS" will start, successfully connect to and control remote Slingboxes; however, the VC-1 video and audio stream will not be decoded.

SlingCatcher

In January 2007, Sling Media announced the launch of the SlingCatcher, a hardware device similar to a set top box, which would enable users to watch their television remotely, without the need for a computer. The SlingCatcher will purportedly ship with a hardware remote control to take the place of the on-screen remote and thus give a more true-to-life television experience.

The SlingCatcher was scheduled for release by the end of Q2 2007. One year later, information about the device could still be found on the Sling Media website and occasional snippets of information referencing it appear in industry magazines, but the absence of a release date led to accusations of the product being vaporware.

In early September, 2008, Sling Media announced that the SlingCatcher would be available for an October 2, 2008 release date (later revised to "Early October".) Several websites offered the SlingCatcher for pre-order.

The SlingCatcher became commercially available in October 2008, to mixed reviews. Much of the initial criticism revolved around a lack of support for streaming HD, which is now possible after software update v1.0.0.57.

The SlingCatcher appears to have been discontinued as of April 2010. It is no longer available for sale through online retailers or on the Sling web site. There was briefly an announcement on the Sling web site SlingCatcher page that remaining inventory would be sold online through BestBuy.com at $199.99, double the $99.99 price in Best Buy stores from December 2009. As of May 2010, there is no mention of the SlingCatcher or similar devices on their products page. There has been no official announcement from Sling regarding the future of this technology. The rumor is that Sling Media has decided to focus on Catcher like devices for provider channels, eg cable companies, so will no longer sell a retail device. Subsequently, prices for SlingCatchers have skyrocketed in secondary markets such as Ebay to $300–$400 for a NIB SlingCatcher SC100-100.

How is SlingCatcher different from the Slingbox?

Slingbox: • Transmits your video to your computer or mobile phone. • Lets you watch your TV anywhere you have a computer or mobile phone and a broadband connection. • Works with SlingPlayer software (installed on your computer).

SlingCatcher: • Transmits video and images from your Slingbox and/or computer to a TV… so you can watch stuff on a TV, instead of sitting at your computer. • Also plays video and audio from a USB hard drive, or a USB thumb drive, to a TV.

Broadcasting

The SlingBox has found an unexpected niche in television broadcasting. Broadcast engineers at several TV stations have installed them at remote "towercam" locations to observe traffic and weather conditions. KPIX-TV in San Francisco has several connected with wireless networking, using EV-DO via a cellular network (mobile phone) provider. This costs only a few hundred dollars for each site, versus well over ten thousand for a setup with a remote pickup unit and auxiliary broadcast licenses. However, the system is not yet reliable or broadband enough to handle live remote broadcasts. Cable TV providers are also using it to provide proof of performance for companies that run TV ads on their systems.

Slingbox Versions

• Slingbox PRO HD [1]
• Slingbox SOLO [2]
• Slingbox 700U
• Slingbox PRO: [3] - Discontinued
• Slingbox AV [4] - Discontinued
• Slingbox TUNER [5] - Discontinued
• Slingbox CLASSIC [6] - Discontinued

See also

• LocationFree Player, a competing product line from Sony
• HDHomeRun, a competing product line from Silicondust
• Vulkano, a competing product line from Monsoon Multimedia
• Dreambox, a competing product line from Dream Multimedia
• DBox2, a competing product
• Hosted Slingbox with US & UK TV to your PC or mobile (Iphone, Windows, Symbian, Palm, Android
• NationPhone Remote, Slingbox remote as alternative Catcher
• TV2Me, an original placeshifting device, invented by Ken Schaffer

External links

• The Slingbox website
• The Slingbox corporate website
• The Slingbox sharing website