Slingbox
The Slingbox from Sling Media gives you the power
to take your home television programming along with you anywhere
in the world. The cleverly designed, if not somewhat
oddly shaped device, compresses the live video feed
from your cable box, satellite setup or DVR and
broadcasts it over the internet to any computer in
the world turning it into your home TV away from
home. The Slingbox itself automatically
compresses the video signal for optimal quality and
does not require a computer to be up and running at
your home to transmit the video. Of course for best
results (and they are impressive) broadband internet connections are
recommended for both the Slingbox and the computer
on which the video programming is being viewed.
Simple Setup
The Slingbox connects in-line with
the output of thousands of devices including DISH,
DirecTV, TiVo, Utlimate TV and cable box units and
offers a plethora of A/V connection options for
doing so. To transmit the video from the Slingbox an
ethernet connection is required via your home
network. Special software must also be installed on
the computer from which you will be viewing your
Slingbox feed. This software controls the video
streaming and also provides a desktop "remote"
application that allows you to change channels, play
DVR recordings, etc. - basically perform all of the
same functions you would execute at home with the
remote control remotely on your computer. It is
important to note that only one computer at a time
can view the output from the Slingbox and that
computer must have the proprietary Sling software
installed on it.
Slingbox Applications
As well conceived and implemented
as the Slingbox product is, there does not appear to
be a killer market application for it, but rather a
number of niches. Some applications may include the
business traveler watching their local home
programming or shows recorded on their DVR, a sports
fan watching out of market games or an individual
remotely monitoring a home security setup. Of course
it goes without saying that the most popular
application will most likely be workers viewing
television on their PCs at work. Perhaps that will
end up being the killer application the company was
looking for all along!
Slingbox players are available now
starting at around $200. | 
