Latest Sling Media and Slingbox News from the SlingCommunity

Based on a report from the SatelliteGuys, who were present during the Team Summit in Nashville, it Sling Media parent Echostar has some new products planned for 2008 that (as expected since the acquisition) builds Sling technologies into a Dish Network product. Though nothing has been ‘officially’ unvield, the report talks of a new new version of the Dish Network ViP722 (dubbed the 722s), that bakes SlingCatcher and Clip+Sling functionality right in. ……
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Latest Sling Media and Slingbox News from the SlingCommunity
We’ve heard quite a bit about Sling Media’s SlingModem prior to the company’s aquisition by EchoStar, and still saw it on display at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January. Since then, however, news on the Slingbox/cable modem hybrid has been non-existent…. at least until now. In a press release from EchoStar this morning, EchoStar Technologies LLC (a subsidy of EchoStar Corporation…
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Latest Sling Media and Slingbox News from the SlingCommunity
Sling Media today released three updated versions of SlingPlayer Mobile , notching each respective version up a tick. SlingPlayer Mobile for PocketPC (1.6), Windows Smartphone (1.6), and Symbian S60 (1.01) are each available for download now at SlingMedia.com. A full list of improvements and changes is currently unavailable, but we do know that this update touches on several areas. Known changes include: Added support for additional handsets (Nokia N95 8GB, Samsung i760, Treo 500v are some examples) Improved video streaming quality on select handsets (Sprint HTC Mogul is an example) Added support for additional set-top boxes Additional channel favorite logos A few under the hood tweaks Better video streaming on the HTC Mogul stands out as an interesting improvement, which is done by offering a new rendering mode that is selectable in the SlingPlayer Mobile settings area. Current SlingPlayer Mobile customers can get these upgrades free, while new customers are offered a free 30 day trial before needing to pony up the one-time (USD) fee. Sling Media also offers a SlingPlayer Mobile client for Palm OS, and Symbian UIQ and Blackberry support is expected to be available later this year. Download/try the updated SlingPlayer Mobile software for your mobile…
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Latest Sling Media and Slingbox News from the SlingCommunity
During the 2008 Consumer Electronics show Sling Media and Echostar showed off a new government coupon eligible DTV converter box for the US digital TV transition. Much of the basics were covered in this article around that time, but now that coupons are starting to show up in mailboxes across the country, folks are looking for an update on the status of this little box. Thanks to a tip from from community member Malouff and a status update from Dave Zatz over at Sling, we’ve finally got a bit more to share about the TR-40. No doubt timing is the first thing on people’s minds, and according to Dave the TR-40 is still slated for a June delivery, and appears to be coming along nicely despite undergoing a few changes from what we saw in January. The biggest change comes to the form factor and style of the physical box itself; now shrunk down and much more appealing than the bulky gray box we saw on display. As you can tell from the pics below, it’s come a long way in the looks department. Then… Now… Also on the list of changes is the name… TR-40 isn’t exactly the most…
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Announced in April, SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian UIQ is now ready for beta testers. Symbian UIQ is distinct from Symbian S60 (aka Series60), an update for which was released recently. While Symbian S60 is used on phones from Nokia, Symbian UIQ is used by vendors such as Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

If you’re a Slingbox owner with a Symbian UIQ smartphone, you can apply for the beta here.

Sling Media today released three updated versions of SlingPlayer Mobile, notching each respective version up a tick. SlingPlayer Mobile for PocketPC (1.6), Windows Smartphone (1.6), and Symbian S60 (1.1) are each available for download now at SlingMedia.com.

A full list of improvements and changes is currently unavailable, but we do know that this update touches on several areas. Known changes include…

You can read more here:SlingPlayer Announcement“

In response to unconfirmed reports that Sling Media’s SlingCatcher would be delayed until late this year, the company told BetaNews SlingCatcher will ship when it’s good and ready.

Slingbox is a piece of hardware that saw a lot of hype last year that connects to a user’s television and the Internet, allowing TV programs to be viewed in the SlingPlayer from anywhere the user signs on.
The SlingCatcher is an add-on to the SlingBox that allows content to be streamed back to the TV, including most video codecs, from a connected hard drive. It was originally due to come to market in early 2007 but has been pushed back in availability numerous times.AOL’s Engadget posted an email exchange last night from a SlingBox user that reportedly took place with Sling Media’s VP of Sales Greg Wilkes that said, “Will the catcher ship in Q2? No. We are upgrading the user experience and making enhancements to the feature set. These may or may not all ship at the same time. Will the Catcher ship in ‘08? All indications point to this happening in 2008.”

When asked about this, SlingMedia told BetaNews that “SlingCatcher will ship when it is ready and meets the high expectations we have set for ourselves at Sling Media.”

EchoStar’s acquisition of Sling Media plays heavily into current speculation about the “enhancements” to SlingCatcher. Whether the place-shifting device will be incorporated into EchoStar’s DirecTV property has yet to be seen, but certainly would give cable companies something to fear.