Quite a few users have posted questions and sent emails in to us asking "what's the difference between them there Slingboxes???" Well, lemme 'splain.

The North American (US/Canada) Slingbox

• Has an analog cable/antenna tuner
• Supports NTSC video format
• Includes IR codes and remote control graphics for the most popular set-top boxes in the US (including TiVo, Replay, Scientific Atlanta, Motorola, DirecTV, and more)
• Works with 110v power supply

• Has an analog/digital tuner with DVB-T (also known as Freeview) support
• Supports PAL/SECAM video formats
• Includes IR codes and remote control graphics for the most popular set-top boxes in Europe (NTL, Homechoice, Sky, Telewest, and more)
• Works with 220v power supply

At the time of this writing (May 30, 2006), there are also the following specific differences:

• The European Slingbox is only available for purchase in the UK, through PCWorld and soon Currys and Currys.digital
• The SlingPlayer PC software has TWO different versions, 1.0.5 for North America, 1.1 for Europe - we are working to have only a single version for both regions at any given time, and this should happen in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, please make sure you download the correct version for your region.
• The SlingPlayer Mobile software is only officially supported in the US. While you are welcome to try the 30-day free trial, you will not get a "proper" experience when using it with a European Slingbox (the most pronounced differences are the 16:9 support and incomplete IR codes)

One other point I'd like to mention: IR codes are NOT cross-compatible between the two Slingboxes. A BIN file created for the North American version will not work in the European version, and vice versa. Furthermore, this will not change in the future - that's not to say we won't eventually offer IR codes for each region to cross-over, but the files themselves are not compatible.

I hope this helps clarify the differences for everyone!