EchoStar/Sling Media showed off the Sling Monitor 150 at CES earlier in the year, although no word as to when Dish subscribers would be able to get their mitts on one. We still don't know for sure,  but EchoStar only requested confidentiality on the juicy stuff submitted to the FCC through yesterday. Our guess is that EchoStar will be getting them in Dish's hands sooner than later. Of course, it's still up to Dish to actually deploy them, so it still could be a while.

We peeked through the user manual posted on the FCC site, and nothing we don't already know about the product itself stood out, shy of a few hardcore technical details. One interesting thing, however, was this passage:

"Step 1: Install your ViP 922 Duo DVR satellite receiver or your set top box with Slingbox attached. This step must be performed by a Dish Network authorized installer.

Since the 3G capable SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone was approved into the App Store on Monday, there's been a good bit of confusion regarding the version number of the new software. Users have reported that the version number as stated in the player itself is version 1.3, while iTunes has dubbed this release as version 1.2.

Lacking clarification in the press release, the media has widely reported the new version as 1.2 based on what it says in iTunes, which is also a reasonable assumption considering the previous version was 1.1.

To help alleviate consfusion, we've asked Sling for clarification on the verison number inconsistency.

According to the response we've received, and as most here have speculated, 1.2 and 1.3 are actually the same thing. Here's an excerpt from the e-mail response.

"So the situation with the version number is that in the app it says 1.3, but in iTunes it says 1.2.

At long last, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone is now 3G capable, thanks to the new version '1.2' (or 1.3, depending on where you look)that hit the app store this morning. Some indicated there were a few hiccups early on with the download serving up the old version, but all seems to be going fine now. 

New customers can get it now for $29.99, existing SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone customers can download the update free. 

Reports about the new build are pouring in from users. Now that you've gotten a little hands on time, how's the new build looking? How does AT&T's network feel? Post your thoughts below?

Full Press Release Below

Sling Media technology makes it easy for Bell TV customers to manage their DVR recordings using Internet-connected PC or smartphone

Foster City, Calif., USA - Feb. 12, 2010 - Sling Media, Inc. a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), announced today that Bell TV will license SlingGuide^TM to deliver advanced TV search, remote scheduling and recording services to its customers. Bell TV is the first licensee in Canada of Sling Media's search technology designed specifically for a television service provider. The customized version of SlingGuide for Bell TV's new service will be named Remote PVR. It will be available in French and English to customers on Feb. 12.

"SlingGuide, like other products in our portfolio developed for television service providers, is designed with smooth and rapid integration in mind," said John Paul, executive vice president of Products at Sling Media. "We're pleased that Bell TV customers will have full view and control of everything there is to schedule or record on their DVR from a PC, Mac or compatible smartphone. Remote PVR makes it easy for anyone to find and manage programming they never knew existed.

Back in May, AT&T went through some serious hissy-fits when it came to SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone, going as far as changing their Terms of Service... twice... to block it from their 3G network entirely. Ultimately their efforts worked, which forced Apple to deny any SlingPlayer app with 3G capabilities from the app store. 

According to today's press release, Sling Media had designed SlingPlayer Mobile to conserve wireless spectrum as much as possible, a claim AT&T started testing in December.

Why not back in May? Good question.

Regardless, AT&T has finally flip-flopped for the benefit of the iPhone carrying Slinger, telling both Sling Media and Apple that SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone will now be welcome to use their 3G airwaves.

According to alternate sources, Sling Media has already submitted a 3G version of the iPhone SlingPlayer to Apple for approval. It should be available whenever Apple gets around to adding their smiley-face sticker.

Sharon Rylander at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show

Sharon Rylander, Beta Manager for Sling Media, announced in a farewell letter to the community that she's leaving her position at Sling Media in pursuit of new opportunities.

Through the past several years, passionate Slingbox users have looked to Sharon for information on the latest programs and opportunities to test-drive the latest Sling gear before it hits the public. In many ways, Sharon has been just as important to the community as the community has been to her.

Between the "Channel Beta" Blog she ran here on the site for a while, and helping her coordinate some beta efforts here on the SlingCommunity (before they had a dedicated site of their own to manage their beta efforts), I've been fortunate enough to get to know Sharon pretty well. To say the least, she's the real-deal; kind, professional, and honest. I've always been impressed by her unwavering drive to give Slingbox customers the best experience possible, her desire to really listen to the customer's wishes and feedback, and her willingness to go the extra mile for the Slingbox user.

Quitely shown (but not talked about) at CES in January, Sling Media's just let loose a 2nd generation SlingPlayer Mobile App for Windows Phones. The new player sports a similar UI as the SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone/iPod Touch [review], includes integration with Sling Accounts for easy access to your Slingboxes, and several other enhancements for intended for the latest crop of widescreen, touchscreen Windows Phones running Windows Mobile 6 or greater. Thanks to the nature of Windows Mobile, SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Phones is unrestricted, meaning it will connect to Slingboxes over both WiFi and 3G connections. 

The new SlingPlayer Mobile officially supportst the Slingbox SOLO, PRO, or PRO-HD, though older Slingboxes may be compatible with certain configurations.

Based on what we've seen, SlingPlayer Mobile 2 may not be the ideal upgrade for certain phones, which is why SlingPlayer Mobile 1.6 will continue to be offered in case your phone doesn't play well with it, or you miss certain features - like the portrait viewing mode. There are a few 'current' phones that behave better with the old version. These include the HTC Touch Diamond for both Sprint and Verizon, the Sony Ericsson X1, and the Samsung Omnia 2.

The new supported phones and other details are listed after the break.

It wasn't mentioned during their press briefing this morning, but Sling Media's got the next generation SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Phones on display at CES. The new build is strikingly similar to the iPhone client, offering vastly superior visuals and the same finger-friendly interface.

According to staffers, the next generation SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Phones is intended for touchscreen based Windows Phones, smartphones (non-touchscreen devices) will continue to be supported by the existing client.

I didn't get much hands-on time, but from what I can tell this build is looking good. The UI was snappy and the video quality was excellent. No release date was given, but based on what I saw, I wouldn't be surprised to see this one hit sooner than later.

Think new hardware and support for Android was Sling's big news? It's certainly exciting stuff, but in this editor's opinion Sling's most exciting announcement was dropped at the end of their press briefing earlier this morning. 

In collaboration with Adobe, Sling Media will be upgrading the current supported line of Slingbox products to support Adobe's Flash technologies, namely RMTP and encryptions. As a result, SlingPlayer can be built to run on any device running Flash Player 10, which would greatly enhance both the breadth of devices that can used with Slingbox and the speed at which these can come to market. 

Flash-based SlingPlayer running on the Nokia 5800

During the demo Sling Media's demoed a Flash based SlingPlayer running on a wide range of hardware, including a Linux desktop (in browser), a Sony Playstation 3, and the Nokia 5800 (pictured above). Sling also showed that SlingPlayer can run on popular Broadcom and Intel solutions for Internet connected televisions, meaning that SlingPlayer support can be baked right into the TV.

Sling Media's been in overdrive here at the 2010 CES, launching announcements left and right since yesterday morning. Along with the four new OEM hardware offerings announced prior to today's press briefing, Sling Media's John Paul told press today that a SlingPlayer Mobile software client for Google's Android platform is currently being developed, and hinted that it could be the first to utilize Adobe's Flash technology.

Sling has not shown any demo build of the software, nor given any indication when it may be available. However, just knowing that work is well underway is certainly better than the previous "we're investigating it" line we've heard for the past year. 

More to come from CES 2010...