Always amazed, but never shocked. That's the only way I can describe this. In the most unlikely place (a blog devoted primarily to "alternative media sources for news related to terrorism, intelligence, military, politics, science, and more"), we'd find spy pictures of what looks like the retail box for Sling Media's upcoming SlingCatcher.

The photos on the box represent the first real look at the SlingCatcher since its announcement at CES in January, and I'll tell you, it looks a little different than the prototype box they showed off nearly a year ago. It's certainly been given a treatment in the space-age department... very high-tech looking.

There's also good angle view picture of the SlingCatcher remote. From the looks of it, it's got a deep triangular shape near the remote's base that tapers in toward the front. Present appear to be the standard array of buttons, including your typical crosshair navigation controls, playback controls, 10-key pad. It also shows a variety of buttons around the navigation controls as well as 4 colored buttons toward the middle. You can learn more about these functions here.

The back of the box gives some clues as to what Catcher will do out at launch, indicating that users will be able to let viewers connect and watch video from a Slingbox, the Internet, and a computer. What can be viewed from online isn't totally clear, given the box only calls out the upcoming Sling.com portal and "other popular locations" as a content source (I'd bet YouTube and Flickr are both safe assumptions).

The spy shot of the side of the box givens even meatier details about the box's final specs. It's a very blurry shot, so here's a translated version done to the best of my ability:

SlingCatcher System Requirements:

• A TV that supports any of 480i (NTSC), 576i (PAL/SECAM), 480p*, 576p*, 720p*, or 1080i* (Note: SlingCatcher supports streaming from any Slingbox regardless of input video format)
• A broadband Internet Connection (DSL/Cable modem)
• Home network router - wired or wireless*

SlingSync System Requirements and Specifications:

• SlingSync enables you to transfer video and audio files from your PC to SlingCatcher for playback on your TV
• SlingCathcher requires optional USB 2.0 hard disk drive or USB 2.0 flash memory stick accessory with at least 1GB free space to support SlingSync.

• Supported Media Formats:
  • Video: WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, Xvid
  • Audio - MP2, MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, PCM
  • File formats: .avi, .*s, .ps, .asf, .mpg, .mov, .vob, .***, . mp4, .mp3, .mp4a, .***

With more info being discovered on the FCC Site and now box shots out in the wild all in the same week, maybe we're getting close to availablility? Stay tuned...

Matt Whitlock
SlingCommunity.com

See the spy pics at thetomoreport.blogspot.com | Post a Comment

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