Sling Community - Sling in the News

Sling Media Releases SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 Public Beta

SlingCommunity News

Sling Media today unveiled SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 Public Beta, a preview of the next generation SlingPlayer software for desktop PCs. It's been almost two years since Sling Media released SlingPlayer for PC 1.4 - their last 'significant' upgrade to the software that Slingers rely on to watch their home television on a computer screen anywhere in the world. The latest version of SlingPlayer software for PC brings a whole new level of functionality to Slingbox owners. The new software allows you to watch and control your living room TV on your PC with more flexibility, fun, and even greater control than ever before. SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 marks the introduction of two new major features: A 60 Minute Live Buffer that adds DVR-like abilities to pause and rewind live television, as well as an integrated program guide that makes browsing current listings a breeze compared to virtually controlling a set-top box or DVR. Noticeably absent in SlingPlayer 2.0 is Clip+Sling , Sling's YouTube-like feature for cutting out clips of whatever you're watching and uploading it to a portal site to share with others. Sling Media showed a working demo of Clip+Sling back at CES in January, and expected to...

Echostar/Dish Network DTVPal Reviews Hitting Web

SlingCommunity News — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:56:22 GMT

It's been a long wait since the "TR-40" Digital to analog converter first appeared at Sling Media's booth at CES. But, the light at the end of the tunnel is that after a physical design overhaul and a complete identity change , our new "DTVPal" (as in friend, not Europe's PAL TV system) should be available in about a week. As always, those who've gotten their mittens on them early are already posting reviews and pictures around the web. For a thorough look at DTV Pal and tons of pics hit up the full scoop from the boys over at SatelliteGuys.US . On the video front, our long time friend (and former go-to guy at Sling) Dave Zatz has hands-on videos galore of the DTVPal. Check out the unboxing now... ... then head over to ZatzNotFunny for parts 1 through 4 of this full look at DTVPal. [Thanks to Malouff for the tip!]

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone Takes One Step Closer to Reality

SlingCommunity News — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:44:53 GMT

With a mobile screen so large and pretty, it was only a matter of time. Over the weekend our good friends at Sling Media showed off SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone and iPod Touch in the form of a pre-alpha proof-of-concept software demonstration. According to our friends at Engadget , Sling hasn't yet been accepted into Apple's developer program , making what's been seen so far as an under-the-radar app for jailbroken devices. Don't get your hopes up though... it won't get released until Sling can do so legitimately. Could we see SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone and iPod Touch before the end of 2008?

New Echostar DVR With Baked In Sling Goodness, Dish UHF-to-IR Adapter Shown

SlingCommunity News — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:03:35 GMT

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' unveiled, 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. Word of whether it can also stream out (like a Slingbox) wasn't specifically mentioned. Hit up Engadget for their take, and view the original report from the SatelliteGuys.US. Though not getting as much notice around the web, ZatzNotFunny specifically called out a certain piece of gear that's sure to get some love from Slingbox owners suffering from TV2 withdrawl. With the new UHF-to-IR adapter, users can connect the TV2 tuner on Dish receivers right up to their Slingbox. Very cool! Hit up ZNF for a photo of the card about the device.

EchoStar Brings SlingModem to Market for Cable Industry

SlingCommunity News — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:25:45 GMT

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... formerly part of DISH Network) announced that its entering the cable industry with the CableLabs Certified® DOCSIS® 2.0 SlingModem at CableNET® in New Orleans, La. From what we can tell, nothing about the SlingModem has changed since the last time we saw it. Check out the gallery for photos of the SlingModem . The real story here is EchoStar's desire contribute to the enjoyment of television services for consumers in general, whether they get that television from cable or satellite. Sling Media had always been operator agnostic, and it's refreshing to see EchoStar carry on that tradition. According to the release, the SlingModem is the first of many products EchoStar is working on for the cable industry. It will be interesting to see what else they have in store for cable operators, and if those operators seem poised...

PPC, Smartphone, Symbian SlingPlayer Mobile Updates Released

SlingCommunity News — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:14:02 GMT

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 $30 (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...