More Sling
Audio and video placeshifting technology: That's what Sling Media does, and does well. If you just got back from the ISS (motto: "Urine doesn't taste so bad!") you might not know about SlingBox. Slingbox "slings" AV signals. It connects to a standard audio/video source and streams the content to your computer using a high-speed broadband connection. Your computer runs Sling's software client. In other words, you can access any video source (such as your cable box or satellite receiver) from any broadband-wired PC - whether it's across the room or across the world - for no subscription fees. Even better, you can sling video to Internet-capable mobile devices (such as a web-enabled, Windows mobile-powered cell phone). Place-shifting — excellent!
Now, Sling Media is upping the ante.
At the Cable Show 08 in New Orleans next week, Sling will introduce its SlingModem, a cable modem that complies with the new Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 2.0 standard, and works like a standard high-speed data modem. But it also provides Sling's video-encoding technology, to stream and placeshift television content from your TV to any location with Internet access. It also has audio/video inputs.
Interestingly, you don't need a set-top box, or even a TV, to watch TV. The SlingModem has an analog tuner so it can receive channels from analog cable, then stream them over the Internet to your PC. Most users will use a set-top box as the source, and stream and view its contents elsewhere. Get off the couch. Watch TV while jogging. Watch out for fire hydrants.—Ken C. Pohlmann
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