Slingbox iPhone app available tomorrow for $30

iPhone users have been waiting on an official SlingPlayer app for quite some time, but here we are on the eve of its release and there's a lot of disappointed placeshifters out there. The most glaring problem with the app is the fact that it won't work on anything but WiFi. That means you can't use any of AT&T's bandwidth to stream your content. So, unless you're at a hotspot of some kind, you can forget about watching your shows. That being said, the $30 price tag seems kind of ridiculous. It would make more sense if part of that price was going to pay for the load on the cellular network, but that's now a non-issue.

If you're not dissuaded by that info, then you'll probably be more than satisfied with the way the app itself works. The interface is smooth and attractive, but the glitz doesn't really make up for the lack of substance. Hopefully, the rumored Hulu app will have a more elegant solution that actually, you know, lets you watch TV over the web on your phone.

More info at the Sling site

Slinging in HD - Slingbox PRO-HD

The next generation of Sling Media's Slingbox just hit the stores and online retailers. The Slingbox PRO-HD will stream HD content, from almost any source: over the air, cable, satellite, or DVR. It slings the signal to a computer in your house. And, it gets better.

If you've got a high-speed broadband connection of 1.5 Megabits or more, it can stream your Slingbox to anywhere you've got another high-speed network.

Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media said, “Slingbox PRO-HD marks a giant leap forward in hardware and software development from Sling Media including the powerful encoding enhancements that are a part of SlingStream 2.0. Because of this, Slingbox PRO-HD delivers picture quality at all resolutions that is truly amazing.”

SlingPlayer has been improved too.

Slinging iPhones

When is a feature release not a feature release? Sling Media just showcased their new feature for iPhones, not at the WWDC in San Francisco, but at the Starbucks across the street. Why would streaming TV to iPhones be kept so lowkey?

Dishing Out Slingbox DVR

Dish Network keeps dishing out the hits. They just revealed their latest DVR at a retailer conference, complete with a full array of Slingbox features. The 722s (the "s" identifies this unit as the Slingbox version of the previously released 722) is an HD DVR complete with a new user interface and a Yahoo-esque browser. The 722s adds Clip + Sling and Slingcatcher to make placeshifting your content easier than ever. Here's a quick wrap-up of these new features.

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.

What Means Innovation?

Each year at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Consumer Electronics Association highlights top new products in select categories and honors them with Innovations awards. The tech press got a peak at winners last week at a pre-CES event in New York. Just how innovative are they? Here's what we think.

The Kensington LiquidFM Deluxe for iPod ($99)

Award: Audio Accessory

Rationale:  The Quick Seek feature finds the clearest station in seconds, and ClearFM technology provides superior sound.

Truly Innovative? What we really want is a product that automatically finds the clearest frequency and keeps it clear all the way up I-95, but getting RDS artist and track info on the head unit display is a nice touch.

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin ($599)

Award: Audio Components

Rationale: The Zeppelin is a one-piece amplified speaker system and docking station that transforms an iPod into a capable yet highly compact stereo music system.

Truly Innovative? Everybody and his brother is coming out with a music system for the iPod, but you gotta believe that B&W does it better than most. At more than 2 feet wide, though, it overwhelms the little iPod. If only the wingspan were narrower….