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Early next month, the Foster City company will release the SlingCatcher, a $300 gadget that, among other things, will allow consumers to watch just about any video they can find on the Web on their living room TV. So a user could watch a home video on YouTube, an episode of "Fringe" from Hollywood studio-backed Hulu or even a video report from the Mercury News Web site.

Sure, we've seen a few updates to SlingPlayer here and there since then, but these were mainly maintenance updates, remote control upgrades, and firmware fixes. Don't get me wrong, these are always welcome. However, as an avid Slinger, I've been waiting to sink my teeth into the meaty new features of SlingPlayer 2.0 ever since I got a sneak peak at it back at CES. Suffice it to say, it's been a long, grueling wait. The wait is finally over... SlingPlayer 2.0 is here... at least in Public Beta form. Will it exceed your wildest expectations? Does it live up to the months and months of hype? Will it blend?

The beta version of the SlingPlayer 2.0 software is now available for Windows users as a free download from Sling Media's Web site. The software, which allows owners of the company's Slingbox products to access their TV programming via any broadband-connected PC, includes several notable upgrades from the previous version.

So what does SP 2.0 offer? In terms of new features, the biggies are a 60 minute video buffer and EPG. The video buffer allows you to pause or scrub through playback, without the lag associated with remotely controlling a DVR. OR a major bonus for those without a DVR. And the EPG is exactly what it sounds like - an electronic program guide of your local television lineup. SlingPlayer 2.0 also sports a modern, refreshed UI that I find visually appealing.

Today Sling Media is releasing a public beta of their Windows 2.0 software that adds several new features to the service. Among these upgrades, users can expect a built-in programing guide that enables quick channel search and channel change functionality from your PC with no IR delay. There will also be a live video buffer with DVR-like control, integrated Sling Accounts, and a fancy new look and feel. Clip+Sling is still MIA—but Sling promises that 2.0 will start an "important transition process" that will pave the way for that application and others like it. Detailed information on the new features is available after the break.

Looking to broaden its once-traditional TV brands--now digital brands--Warner Bros. Television Group has signed five digital distribution deals for WB.com and KidsWB.com. The digital sites--Dailymotion, Joost, Sling Media, TiVo and Veoh--will launch separate channels for TheWB.com and KidsWB.com. Those new advertiser-supported broadband sites were announced in April. Time Warner-owned AOL is also a digital distributor of the two Warner Bros. Internet brands.

The Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) has signed distribution agreements with a select group of preferred partners to launch a number of advertiser-supported branded channels in premium environments that will further WBTVG’s strategic expansion into the digital marketplace. WBTVG will work closely with Dailymotion, Joost, Sling Media, TiVo and Veoh Networks to launch channels that will include TheWB.com and KidsWB.com – the two new advertiser-supported broadband destinations WBTVG unveiled in late April at a press conference in New York City. The announcement was made today by Bruce Rosenblum, President, Warner Bros. Television Group.

Warner Bros.’ new broadband networks, TheWB.com and KidsWB.com, will be distributed by partners Dailymotion, Joost, Sling Media, TiVo and Veoh Networks when they launch in mid-September, Warner Bros. Television Group president Bruce Rosenblum said Wednesday.

Warner Bros. Television Group said Thursday that its content will be distributed through branded channels on Dailymotion, Joost, Sling Media, TiVo and Veoh Networks.

Warner Bros. Television Group (TWX) signed distribution agreements for the broadband version of its reinvented WB Network, as well as KidsWB.com, with Joost, Dailymotion, Sling Media, TiVo and Veoh Networks, which will carry the ad-supported broadband "channels," when they launch in September.

We had a feeling it was coming any day now, but now we have confirmation that Sling won't be leaving iPhone and iPod touch users in the lurch when it comes to streaming TV to their devices.

After much speculation, Sling stopped by to show us they have indeed been working on a native app for the iPhone, and gave us a quick hands-on with the proof-of-concept. The demo, which also runs on the iPod touch, offers the ability to connect to your Slingbox and control it using the iPhone's touchscreen.

What we’ve got here is a technology demo and a stake in the ground: SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone. As it is, the current application is an amazing technological achievement (given Slingbox’s Windows Media Video broadcast) and the team has done a great job with the initial UI.

Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox place-shifting TV device, announced Sunday that it’s building a version of its SlingPlayer software for the iPhone and iPod touch. Last week Macworld was among the first to get a private preview of the software.

Sling Media today made official that it has been developing a version of its SlingPlayer Mobile software for the Apple iPhone. The software is described as a "proof of concept" developed using jailbroken iPhones but offers much of the same functionality as the released applications for Symbian S60, Windows Mobile, and other cellphone platforms. Users can navigate a Slingbox network streaming hub connected to a home TV feed and choose channels through a visual guide as well as stop or skip through playback.

Sling showed us a brief demonstration of what the company's mobile application, SlingPlayer, looks like on a jailbroken first-generation iPhone. It's merely a proof of concept, the company says, to demonstrate how superduperexcited it is to get started on an actual product.

One of the applications I always knew would be a wonderful addition to the iPhone with its large beautiful display is SlingPlayer Mobile and tonight I received an email from their new Beta Manager that a proof of concept version will be shown at the WWDC this week.

All the WWDC rumors may be focusing on the new iPhone hardware we may see tomorrow. If you ask me, though, the far more compelling (expected) release is the iPhone 2.0 firmware and iPhone App Store. I'm more jazzed about iPhone software than new hardware, and tonight's announcement from Sling Media is a great example of why.

Much like versions for Windows Mobile and other smartphone operating systems, the software lets users pick from a channel guide when viewing TV and offers basic controls over live TV playback. The software requires a high-speed Internet connection currently supplied only through Wi-Fi.

How great would it be to be able to watch TV anywhere? With the Slingbox PRO, it's not just TV.

I get to see every game these days by using a product called Slingbox, which is available here in America. Recently on a night shoot for the film State of Play, I got to watch most of a game because the local real estate agent in a suburb of Washington DC let me sit in his office in the early hours and plug in a computer.

"Sling Media is a good example. ... We met them early enough," said Marti Nyman, Best Buy's point man with venture capitalists and director of its Global Innovation Network. Best Buy became aware of Sling Media Inc. through a venture-capital contact. Founded in 2004, the Foster City, Calif.-based start-up developed a device called the Slingbox that allows users to connect a PC, laptop, or smart phone into their home televisions. Said Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian: "They took a big gamble on us." And it appears to have paid off. "The product has sold incredibly well,'' Krikorian said.

Sling Media leads the video place-shifter category in terms of installation ease and usability, and its new Slingbox Solo is no exception. The Solo's simple but elegant interface is a joy to work with.

This way I can watch any channel I desire, including my stored DVR content, when I want to without any additional subscription fee. There is an initial charge for the Slingbox and SlingPlayer for mobile devices, but after that it is all part of my data plan.

Blake Krikorian, cofounder of Sling Media and its revolutionary Slingbox, which introduced the concept of “place-shifting,” joked as he received his award, “If anybody’s going to serve me a subpoena, here’s your chance” -- a reference to earlier times when some content providers thought his invention was robbing their product. Now he has a content deal with CBS, among others.

Game gadgets: I track scores all the time on my handheld devices. I have a Samsung cellphone, a BlackBerry (RIM), and a Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500) Q. In my office the Q is hooked up to a Slingbox so I can watch games on the phone.

The Slingbox SOLO streams live or saved shows and movies from your cable box, DVR or DVD player to any Web browser in the world. Yes, like the one you use on your cell phone or computer at work. If your boss thought youTube was a productivity drain, hell, he ain't seen nothin' yet.

Q: Where do you think Sling Media falls in relation to the form-factor of mobile video and what type of content do you believe is most compelling for mobile devices? A: All these comments about ‘well I think it’s going to be snacks or exclusive content, short form, whatever,’ you know, frankly so much of that is just utter bullshit, I mean to tell you the truth. It’s people coming up with marketing spins to justify the content that they have rights to. You go down to the store, go on any street corner, talk to people and say ‘do you want to watch television on your phone?’ and the people who will say yes, then you ask them, ‘OK, like what?’ And they’re not going to say ‘Hmm, I would prefer to like watch some like short form or some exclusive content tailored for the phone.’ They’re going to say the Super Bowl is on and I want to watch the Super Bowl or ‘The Daily Show’ is on and I recorded it on my TiVo and I want to watch it. It’s the TV programming that people know and love today and are familiar with.

Waiting out a long delay can be a nightmare if you don't have a conduit to the outside world. Besides obvious diversions -- internet access and music and video entertainment -- I've supplemented my laptop with two extras: Slingbox software, so I can tap into my home television system, and The Complete New Yorker, which includes every issue in the magazine's 80-year history.

The Slingbox, a high-tech remote attached to your TV, acts as a modern-day catapult, launching the contents of a digital video recorder, or live programing, to any desktop or laptop. Sling Media is not just stopping at the laptop. The new generation of Slingboxes make it possible to view taped or live events on any Web-enabled, Windows Mobile-powered handheld or mobile phone.

An efficient option is a small device called a SlingBox (www.slingmedia.com, $129 to $229). Plug one end into your Internet connection and the other into your home TV’s cable box or DVR or both, and you can watch television and your recorded video library on a computer, cellphone or laptop. "The basic premise is that with a SlingBox, you have access to your living-room television no matter where you happen to be,” said Brian Jaquet, a Sling Media spokesman.

In the world of off-deck mobile video, Sling Media Inc. has pushed the envelope quite successfully. Indeed, the fact the television is no longer anchored to the living room is partly due to the company’s innovation. By place-shifting the content of users’ set-top boxes and other television gadgetry to PC and mobile devices, Sling Media has squarely taken on industries that froth at the mouth over any opportunity to nickel and dime customers.

Since the first Slingbox hit the market a few years ago, the device has developed a passionate following among frequent travelers. The box, developed by Sling Media of Foster City, California, lets users send television signals from their homes to their laptops, virtually anywhere in the world.

Sling Media’s Brian Jaquet says the Slingbox Pro HD will arrive this summer… You can actually stream around your home in full HD to another laptop computer or desktop computer, for example. And if you have a high enough speed broadband connection you can actually stream HD out of the home as well.

I have seen the light; or rather thousands of teeny, tiny lights on a small screen. SlingPlayer Mobile is what I’ve always imagined mobile TV could be — an extension of the programming I already pay way too much for at home. And that’s exactly the point. Why pay for the same entertainment twice?

Wonderfully simple to use, fabulous software and interface, great technical support, very high "coolness" factor, HD streaming is great

The highlight? The product presentation, performed with the ultimate in kitsch by a spokesman done up in late ’60s garb including bell-bottoms, long hair and a big peace-sign necklace. [...] the message was clear: Hey man, don’t be tied down. Freedom is yours when you watch TV with the Sling.

The Slingbox Solo rebroadcasts a TV feed to any Mac on a home network, freeing you from your living room couch. Using a Mac notebook, you can watch a cooking show in the kitchen, a gardening show in the backyard, or you can go to bed with Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The video quality looks good on a home network, and the Slingbox Solo even sends shows through the Internet if you’re traveling.

Going to Grandma's? You don't have to scrounge around to find your kids' favorite DVDs before you go. Just hook up this cool gadget at your house, and take your laptop with you on your trip — you'll be able to get all your home TV channels, plus anything you've recorded on your DVR, right on your computer screen

Sling Media unveiled its latest innovative digital lifestyle products and services in the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas from January 7th-10th.

Harvard University business professor Clayton Christensen coined the phrase “disruptive innovation” to describe a new product so advanced and appealing that it displaces all technology that preceded it. The SlingBox is a low-cost video streaming device that allows users to beam what they're watching at home to a computer or smart phone anywhere in the world.

Wow! What Slingbox somehow does is enable you to take your TV room at home with you anywhere in the world. Another nice thing in this age of being fee'd to death is that the Slingbox is a product, not a service. So once you buy it and set it up, there is no service fee

Wayne Carmona is line producer for HBO's popular Entourage, a series that's as much about the Los Angeles celebrity demimonde as it is about celebrity itself. Now he's got 16 Slingboxes piping video from the day's shoot to various members of the production team, and their work is a bit easier as a result.

Best video placeshifting device: Sling Media Slingbox Solo. Can't spend any time away from your favorite TV shows? Slingbox is the answer to your prayers. Bottom line: it's the traveling couch potato's best friend.

Many executives have come to rely on the Slingbox to let them catch their local news, sports and programs while traveling on business. The Slingbox, which attaches to the television at home, captures a local TV signal, digitizes it and sends it via the Internet to your hotel room. “I’ve got to be in Rome for a month in January,” Mr. Brancatelli said. “The presidential race will be decided then. Yeah, they have CNN but not the same CNN we have here. I’ll be able to fire up the Slingbox and see all of the primaries.”

Slingbox’s latest model allows you to watch and control your favorite TV or TiVo, including HD content, from anywhere in the world on your notebook or cell phone. You’ll need a high-speed connection (WiFi or 3G), but there are no monthly charges, just the cost for the device (about $180).

No TV fanatic who travels should be without Slingbox Pro. Use a laptop or phone to watch your local TV programming anywhere with an Internet connection. This HD-ready model streams up to four independent sources, such as a cable/satellite box, DVR or DVD player, so you'll never miss favorite shows.

Slingbox Edges Ahead: If overall buzz and an unexpected acquisition can be used to declare an early leader, if not an out-and-out winner, for the TV gadget business in 2007, then the $380 million acquisition of Sling Media by the satellite TV concern EchoStar (DISH) fits the bill. Sling makes the curious Slingbox, a device that lets users watch their home cable TV channels and videos stored on a DVR from a laptop or mobile device on the road.

The latest technology will ensure that the television lovers in your life will never have to miss their favorite shows again. The Slingbox Solo ($179.99) lets them watch and control their television, DVR, digital cable, satellite receiver and DVD player from their laptop or cell phone, no matter where they are.

The Slingbox Solo is a slimmed down and less expensive version of the Sling Media Slingbox. Like other Sling models, it allows you to take your recorded shows from a digital video recorder (including high-definition video) and play them back on a laptop or a smart-phone while you're traveling.

Sling Media Slingbox SOLO: This trapezoid-shaped video-streaming gizmo lets you watch and control your television — from your cable or satellite box, or your DVR — on any broadband-connected Windows- or Mac-based computer anywhere in the world. For an extra $29, Slingbox users can buy software that streams the video to Windows Mobile-, Palm- or Symbian-based smart phones.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is a blur of high-tech goodies, from ultra-thin cell phones to WiFi-enabled picture frames. The CES Innovation Awards, now in their 11th year, aim to help you cut to the chase. Dell, Sanyo, Kensington, and Sling Media all took home awards for sleekly designed products from slim laptops to smart set-top boxes.

The Slingbox is kinda perfect. I showed it to a bunch of friends, and the next day they all went out and bought one. Another amazing thing about the Slingbox: It's not a subscription service. You buy it, you own it. There are no additional charges beyond the cost of the device

There's a collision, you see, between the boob tube and the Internet. TV is all about instant gratification. The Net is about me having control. Put the two together, and the result should be personalized TV, or iTV, which lets me watch what I want, when I want it. A device called Slingbox lets you take recorded or live TV shows off a box at home and "sling" them miles away on a laptop, smartphone, or other mobile devices.

It isn't always easy to get a broadband connection from your home office to your living room. The folks at Sling Media, which makes the Slingbox that sends your recorded TV shows over the Internet to your portable devices, realize this. So they created the SlingLink Turbo 4 Port network hub.

The adorably squat little Slingbox AV plugs into both my cable TV and home Internet connection. With the included SlingPlayer software installed on a laptop, I've been able to watch live TV or recorded shows off my DVR anywhere from a hotel room in San Francisco to a bench in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

It comes in handy when you want to watch TV upstairs, but your fancy high-definition TiVo is downstairs. It’s also great when you’re in a hotel room, bristling at paying $13 for a movie when your video recorder back home is a veritable Blockbuster. And Slingboxes are also a blessing when you are overseas and longing for the news, or the sports broadcasts, of your hometown. the Solo does well what the Slingbox has always done well, but now for less money, in less space and with more flexibility.

The new version, Slingbox Solo, handles HD digital output. The software for the unit, Sling Player, mimics whichever set-top box you have, so the on-screen remote controls your TV as if you were sitting in the same room, rather that a world away.

Mr. Scott said he became a supporter of the Chelsea Football Club while he was working in London in 1994. He bought the Slingbox in 2006 to track the club as his international business travel increased. Now, he said, he also follows tennis and international motor sports like Formula One while on the road. “Sports is one of the few live television events that one must see when it’s happening,” he said, “or it loses its drama.”

The Slingbox Solo is a first-class entertainment product. The best thing we can say about the Solo is that Sling Media was smart enough not to mess with a good thing. Setup is still incredibly simple. Once we were up and running on our MacBook, we were impressed by the picture quality and frame rate that the Solo provided using the SlingPlayer software.

You can take your mobile phone and be anywhere in the world (with an internet connection) and still watch your TV shows! Sitting in the airport waiting for your flight, you're covered. Also, sports maniacs are now covered, as well. You can now watch your local sports games from anywhere in the world. Business trip to China? No problem.

As you can see in my video below the client works great on the Nokia N93 via WiFi. Video plays back very smoothly and the audio levels are clear and consistent. This is great timing for Sling Media with the 3G-enabled Nokia N95-3 now available at the Nokia Flagship stores.

“Two key things made the deal interesting to us,” Krikorian said. “One is the ability to continue with our business and our business model…and not be beholden to one particular operator.” The other? The entrepreneurial nature of the EchoStar and its founder and CEO Charlie Ergen.

EchoStar's planned purchase of Sling Media is likely to step up a battle between the satellite TV provider and a raft of rivals. It may also bring EchoStar a few new ones. Although considered something of a curiosity at the outset, the so-called place-shifting concept behind Slingbox is taking off.

The news came only hours after EchoStar agreed to buy Sling Media, whose set-top box technology allows consumers to shift their TV signal to mobile and broadband devices anywhere in the world, for $380 million in cash.

The acquisition gives the privately held Sling entree to EchoStar’s 13.6 million DISH satellite TV network customers as well as access to technology EchoStar has created specifically for its digital video recorders. “This combination paves the way for the development of a host of new innovative products and services for our subscribers, new digital media consumers and strategic partners,” Charles W. Ergen, EchoStar’s chief executive, said in a statement.

the Slingbox Solo remains an excellent way to stream your home TV programming to an increasingly wide variety of broadband-connected computers and smart phones. The Solo is a nice choice for those who need HD compatibility and/or pass-through outputs

Sling Media rolled out Slingbox Solo, a set-top box that lets you watch a home-bound HD source from anywhere in the world on a PC, Mac, Palm OS or Symbian mobile device. Solo is a worthy addition to the Slingbox line, and unlike the Slingbox Pro, requires no optional adapter to get it working with HD sources

"This is an excellent outcome for the Sling Media guys who really executed well," said Ward Williams, vice president of marketing for iChip India, an IPTV start-up. "They did a good job of taking what is essentially a great feature and communicating to consumers why they needed the service. For the rest of us, deals like this are encouraging."

EchoStar doesn't plan to hoard Sling's technologies after the acquisition, which the companies say should close by the end of the year. "We hope to work with Dish Network," says Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. "But we have the ability and OK to license our technology to other companies and partner with them, as well. We'll be a stand-alone company."

Of course you can’t blame Krikorian, who’s about 40, for being so, well, psyched. He just signed a deal that values his three-year-old company, which makes devices that let consumers watch TV over the Internet, for a cool $380 million.

Krikorian: "Our pockets will be a lot deeper so I don't have to be out there raising money every 12 months. We're going to continue to run like heck. We're only on step two of 10 that we want to achieve."

“With EchoStar, we’d gotten to know them, to know Charlie. Charlie is one of the real pioneers. He’s a guy who helped build an entire industry, he’s a founder, he’s an entrepreneur. Clearly, there’s a lot I can learn from him. He understands us ... He knows what it’s like to be this passionate about what you do. I’m very confident that the position we’re being put in here, the opportunity being provided us is one that will only accelerate what we’re building.”

Diederik Karsten, CEO of UPC Netherlands, said: "The Slingbox brings a new digital TV experience to our customers. They can view and record their favourite programs remotely by using a broadband internet connection. We believe the Slingbox will certainly enhance UPC's leadership position in the Digital TV market."

Cable giant UPC and Sling Media are to trial the “place shifting” Slingbox device in the Netherlands. The deal was announced at IBC, and will allow UPC customers to use a Slingbox to remotely control their set-top boxes, and view the box’s output anywhere on the planet where they have access to a broadband connection.

6. Sling Media Slingbox AV: Want to watch TiVo'd shows at a coffee shop, the ball game on a plane, or C-Span at a sports bar?

Californian 'place-shifting' TV firm Sling Media has partnered with Liberty Global-owned UPC Broadband to supply its technology to the latter's digital TV customers in the Netherlands.

These are 12 of the best mobile applications available. Wther you're a music freak, a news addict, or an IM gunslinger, you'll find something here to suit your fancy. If you have a Slingbox, SlingPlayer Mobile lets you tap into it to watch TV from your cell phone. It even works with TiVo.

Windows Mobile and Palm devices won't be having all the placeshifting fun for much longer. Though carrier Hutchison 3 has had its own version for some time through its X-Series line, a generic, widely available SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian has eluded the populace for ages; thankfully, it looks like that's all about to change with Sling announcing a private beta for its upcoming S60-based player.

SlingMedia is in the process of introducing SlingPlayer for S60 3rd edition devices here in the States. Imagine... portable TV in my pocket!

We are respectful of copyright, and I would argue that the reason those sites exist is because the media companies that own that content have been incredibly slow in getting their content out there. We want to cut deals with cable and satellite TV providers so that our technology is integrated into their set-top boxes or modems or routers or whatever they're deploying into the home.

Beyond licensing content for Clip+Sling, Hirschhorn says that the company is also seeking out completed titles for a new video destination on the Internet. Ultimately, he says, the company wants to be “a bridge between all screens,” whether it’s a PC, television set or a mobile phone. “We are innovators. We love television, we love entertainment. The idea that you have to go home to watch your TV is an old notion.

Blake Krikorian, the CEO of Sling Media, said the conference was both a time for intense learning as well as educating media executives about his company's technology, which allows people to view their home cable boxes from remote locations over high-speed Internet connections. As soon as TV executives realize that viewers still see the commercials and the viewership counts for Nielsen ratings, they usually warm up, Krikorian said. "They can see what you're made of and not a terror trying to destroy their business," Krikorian said.

And speaking of deep, really deep, Blake Krikorian of Sling Media, one of the conference hotties because his company’s technology allows consumers to time- and platform-shift content, said the morning’s private equity presenters were also terrific, but complicated fun.

If Dan Slentz has his way, soon there will be several live weather-traffic cams situated throughout Zanesville, Ohio. Slentz, chief engineer for WHIZ/AM/FM/TV, hasn’t suddenly come into a small fortune which he’s kindly donating to his operation. Instead, he’s in the process of testing a Slingbox from Sling Media Inc., which is essentially a consumer product designed to reroute all the content from a home TV cable or DBS source to a dedicated laptop or desktop computer anywhere in the world via a typical broadband connection.

Sling Media's Blake Krikorian returns to Sun Valley with a technology to help media companies craft new business models. Big media had been wary of his Sling Box device that lets viewers watch television on Web-connected laptops and smartphones.

But to really turbo-charge your multimedia content, check out the SlingPlayer Mobile client for Windows Mobile, Palm OS or Pocket PC ($30). If you're a Slingbox owner, the SlingPlayer Mobile client can stream content from your Slingbox to your phone.

The next time you’re on a business trip stuck in a hotel room without HBO, you’ll wish you had a Slingbox so you won’t miss Entourage again. The Slingbox AV is a bargain for what it can do, period. It has changed the way I consume media.

SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS is now out of beta and version 1.0 has been officially released. Combined with the Slingbox, this solution enables users to view their own live television and entertainment media on the go via the Treo 755p or 700p smartphone.

One of the worst things about work is having to pry yourself away from your TV. The Slingbox Pro turns your PC into your TV. These devices will help you escape the grind and free your mind with technological efficiency.

Dispatching content from a home television to hotels and other far-flung locations where a subscriber chooses to send them is good for the "average revenue per unit" of a cable-system operator, the vice president for Europe of Sling Media said Thursday. "People upgrade their broadband when they have Sling,'' Stuart Collingwood said

While the Slingbox was originally designed to allow consumers to “place-shift” their television viewing, by using an Internet-connected laptop or PC to remotely watch what's on their home TV set while on the road or at work, professional video users have found the Slingbox to be a very effective way to cheaply transmit video, particularly where video quality is not a big concern. Cable operators are using Slingboxes to monitor commercial insertion, content owners are using it to monitor video-on-demand delivery, and studios are using it to transmit dailies to remote executives, says Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. “These vertical markets or b-to-b applications are popping up like wildfire,” he says. “It's pretty exciting to see.”

I saw a product on the internet called Slingbox, it was a big hit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. This product claimed to help with the separation anxiety I would experience being away from my TV. It was time for a Troubleshooter Fame or Shame! I give the Slingbox Pro a definite FAME! It is a must have for any television junkie.

Do those Sling Media folks ever sleep? We just had version two of the Palm beta and today SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile 6 launches this morning for the U.S. and U.K. with Japan coming soon. It doesn't matter if you have WinMo 6 Standard or Professional, once you download the new client, you're all set to watch content from your television, DVD, DVR and more right on your handheld.

4 Mice Review. Slick hardware and software lets you watch your TV over the Internet. I know that, thanks to my Slingbox, I’ll never miss another game, and that makes it worth every penny.

The company today announced its SlingLink Powerline Ethernet Adapters, aimed at providing high-speed Ethernet connectivity via power lines within the home. I like the 4-port option, as the tech-savvy home is increasingly coming with Ethernet ports, and an adapter like this can put all of those devices onto a single powerline adapter instead of relying on another technology for connecting to the home router.

I thought the Slingbox was an amazing product then and at the time didn't see how they could improve on it. They have. Slingbox Pro ($300) looks better and works better than the original, and you now have the ability to view HD content on your computer.

What impresses me about the experience of using both of these products vs. the typical mobile TV experience is that they make me feel at home, as if I am simply accessing media I already arranged to have in my living room or on my PC. I don't have to choose all over again from another menu of selected brands that happened to partner with the carriers or a mobile aggregator. These solutions let me, as the consumer, mobilize my media experience.

While Major League Baseball continues its long, drawn-out War on Fans, the NHL, the little league that could -- disappear without too many people noticing, that is -- has done something smart. I'm talking about the NHL's agreement with Sling Media, a company that baseball is fighting. Good for the NHL. The Slingbox is a hot gadget, and clearly it's no Tamagotchi. It doesn't take a soothsayer to see that "place shifting" isn't some fad. It makes sense as an attractive way to use your television.

He can connect up through a Slingbox (a device from California-based Sling Media Inc. that transmits video) so it picks up his satellite and cable reception in the office and then connects to the network. So from anywhere in the world, he can watch something off his satellite receiver. And that's insatiable in the basketball world. The more you give these guys, the more they want.

Slingbox may actually be helping Major League Baseball by letting fans watch online.

The NHL and Slingbox are teaming up to bring you a first for major league sports: viral Sling’ing.

Sling Media and the NHL yesterday announced a partnership in which league content will be available for Sling’s forthcoming Clip + Sling service. “The genie’s out of the bottle, and we think it’s far easier to work with companies such as this and construct a means to monetize and distribute our content instead of sending 500 e-mails a day to get stuff pulled down,” said Keith Ritter, president of NHL CyberEnterprises.

The new feature, dubbed Clip+Sling, would allow Slingbox users to record video segments with a few mouse-clicks and share them with anyone by posting them to an upcoming community website to be launched by Sling Media. The NHL clips will be searchable and categorized by NHL division and club. The NHL will also supply its own content to the video-sharing site.

The NHL has signed on to Clip + Sling, Sling Media's soon-to-be-released technology that allows users to share TV segments online. Sling is talking with other leagues as well as film and production studios to use content on Clip + Sling. "We've had very fruitful talks, and I'm hopeful they'll lead to agreements with the other major sports leagues," Sling Media Entertainment Group president Jason Hirschhorn said.

The National Hockey League has entered a unique with Sling Media that will allow consumers who have purchased a Slingbox--the company’s innovative device that allows users to stream live or recorded programming on various broadband devices--to record and share NHL programming with other Web users. Just days ago, Major League Baseball lawyers told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is mulling a legal against Sling Media because of potential copyright infringement issues. Yet the NHL does not seem to share such concerns.

Sling Media, a developer of "place-shifting" technology that lets consumers access their home TV channels while away on any Internet-connected device, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with the National Hockey League (NHL) to allow Slingbox users to clip and share live or recorded clips of NHL programming. The announcement comes a week after Major League Baseball said it believes the company's service allows consumers to illegally stream out-of-market games over the Internet.

Unlike those Luddite crybabies over at the MLB, the NHL is embracing technology and partnering up with Sling. And they're giving it the go-ahead for NHL content to be used with Sling's upcoming Clip+Sling service. Better yet, NHL clips will be categorized and sorted by teams so you (or anyone) can find clips of your favorite team stomping ass (or getting stomped) with little effort on Sling's upcoming video site.

While MLB cries "foul ball", the NHL shoot and scores with Sling. Thanks to today's agreement, all current and future Slingbox owners can clip and share NHL segments with their hockey buds. All of the cross-checks and hat-tricks won't just be for folks with a Sling box either: Clip+Sling will allow you to post those clips to a web page so the whole world can see how proficient you are at clipping. Wait....clipping refers to football, maybe they should have called this service Slash+Sling? Then the MLB could have Swing+Sling once they get over themselves.

Under its deal with Sling, the NHL will be able to cash in on fans' enthusiasm for sharing highlights from the games they watch, rather than trying to stop them from uploading those clips. Why would the NHL want to encourage viewers to do this? For starters, they're doing it anyway. What Sling is creating is a way for the NHL (and other copyright owners) to move the action to a new video site where the league can control the advertising inventory associated with the hockey clips.

But that’s not the point: it’s that they are working with Sling to see what the future holds, not working against them to see how lovely the fresh air was back in the 1970s. MLB can’t act like the music industry when it comes to Internet distribution, they must make deals with tech companies, experiment, and look to increased revenue through innovation, not lawsuits

The National Hockey League signed a deal with Sling Media to let Slingbox customers clip and share NHL programming online via Sling’s still-in-development Clip+Sling service.

Major League Baseball might not be a fan of Sling Media, but the National Hockey League on Wednesday announced its support of a forthcoming Sling feature called "Clip + Sling." The NHL is the first pro sports league to make a deal with Sling. Clip + Sling is a feature that will allow Slingbox users to select clips of live or recorded television and share them with others.

While Major League Baseball is frowning upon the Slingbox “place-shifting” device, the NHL is embracing it with open arms, becoming the first major sports league to partner with the parent company Sling Media on its new Clip+Sling technology. Kudos to the NHL for recognizing the potential of new technologies instead of working to hinder technological innovation.

The National Hockey League has partnered with Sling Media to let Sling users share live and recorded portions of NHL programming. Under the agreement, users will be able to share the content online.

Take their recent run-in with Major League Baseball, which alleged that Sling shifting violated its contract with cable and satellite providers, and called their service illegal. HBO feels that way as well. And while the luddites bicker over the legality of the service maybe up for debate, SlingMedia is likely to announce an arrangement with a major sports league, most likely National Hockey League, that would allow users to Clip+Sling some of their broadcasts.

Those of you with a thirst for blood and a Slingbox will be extremely pleased to know that the NHL has signed onto a content deal with Sling Media. Users will now be able to Clip+Sling a segment of a hockey game and send it to their friends and family.

In what appears to be a coup for place-shift gadget maker Sling Media — already in hot water with Major League Baseball — landed its first professional sports league partnership with the National Hockey League for its upcoming Clip + Sling service.

Sling Media has its first deal with a professional sports league—the NHL (the CBS of sports in terms of experimenting digitally) will take part in its Clip+Sling feature for SlingPlayer, still in private beta. The clips will be searchable and categorized by the NHL: for use across the league. The league also will put its own video on the upcoming Sling site.

There's been a lot of discussion here, and everywhere else about the NHL poor ratings and what can be done. One solution is potentially online video. The NHL has net a deal with Sling Media which definitely has a bright future.

Bob Bowman, MLBAM's president and chief executive, suggested a softer approach. "The way to win this is with good content and good technology, not with lawyers." Major League Baseball is conscious of its reputation for antagonizing its fans -- the most recent example was a dispute over its Extra Innings television package.

"This company (Sling Media) can help enhance baseball and help build its base of fans," said Robert Tuchman, president of TSE Sports & Entertainment.

"I think (MLB is) deploying that rhetoric to chill innovation in this segment. I don't think it's working, but I think it would be a big blow to the entertainment industry if they went to court and lost," said Fred von Lohmann, attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Major League Baseball seems to have its head stuck up where the sun don't shine. Because I have Sling Box at home, I end up watching MORE baseball, not less. I can watch the Red Sox games here at my desk at work, on the road in a hotel or where ever I happen to be. NESN, home to Red Sox baseball, should be thrilled that I am watching more of its programming live - meaning I am not skipping ads.

Someone should get MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to pay closer attention. Instead of spending his time fretting about the day Barry Bonds hits his 756th homer, Selig should dread the blowback that will result from any move against Slingbox. I can't predict which teams will play in the World Series, but you don't need to be Nostradamus to forecast the outraged fan reaction that would follow a lawsuit.

You pay for 24-7 access to hundreds of TV channels, but you only have access to them for the 2-3 hours a day most Americans spend watching TV. With the Slingbox you can watch and control your TV any time of the day or night from anywhere in the world using your laptop or internet enabled phone.

Sling Media is working on a Windows Mobile 6 compatible SlingPlayer Mobile player and invites users with the right device to participate into the Beta. If you have a supported Windows Mobile smartphone (like an upgraded T-Mobile Dash or a brand new T-Mobile Wing), Sling Media is currently looking for people to participate in a private Beta of the new Windows Mobile 6 compatible version of the SlingPlayer Mobile.

SlingMedia has heard your cries fellow TV fiends. They have now begun offering beta versions of Windows Mobile Professional and Standard compatible software.

Sling fans ahoy! Instead of releasing new virtual remotes (the onscreen remotes you use to control your set-top boxes) with big software updates, now Sling's going to release more frequent updates with just the remotes.

With the T-Mobile Wing and the Windows Mobile 6 version of the Dash both in wide circulation,