TV to go: the new Mount Everest
Category: Tech...
Posted Thursday, June 30, 2005 at 01:58 PM [GMT-6]

Sling Media's new Slingbox™ is a device that allows you to watch TV (live or recorded) via your Windows laptop wherever you have a broadband connection. It's not a recorder ("timeshifter"), it's a "placeshifter."

The small $250 device sits between your TV or video playback unit and your router, and works some electronic magic that allows the signal to be streamed to a computer on the downstream side of the router...regardless of location. The Slingbox system uses variable compression technology to ensure steady streaming of the video, regardless of bandwidth vagaries (although it still requires a "high speed connection," equivalent to cable or DSL). The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg tested the device and reports that it works as advertised.

Video quality was surprisingly good -- much better than the average video clip streamed over the Internet. The company has some video-optimizing technology that resulted in mostly smooth, stutter-free viewing. There were a few brief freezes, but nothing serious, even when I expanded the video playback window to the full screen.

You can even use the Slingbox to control your TV or playback unit...change channels or use any other action on the device's menu, just as if you were sitting in front of it with the remote control.

The geek part of me thinks this is extremely cool, and pouts because there's not yet a Mac version (it's in the works). The sensory-overloaded part of me wonders why we need one more thing to distract us no matter where we are. The practical side of me sees some interesting applications: being able to watch The Big Game while working on a project in the garage; watching local news while traveling far from home; and being able to cheat those stupid pay-to-watch TVs in airports.

You can buy the Slingbox at Best Buy or CompUSA. I have no idea about the actual availability, but based on the initial reports, I think Sling Media probably has a winner on its hands.

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Comments

Can anyone tell me how everyone else decides which game 'The Big Game' is? I wouldn't want to watch 'The Little Game' on accident.

Posted by: Stephen at June 30, 2005 06:29 PM

You'll have to listen to your inner John Madden, just like everyone else.

Posted by: Eric at June 30, 2005 06:32 PM
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