Watch your own TV on a Pocket PC -- Anywhere!

Bob Russell · 11-08-2005, 01:37 PM

By the end of the year, SlingMedia is planning to have a PocketPC client for their SlingBox product. This means you can watch your own home tv signal wherever you have wireless connectivity and a Pocket PC!

If you are new to the basic idea of SlingBox it's simple:

1) You buy their box for about $250 and hook up any video input to it. Like from cable tv, or your Tivo, etc.
2) Enable it on your wireless network
3) Anywhere you have access to a computer with internet access, inside your home or outside your home, you can receive the streaming video. Apparently, you can even control your Tivo or cable box and change channels remotely.

Currently you need a Windows PC with internet access. But the natural and exciting extension of this technology is to have a Pocket PC client to watch TV on your wifi capable Windows Mobile device.

Apparently they have already demoed the Windows Mobile client, so it's close. In fact, they are reporting in the support knowledge base that "We’ll support the Windows Mobile platform by the end of the year. Watch our website for announcements."

As far as other clients they say that for Mac/OSX "We don’t have any official announcement yet. Watch for news in the next few months." And for other operating systems "We are currently doing research to determine which software platforms we will port the SlingPlayer to. We have requests for PalmOS, Linux, Unix, and even Commodore 64! While we can't promise the latter, we are definitely looking into supporting other operating systems as soon as possible."

The cool thing is you have full control and you get to watch the content you've already paid for. No payment for each show or channel and no monthly subscriptions. The only real limit is that you can only watch on one device at a time. The reason for this is to make sure people aren't buying this product to mass re-broadcast content.

In my opinion, this is the sort of future we should be aiming for with regard to mobile video. To keep content viewing under the consumer's control is protection from price gouging that can happen when the wireless carriers, for example, have enough control over content distribution to make you pay not only for bandwidth, but for every bit of content that you view whether you already have access to it or not.

It's probably a bit early to see this sort of product be overwhelmingly successful in the marketplace, but its glory days may be just around the corner!

cbarnett · 11-08-2005, 05:45 PM

I like the idea of this, but once again the security issues worry me. I'd also like the cost to come down a bit, too!!

Alexander Turcic · 11-09-2005, 03:47 PM

Engadget picked it up today:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000877067304/

Believe me, if that things works as advertised, I am going to have it installed in my bedroom!

jcsickz · 11-13-2005, 05:15 AM

but you can already do this for free with orb, unless I am missing something. Understandably, for orb you MAY need to buy a tuner card, but its all but guaranteed you won't be paying $250 for it.

Bob Russell · 11-13-2005, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcsickz

but you can already do this for free with orb, unless I am missing something. Understandably, for orb you MAY need to buy a tuner card, but its all but guaranteed you won't be paying $250 for it.

Yes, there are other solutions. I haven't tried it, but Orb sounds like absolutely a good option.

What's nice about this solution is that you don't need to use your computer send the video. It's more like a standalone appliance. So, for example, if you only have a laptop, you can watch remotely on the laptop. Or if your video source is not close to your desktop computer you can still broadcast. It also means you don't have to have your computer on all the time.

Plus, if the fluid bandwidth adjustments work as advertised you also get the benefit of better results when the connection efficiency fluctuates.

Pride Of Lions · 11-13-2005, 11:40 AM

I just saw the commercial on the TV. Funnily enough, the guy in the commercial is using a Powerbook to watch his content. It's probably just a matter of the PB looking aesthetically better than a laptop PC, but maybe the Mac OS X client is closer to being finished.

It's a funny commercial (if there's more than one, the one where the guy's in the memorial parlor.)

jcsickz · 11-15-2005, 02:28 AM

anyone know the stock abbreviation for slingmedia? I'd like to consider an investment.

11-08-2005, 01:37 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Watch your own TV on a Pocket PC -- Anywhere! By the end of the year, SlingMedia is planning to have a PocketPC client for their SlingBox product. This means you can watch your own home tv signal wherever you have wireless connectivity and a Pocket PC! If you are new to the basic idea of SlingBox it's simple: 1) You buy their box for about $250 and hook up any video input to it. Like from cable tv, or your Tivo, etc. 2) Enable it on your wireless network 3) Anywhere you have access to a computer with internet access, inside your home or outside your home, you can receive the streaming video. Apparently, you can even control your Tivo or cable box and change channels remotely. Currently you need a Windows PC with internet access. But the natural and exciting extension of this technology is to have a Pocket PC client to watch TV on your wifi capable Windows Mobile device. Apparently they have already demoed the Windows Mobile client, so it's close. In fact, they are reporting in the support knowledge base that "We’ll support the Windows Mobile platform by the end of the year. Watch our website for announcements." As far as other clients they say that for Mac/OSX "We don’t have any official announcement yet. Watch for news in the next few months." And for other operating systems "We are currently doing research to determine which software platforms we will port the SlingPlayer to. We have requests for PalmOS, Linux, Unix, and even Commodore 64! While we can't promise the latter, we are definitely looking into supporting other operating systems as soon as possible." The cool thing is you have full control and you get to watch the content you've already paid for. No payment for each show or channel and no monthly subscriptions. The only real limit is that you can only watch on one device at a time. The reason for this is to make sure people aren't buying this product to mass re-broadcast content. In my opinion, this is the sort of future we should be aiming for with regard to mobile video. To keep content viewing under the consumer's control is protection from price gouging that can happen when the wireless carriers, for example, have enough control over content distribution to make you pay not only for bandwidth, but for every bit of content that you view whether you already have access to it or not. It's probably a bit early to see this sort of product be overwhelmingly successful in the marketplace, but its glory days may be just around the corner!

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11-08-2005, 05:45 PM	#2
cbarnett MR prodigal son Posts: 1,085 Karma: 1083739 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O	I like the idea of this, but once again the security issues worry me. I'd also like the cost to come down a bit, too!!

11-09-2005, 03:47 PM	#3
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,175 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	Engadget picked it up today: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000877067304/ Believe me, if that things works as advertised, I am going to have it installed in my bedroom!

11-13-2005, 05:15 AM	#4
jcsickz Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2005	but you can already do this for free with orb, unless I am missing something. Understandably, for orb you MAY need to buy a tuner card, but its all but guaranteed you won't be paying $250 for it.

11-13-2005, 11:40 AM	#6
Pride Of Lions just kinda geeky Posts: 381 Karma: 30 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Oakland, California Device: iPhone	I just saw the commercial on the TV. Funnily enough, the guy in the commercial is using a Powerbook to watch his content. It's probably just a matter of the PB looking aesthetically better than a laptop PC, but maybe the Mac OS X client is closer to being finished. It's a funny commercial (if there's more than one, the one where the guy's in the memorial parlor.)

11-15-2005, 02:28 AM	#7
jcsickz Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2005	anyone know the stock abbreviation for slingmedia? I'd like to consider an investment.

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