SlingMedia

The Next Big Thing: Android in the home, and in the fridge

Nearly every device in your house, from your television to your refrigerator, is going to be networked and could very well be Android-powered, panelists said today at a CNET CES event in Las Vegas.

Of course you'd expect Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, to say that. But the vision was also endorsed by executives at Google partner Samsung, Sling Media, and Benchmark Capital, who spoke to CNET's Brian Cooley and Molly Wood about ecosystem trends. Here's what they said.

Eric Schmidt, Google executive chairman

The smartphone will become the portal to other devices and appliances in … Read more

Sling improves video quality in iPhone app

Sling Media has updated its SlingPlayer iPhone app to feature "high-quality streaming," the company said, though it didn't provide exact resolution for the new offering.

There are some limitations with the addition of high-quality streaming in SlingPlayer Mobile version 2.0 for the iPhone. Sling said that to take advantage of high-quality streaming, users will need an 800 kilobits per second download speed over Wi-Fi and a 500Kbps speed on 3G. The company also said that "users with the Slingbox Classic, Tuner, AV, and Pro can stream with this update, but they can't use the … Read more

Hands-on: Dish Remote Access app for iPhone/iPad

Dish Network has offered a free iPhone app called Remote Access that allowed you to program your Dish receiver to record shows remotely. However, owners of Dish's new SlingLoaded DVR, the ViP 922, as well as the new Sling adapter for the ViP 722 or 722k, were waiting for the app to let you stream live programming to your iPhone or iPad. Well, that day is here.

We tried the updated app and it worked as advertised, and we liked the interface on the iPad. The video quality wasn't great and the sound had some hiccups now and … Read more

Sling finally launches iPad app

As we reported last week, Sling was on the verge of launching its much-anticipated SlingMobile Player for iPad app. Well, at long last, it's finally hit the App Store and our fears were realized: like other SlingMobile Player apps, it costs $29.99. Furthermore, it's not a universal app, so if you downloaded the iPhone version, you've got to pay up again.

Though the app appears to be impressive, we do think the price should be $14.99 or even $9.99 (some would argue free, but we'll take a price cut for starters).

Sling Media 'very close' to launching iPad app

Yes, folks, the much-anticipated SlingMobile Player for iPad app is almost here. We can't tell you exactly when this baby will appear in the App Store--or how much it will cost--but a company rep sent us an e-mail saying the company was "this close" to releasing the app and pointed us to a YouTube Video demo.

For now, have a look and feel free to comment (it looks pretty sweet to us). We'll let you know as soon as it goes live and what price tag Sling puts on it. Hopefully, it won't be exorbitant. … Read more

SlingPlayer Mobile comes to Windows Phone 7

Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile app is available to Windows Phone 7 owners, the company announced yesterday.

The company latest app retails for $29.99 in the Windows Marketplace. Once downloaded, users can connect the program to their Slingbox Solo or Slingbox Pro-HD and watch television programming from home on their handset. Users can change channels and watch recorded shows within the app. The service works on both 3G and Wi-Fi, Sling Media said.

The Windows Phone 7 app joins the company's iPhone and Android apps, which provide the same functionality as its latest release. Those two versions also … Read more

Sling working to restore streaming access

Sling Media is scrambling to address service issues that have left many of the company's users unable to access their Slingbox video streamers during the past several days.

For the uninitiated, Slingbox is a "placeshifting device." Connect it to a video source (cable or satellite box, DVR, TV antenna, and so forth), and the Slingbox digitizes the video output for access on a wide variety of PCs and smartphones--essentially allowing access to your home TV anywhere you can access the Internet. At least, that's the case when Sling's service is working properly.

The official support thread … Read more

SlingPlayer Mobile launches on Android phones

SlingPlayer Mobile has hit the Android market.

Sling Media's $29.99 app, released Tuesday, lets Android users with Slingbox devices control their home TVs and DVRs to watch live or recorded content on their smartphones.

Users must have a Slingbox Solo, Pro, or Pro-HD device and can connect through a 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi network.

The new Android version of SlingPlayer Mobile joins the company's other SlingPlayer apps for the iPhone, Palm OS, Symbian, and BlackBerry.

SlingPlayer Mobile offers faster start-up and response times than its other mobile versions, according to Sling Media, and sports a new interface … Read more

Sling prepping SlingPlayer for iPad

Back in February, Sling Media, now owned by Echostar, finally got permission to allow users of its SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone app to stream video over AT&T's 3G network instead of just Wi-Fi. We've been playing around with the updated app for a little while and are happy to report that it works as well as it does on other cell phones and cell networks. However, as we were watching some March Madness on the iPhone's smallish screen, we couldn't help but wonder what a great a platform the iPad would be for Sling, … Read more

AT&T green-lights SlingPlayer on iPhone

It has taken almost a year, but on Thursday AT&T said it will start allowing Sling Media's SlingPlayer to work over its 3G network on the iPhone.

SlingPlayer, which redirects TV signals from a home TV over the Internet so it can be viewed on a portable device, like cell phones or laptops, is the latest application that AT&T is making available to iPhone users on its 3G network. In October, it said that it would allow voice over IP services, such as Skype, to operate on the iPhone using the 3G network. Previously, these … Read more