Today at Macworld Sling Media has announced the SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone, an application. They also showed a prototype of the new SlingPlayer for Mac HD, which as the name states will allow you to use the Slingbox PRO HD to stream HD to their Mac desktop or laptop.
Sling Media’s SlingCatcher is finally shipping, available from the company’s own online store as well as other retailers. The box connects to a TV and allows streamed content from a SlingBox or SlingProjector-enabled computer to be played; Sling Media also intend to launch a premium content delivery service called Sling.com.
The SlingCatcher is a slight tweak in direction for Sling Media; unlike their SlingBox media streamers, whose purpose is to take what TV content you receive (whether cable, satellite or over-the-air) and funnel it out to you while you travel, the SlingCatcher gobbles up streamed content (from a SlingBox or from any number of online sources) and puts it on your TV. It was announced back at CES 2007, but pre-orders only started back in September. Now the first devices are reaching buyers for some long-awaited unboxing.
Netbooks made their typical strong showing this week, with ASUS announcing their intention to put 3G HSUPA into the Eee PC 901. Meanwhile their N10 was reviewed and deemed the first netbook “suitable for serious gaming“, a promising title indeed. Lenovo’s S10 also hit reviewers’ benches, making a strong – if at times warm – case for the smallest IdeaPad, while Packard Bell unveiled their ‘dot’, targeted much more at the budget end of the scale. They’ll have a fight on their hands, though; SlashGear reviewed the Acer Aspire One this week too, and when it comes to value for money it’s a tough one to beat.
Arguably the biggest news of the week, however, has been T-Mobile’s G1 – the first Android-based handset to be officially announced. Our sister-site AndroidCommunity.com ran a Live Blog of the whole event (and gave away a G1 to one lucky forum member), and we’ve got the photo galleries and hands-on video to show for it.
Sling Media’s Slingbox PRO-HD begins shipping today, offering high-definition 1080i place-shifted content. The $300 box has multiple inputs for a variety of sources, together with integrated ATSC and clear QAM tuners, and also supports standard-definition content. As for how well it works, the first reviews are already out and the consensus is glowing.
Two significant events on the tech calendar this week, with both CTIA Wireless and Apple’s fall iPod launch hitting sunny San Francisco. SlashGear has been at both, and huge numbers of you joined us on Tuesday morning for our by-now traditional Live Blog of Steve Jobs’ slick new PMPs. Make sure to check out our unboxing videos of the new iPod nano 4G and iPod touch 2G.
Announced early this year in CES 2008, the long awaited SlingCatcher and Slingbox Pro-HD are finally available now for pre-orders at Amazon and Slingmedia store. The Slingbox Pro-HD allows 1080i HD content streaming to your computers, household HDTVs, and 3G or WiFi connected smartphones. It’s $100 less than what we reported earlier.
Poor Gizmodo – they managed to get their hands on one of Slingbox’s new Pro HD media shifters, but didn’t get to actually plug it in and watch the high-def 1080i streamed video in action. Still, they’ve got some nice photos of the familiar arch shape, and the bristling input/output panel at the rear, and were able to tell us that the black casing looks better than earlier models.
SlashGear Japan
