Sling Touch Control 100 Universal Remote Gets WiFi

Sling promised touchscreen delights and more at CES 2010 and sure enough they've delivered.  The company has unveiled a new remote, the Sling Touch Control 100, with a 4.3-inch 272 x 480 capacitive touchscreen and integrated WiFi, allowing for straightforward schedule browsing as well as universal control via IR of whatever might be lurking in your AV rack.

There's also a docking station which can recharge the Touch Control 100's Li-Ion battery, and Sling are quite proud of the dock's shallow angle which means you don't necessarily have to whip out the remote in order to use it.  They've also clad it in soft-touch plastic.

Unfortunately you'll need to have a forward thinking satellite or cable company if you want to get your hands on the Touch Control 100.  Sling are initially making it available to their network partners, rather than direct to the consumer market, to "help them attract new subscribers, retain current customers, and bring placeshifting to the largest audience possible".

Press Release:

Sling Media Introduces Sling Touch Control 100 for Television Service Providers

Next-generation, touch screen device redefines television control experience

Las Vegas, Nev., USA – Jan. 6, 2010 – SlingMedia, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), today unveiled the Sling Touch Control 100 for television service providers. The Sling Touch Control 100 is a next-generation, touch-screen device with an interface based on Sling Media's popular SlingGuide™ electronic program guide. It interacts with and controls SlingGuide-enabled DVRs as well as most line-of-sight controlled audio-visual devices. The Sling Touch Control 100 comes in an elegantly designed enclosure, providing a large screen size and extensive battery life.

The Sling Touch Control 100 was selected as a CES Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering Award honoree in the Video Accessories category.

The Sling Touch Control 100's interface delivers an intuitive and flexible user experience that goes beyond the traditional electronic program guide. Current on-screen program guides can limit a consumer's ability to find and view what is really available to watch both now and later. Using SlingGuide's powerful search technology, the Sling Touch Control 100 makes it easy for viewers to discover new programming they may never have known was available.

"As the volume of compelling television content increases, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to search and navigate available content," said John M. Paul, executive vice president of Products at Sling Media. "The Sling Touch Control 100 and SlingGuide changes the way viewers interact with programming and helps them discover and manage programs that they might miss using existing on-screen electronic programming guides."

How It Works

The Sling Touch Control 100 features a bright 4.3 inch, capacitive touch-screen LCD display with 272 x 480 resolution. Its comfortable, soft-touch molded finish makes it easy to handle. The Sling Touch Control 100's Lithium-ion battery is charged while sitting in the included cradle, which is designed with a shallow angle so the remote can be used while charging. The Sling Touch Control 100 communicates with HD DVRs and other SlingGuide-enabled devices via IP over a home 802.11 network and communicates with non-IP devices via IR-based control.

The Sling Touch Control 100 also allows viewers to control most of the IR-based devices in an AV rack. With a few touches of the screen, viewers can program each of the AV devices into the Sling Touch Control 100. Then, by touching an icon on the screen, viewers will be presented with an easy-to-navigate interface. They can play, fast-forward, rewind and perform all the other functions that they would normally do with their device's native remote control.

The Sling Touch Control 100 is one in a suite of products and services that EchoStar Technologies L.L.C and its affiliate Sling Media are making available to television service providers to help them attract new subscribers, retain current customers, and bring placeshifting to the largest audience possible.

Sling Media will be demonstrating this new technology in Booth 9021 at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.