This is a pretty good deal as the MSRP is $298.00, and Amazon sells these new for $233.46. The lower-end Slingbox SOLO model has a $178.00 MSRP and sells new for $142.76, and while it can handle HD input it does not stream in HD. It also only officially supports one input, while the PRO-HD supports two sets of A/V input – one HD and one SD, as well as having an internal ATSC/Clear-QAM tuner.

One new piece of information, the offer will initially roll out to customers in the New York City area only. TWC will decide if and when to expand the offer to other service areas based on the response they get from NYC customers.

Via Multichannel News.

It is also a none too subtle shot across the bow of content providers. TWC is currently at loggerheads with Viacom and other providers over TWC’s iPad app which allows customers to stream content directly to the tablet. Viacom claims TWC’s existing content licenses do not cover this, TWC, of course, claims that they do. Offering the Slingbox seems like a clear statement of their being more than one one to skin a cat, as it were.

Via The New York Times.

Now the Financial Chronicle reports that Sling Media is looking to increase the volume of their business in India by pursuing deals with two direct-to-home (DTH) operators.

“We have initiated talks with Airtel and Reliance for bundling our Sling Box with their set up box,” said Raman Venkatachar, Sling Media general manager.
…
“If we tie up with a DTH player, we can give our hardware and software to the company. Both Sling Box and set up box can be combined into one unit. This kind of arrangement will be operator specific,” he said adding that the increasing penetration of 3G users will be the key driver of growth.

In the meantime, they’ve also expanded their retail availability, with the Slingbox now being sold at Reliance Digital stores. Reliance Digital claims to be “one of India’s most popular destinations for purchase of electronics and durables”. Based on the description in the press release, it sounds something like an Indian Best Buy.

And while I do work for Sling Media I wasn’t aware of this until I saw this press release come across the wire from SRS Labs. I did confirm it is accurate.

Sling has been making a number of announcements around CES, but since I work there and act as blogger liaison I haven’t been posting them since it wouldn’t be cool to ‘scoop’ other sites. I may post a summary later – unless Mark jumps in with more posts in the meantime.

Press release:

Jan 7, 2009 08:00 ET

SRS Labs Optimizes Audio Playback Experience for Slingbox Users

Sling Media licenses the popular SRS WOW HD™ audio solution to enable top quality playback of live and recorded TV programs

SANTA ANA, Calif., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — SRS Labs (NASDAQ:SRSL) , the industry leader in surround sound, audio, and voice technologies, announced today that Sling Media Inc., a leading digital lifestyle products company, has licensed the SRS WOW HD for use in their SlingPlayer™ for Windows software in order to enrich the users audio entertainment experience. In conjunction with the Slingbox™, SlingPlayer allows consumers to watch and control their home TV or DVR on their Windows® computer, just as if they were in their living room, from around the home or around the world.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070322/LATH036LOGO)

SRS WOW HD is a patented, state-of-the-art audio solution that makes a remarkable improvement in the sound quality of any digital media. By detecting and restoring audio cues buried in the original audio source material, SRS WOW HD makes a demonstrable difference in the overall entertainment experience — content sounds more natural, with renewed depth and clarity. SRS WOW HD provides an immersive 3D audio experience with ultra-clear high-frequency definition and deep, rich bass, breathing new life into any TV show, movie, or video.

Sling Media produces a wide range of networked media products, including hardware, software, mobile software, backend web services and the recently announced Sling.com website. The Emmy® award-winning Slingbox is a small piece of hardware, which when connected in their home, allows a customer to watch and control their TV and/or DVR, through a home network or over the Internet, from any of the SlingPlayer software applications. The SlingPlayer for Windows software, now utilizing SRS WOW HD, works hand-in-hand with the Slingbox hardware back at home, making the entire living room TV viewing experience available on the laptop or desktop computer — anywhere. Users can view their favorite live sporting events and recorded programs when they are away from home, with full control of multiple entertainment devices, including DVRs, cable or satellite set-top boxes, and even DVD players.

“As new convergence products and product categories are created, the demand for audio performance and optimization becomes even greater,” said Allen Gharapetian, Vice President of Marketing for SRS Labs. “The broad range of SRS technologies provides solutions for any digital audio application, especially those associated with the rapid growth of television viewing on computers over the internet. Working with an industry leader like Sling Media is a natural partnership, and we are pleased to help them deliver a premium audio experience to the consumers in this growing and popular new market.”

SRS WOW HD, when integrated into the SlingPlayer for Windows software, will provide users with premium sound through the remote computer’s built-in speakers, separate desktop speakers, or headphones. The upgraded SlingPlayer software, available to customers in the first quarter of 2009, will be provided initially to Slingbox PRO-HD owners. Sling Media expects to support other Slingbox owners in subsequent releases. Existing customers will be able to upgrade their systems to add SRS WOW HD through the automatic update process built into the SlingPlayer software.

“With a goal of delivering the best possible picture and sound quality to Slingbox owners, making the decision to integrate advanced audio technologies from SRS was an easy one,” said Ted Malone, Vice President of Product Marketing and Product Management for Sling Media. “SRS is the recognized authority in the audio processing space, with a strong track record in both the television and broadcast fields. We are very excited to partner with them in order to deliver improved sound quality to our customers.”

About SRS Labs, Inc.

Founded in 1993, SRS Labs is the industry leader in audio signal processing for consumer electronics. Beginning with the audio technologies originally developed at Hughes Aircraft, SRS Labs holds over 150 worldwide patents and is recognized by the industry as the foremost authority in research and application of human auditory principals. Through partnerships with leading global CE companies, semiconductor manufacturers and software partners, SRS audio, surround sound and voice processing technologies have been included in over one billion electronic products sold worldwide including HDTVs, mobile phones, portable media devices, PCs and automotive entertainment. In fact, SRS Labs is the de-facto standard of HDTV audio processing with nine of the top ten name brand flat panel TVs featuring SRS technology. Additionally, SRS Labs surround sound solutions provide the professional broadcast and recording industries with high-performance production, back-haul, storage, and transmission capability. SRS Labs supports manufacturers worldwide with offices in the US, China, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, visit http://www.srslabs.com/.

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release, including those by Mr. Gharapetian, may constitute forward- looking statements regarding our assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events that are based on management’s belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the Company’s goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect the Company’s actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Some of these factors include the acceptance of new SRS Labs’ products and technologies, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions, especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in the Company’s Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC. SRS Labs specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

SRS Labs, Inc. Contact:
Cyndee Pelino, Sr. Marketing Manager
949-442-5518
cyndeep@srslabs.com

Press Contact:
Chuck Back, Noyd Communications Inc.
310-614-2358
chuck.back@noydcom.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Matt Glover, Liolios Group, Inc.
949-574-3860
info@liolios.com

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070322/LATH036LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: SRS Labs, Inc.

CONTACT: Cyndee Pelino, Sr. Marketing Manager of SRS Labs, Inc.,
+1-949-442-5518, cyndeep@srslabs.com; or Press, Chuck Back of Noyd
Communications Inc., +1-310-614-2358, chuck.back@noydcom.com, or Investor
Relations, Matt Glover of Liolios Group, Inc., +1-949-574-3860,
info@liolios.com, both for SRS Labs, Inc.

Web site: http://www.srslabs.com/

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Both the Slingbox PRO-HD and SlingCatcher MSRP at USD$299.99, but the best deals I’ve seen on both are from PROVANTAGE – currently Slingbox PRO-HD for $241.70 and SlingCatcher for $240.47.

Buy.com has it for $249.99 + $9.85 shipping, $259.84 total!

But that’s not all, PROVANTAGE has it for $235.11 + $6.95 shipping, just $242.06 total!

PROVANTAGE is also listing the SlingCatcher, also $299.99 MSRP, for only $241.03 + $6.95 shipping – $247.98! The SlingCatcher isn’t shipping just yet, but will be shipping very soon.

PROVANTAGE offers faster, and more expensive, shipping options. And if you order both at once you save a little bit on shipping ($11.35 for ground together).

I’m really surprised to see them discounted so heavily already – especially before the official release of the SlingCatcher.

Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media and I am the beta program manager on the PRO-HD.

EDIT: And more coverage:
The Gadgetress
Engadget
EngadgetHD
jkOnTheRun
Gizmodo
Obsessable
TG Daily
TWICE
Silicon Alley Insider
TVPredictions
TechSpot
SlashGear
Multichannel News
ZDNet – The Mobile Gadgeteer
TheStreet.com
Electronista
Electronic House
Boy Genius Report
eHomeUpgrade
ZDNet – The Toybox
Obsessable – Product Page

The Slingbox PRO-HD is the first Slingbox capable of streaming content in high-definition, up to 1080i, across a LAN. Replacing the Slingbox PRO at the top of the Slingbox lineup, the PRO-HD supports three inputs: component video, S-Video or composite video, and RF. The internal RF tuner is digital, capable of tuning NTSC, ATSC, analog cable, and Clear QAM digital channels. The PRO-HD has another trick as well, it can stream 5.1 audio – from the internal digital tuner, or from an SPDIF coax digital audio input associated with the component video input.

The SlingCatcher, first announced in January 2007 and intended to ship last year, has been hotly anticipated due to the delay. It is the yin to the Slingbox’s yang, a hardware receiver instead of a sender. The SlingCatcher can stream content from your Slingbox – on the other side of the house, or the other side of the world – and put it on your TV. It can also access content from your PC as well as content from the soon-to-be-launched Sling.com online portal and the Internet.

The SlingCatcher has a number of connectivity options, with HDMI, component video, S-Video, and composite video out as well as SPDIF coax digital audio and analog stereo L/R audio out. In addition it has an Ethernet port for the required network connectivity, as well as two USB ports which can be used to connect USB mass storage devices to store content.

Supported media formats:
* Video: WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, Xvid
* Audio: MP2, MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3
* File formats: .avi, .vob, .ifo, .ps, .ts, .mpg, .wmv, .asf, .mov, .mp4,.m4v, .mp3, .wma, .mp4a, .m4a, .wav

But it is more than just product pages – both units are available for pre-order now! You can pre-order the Slingbox PRO-HD direct from Sling Media or from Amazon, it is $299.99 in either location. The SlingCatcher is also available direct from Sling Media as well as Amazon, and is also $299.99. Though if you’re an Amazon Prime member you may save money on shipping by ordering from Amazon.

I’ve also added both units to this site’s store, which is powered by Amazon.

Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media as a Beta Manager. Guess what I’ve been doing.

On Wednesday at CES I managed to spend some time in Sling Media’s booth, including a nice sit-down with Dave Zatz for a demo of the SlingCatcher and the new SlingPlayer 2.0, including the Clip+Sling functionality. See my previous posts on the Slingbox PRO-HD and SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry and the SlingModem, SlingCatcher, SlingLink Wireless, and SlingPlayer 2.0 announcements. Of all the things I saw at the show the products I’m most interested in for myself are Sling’s. I definitely plan to get both a Slingbox PRO-HD and a SlingCatcher for my own use.

I’m not the only one with an interest in Sling’s products, TiVo founder Mike Ramsay also dropped by for a demo while I was there. I also caught one of the Monsoon Multimedia executives getting a demo of Sling’s latest offerings. Monsoon produces the HAVA, a Slingbox competitor. Sling’s booth was really hopping, and was still busy when I passed by just before the end of the show on Thursday when most of the booths were quiet.

I’ll start with the odd-man-out, the Sling TR40 Digital-to-Analog Converter STB. I was a bit surprised to see it, since it doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of Sling’s product line, but got a decent explanation. The TR40 was developed by EchoStar, which recently acquired Sling Media. While Sling has a retail presence and a strong retail brand name with consumers, EchoStar does not. Most consumers probably aren’t even familiar with the EchoStar name, and if they are they associate it with DISH Network. So EchoStar is planning to use the Sling brand name for some other consumer products, and the TR40 is the first of those. It sounds like EchoStar’s hardware business, at least the consumer focused products, will probably carry the Sling brand. But it remains to be seen just how the plans are fleshed out and which products end up under the Sling banner. You can see in the photos that the remote on display still carried the DISH Network brand, which would change before retail distribution.

The TR40 is one of the new raft of converter boxes to convert OTA ATSC signals to analog input for older televisions. It is a very simple box with a clean design. There is a single coax input and output as well as a composite video and stereo audio output set. The TR40 is notable because it will have a $39.99 MSRP, and with the $40 NTIA coupon the box is effectively free. Most of the other converter boxes have a $50-$70 MSRP, making them $10-$30 with the coupon. So the TR40 may be quite popular with those who need a converter box.

Getting into the things Sling is better known for, they had examples of all of their major hardware and software lines on display. In addition to the newly announced SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry, they were exhibiting a number of Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and Symbian phones running the SlingPlayer Mobile software. I asked about the iPhone, of course, as Blake Krikorian, Sling’s CEO, has made comments about it as a future SPM platform. Sling is looking at the iPhone, but is mainly waiting for Apple to release the promised SDK, which is due in February. Sling won’t really know what they can do with the iPhone (and iPod Touch, which will share the SDK) until the SDK is available for them to review.

I also asked Dave Zatz about the Google Android platform, both out of personal interest and because of the buzz around the platform. He said that developers have downloaded the early SDK that Google made available, but that it isn’t an official effort at this time. And, since Android is still a future platform that isn’t running on any phones today, the development efforts are rightfully focused on things like the Blackberry and expanding support to more devices using their existing platforms. And the iPhone would certainly take priority over Android development as a widely deployed platform.

And interesting thing about the Blackberry client, it is J2ME based, not a native application. I think that’s very interesting because there are other mobile platforms that support J2ME and it might make it easier to bring SPM to those platforms. But, even more than that, if Sling has SPM working on a Java platform, could they produce a browser-based Java client? Maybe accessing your Slingbox from any Java-supporting browser is in our future.

Sling also had the previously announced SlingModem on display. The SlingModem is basically a DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 2.0 cable modem and a Slingbox SOLO combined in one unit, though it lacks the SOLO’s pass-through connectors. It is really aimed at cable MSOs to offer to their subscribers as a value-added service. As I covered in my earlier post, Sling currently has no plans to sell the SlingModem at retail. They’re still pursuing deals with MSOs to offer the SlingModem via channel distribution, and you can see the ‘Your Logo Here’ box on the front the display unit. The idea is to make it easier for less technically savvy users. Since the Slingbox is part of the modem, there is no need to mess with router/firewall configurations to enable outside access. Though it would mean co-locating the cable modem with your video source.

Another new box on display was the Slingbox PRO-HD, which I’m personally quite excited about. Unlike the original Slingbox PRO or the Slingbox SOLO, which both accept component video input but down-sample to 640×480 for streaming, the PRO-HD will stream video up to 1080i. Additionally, for the first time on any Slingbox, the PRO-HD has a coax digital audio input to stream 5.1 audio as well. All other Slingboxes are limited to stereo audio input.

One thing about the Slingbox PRO-HD which wasn’t obvious until I saw the hardware is that it only supports three inputs, not four as with the old Slingbox PRO. The PRO has an internal NTSC/analog cable tuner, component video (via the HD Connect dongle), S-Video, and composite video, each with an associated audio input. The PRO-HD however has an internal digital tuner which supports ATSC/Clear-QAM as well as NTSC/analog cable, component video input with both the coax digital audio input and stereo analog audio, and S-Video and composite video inputs which share a single set of stereo audio input jacks. So the PRO-HD is designed to support an S-Video or a composite video source, and not both simultaneously as on the PRO. So the PRO-HD officially supports three inputs instead of the PRO’s four. There are tricks to support four devices – you could connect two devices to the S-Video and composite jacks, and use splitter cables to connect both the same audio input jacks. As long as only one device is feeding the PRO-HD at a time it should be fine. (The same trick can be used to support multiple devices on the classic Slingbox, the Slingbox AV, and the Slingbox SOLO.)

As a Slingbox PRO owner, I have to say I like the looks of the PRO-HD better as well. Not that I think the PRO is ugly or anything, but the PRO-HD looks more ‘serious’, for lack of a better word. I think it may reflect some maturing of the Slingbox design cues, and perhaps of the company in general as they grow. I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

Also on display is the revised SlingCatcher. It has been a bit of a long journey for the SlingCatcher so far. Announced at CES 2007 for a mid-2007 release, then delayed until fall, an FCC leak, a packaging leak, and finally being delayed until 2008. The SlingCatcher being exhibited this year has grown up a bit from the model originally introduced last year, and I think the wait will be worth it. In the demo Dave Zatz gave me the UI looked very polished and I was impressed by the features, as well as the SlingSync and SlingProjector software. I do think Sling could do a few things to improve the product, and I’ll talk about that below, but it is a solid product and I’m sure it will evolve even further.

The SlingCatcher supports a wide array of video and audio codecs, making it quite a powerful STB. While DivX isn’t listed in the official codec list, note that Xvid is there – and basically everything you need to support DivX is in place. In order to list DivX Sling would need to have the SlingCatcher certified. In other words, read between the lines and I bet DivX will work just fine, listed or not.

The SlingCatcher will receive content from three primary sources – a Slingbox, your PC, or the Internet, such as Clip+Sling content from Sling.com. You will also likely be able to access content from Sling’s content partners, such as CBS. They’re still talking about the possibility of other partners for movies and the like. Just as an example the SlingCatcher could act as a client for Netflix’s streaming service. And since it supports storage it could also be a client for download services like Akimbo or Amazon Unbox. I think we’ll hear more along these lines in the future.

Speaking of storage, when the SlingCatcher was exhibited at CES 2007 it was shown ‘docked’ on top of a Sling branded hard drive. At this time that drive is no longer in the plans. The SlingCatcher’s chassis still retains the design to sit on top of the drive, in case they offer it in the future, but for now it is intended for ‘bring your own storage’. (I have an idea for that docking design, see below.) The SlingCatcher will support any USB mass storage device formatted with FAT32. USB Flash drives, USB hard drives, PMPs which support a drive mode, whatever. So you can attach your storage device directly and access the media stored there.

To facilitate this, the SlingCatcher has two USB ports on the back. For many users one of those ports will probably have a SlingLink Wireless connected. The other port is then available for your USB storage device. You can size the storage to your needs, as large as you require.

The SlingCatcher comes with a remote which has a unique design. It looks a bit angular, but I can attest that it is comfortable to use. And because of the asymmetrical shape you always know that you’re holding it correctly. The buttons on the remote will be familiar to those who use the SlingPlayer software. The SlingCatcher remote is basically a hardware implementation of the default SlingPlayer controls. Dave told me that the SlingPlayer Mobile software team was involved in developing the SlingCatcher software. It is well designed and very easy to use, even a novice user should have no difficulty. You may note the ‘Scissor’ button on the remote. Right now that doesn’t do anything, but it is intended for future use with Clip+Sling on the SlingCatcher itself.

The SlingCatcher remote also controls your TV. I’m not sure if it is a learning remote or if it is limited to a predefined set of IR codes. I think it is a learning remote, but I’m waiting to hear back from Dave to be sure.

On the software side, Sling was showing three new products. SlingSync and SlingProjector come with the SlingCatcher and provide access to media on the PC via the SlingCatcher. SlingPlayer 2.0 is the next generation of the SlingPlayer software, with a new UI and many enhancements, including Clip+Sling.

SlingSync, as the name implies, is meant to synchronize content from the PC to the USB storage attached to the SlingCatcher. So you can have it keep media folders on your PC synchronized with the SlingCatcher so you can access you media immediately. It is fairly easy to grasp the functionality.

SlingProjector is a bit different, and it looks fairly impressive. Unlikely SlingSync, which copies your files to the local SlingCatcher storage, SlingProjector, as the name implies, ‘projects’ content from the PC to the SlingCatcher. It is very nifty, basically anything you can play on the PC you can project to the SlingCatcher. YouTube, Google Video, Hulu, video from network websites, even DVDs playing on your PC – project it to the SlingCatcher. The software has some intelligence and it can automatically recognize areas of the screen, so you can rapidly select the region of the screen with the video you want to project. And, if it isn’t perfect, you can select the ‘box’ and manually resize it as required. So say the video you’re watching is letterboxed, you can select just the viewable area and project only that – cropping off the letterboxing.

SlingPlayer 2.0 is an evolution of today’s SlingPlayer software. The new software adds a 60 minute local playback buffer which allows you to pause, rewind, and fast-forward the program locally. The UI has been spruced up and there are a number of updates, including an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) source from Zap2it.com (which is run by TMS, the same company that provides TiVo’s guide data). At this point a Slingbox with SlingPlayer 2.0 is a hair’s breadth from forming a DVR. All they need to do is add recording capability to SlingPlayer and they’d have a functioning DVR. I asked Dave about that, but Sling has no plans currently to add recording. Maybe at some point in the future. While it wouldn’t replace TiVo, I do think they should do it. And it is clear that not doing it is a deliberate choice, as everything is in place for it in 2.0 aside from allowing the buffer to be saved.

The most notable addition in SlingPlayer 2.0 is Clip+Sling. It has been incorporated into the player very well, and it is extremely easy to use. There is a ‘Scissor’ icon which triggers the Clip+Sling functionality. When you open this, it stops the video and opens a slider with a highlighted region. You can then drag the start and end of this region to fine tune the clip. The maximum length of the clip hasn’t been decided yet, though figures in the 5 to 10 minute range have been bantered around. Sling wants to make it long enough to be useful, but not too long as to invite the wrath of content owners. You’re not going to see something like 30 minute clips.

Once you have it selected, you’re prompted for some basic info, such as title and tags. Some of the fields, like the title, are handily pre-populated for you if the software knows them – such as if you’re streaming Live TV and the program is in the EPG. You can edit them of course, but it makes things easier if you don’t need to.

Once you’ve selected the clip and filled in the fields it is automatically encoded and uploaded to Sling.com. Once it is uploaded you’re able to share the link to the clip with friends, in blogs, etc. And Sling will have moderators working to organize uploaded content into categories and ‘channels’, to make it easy for others to find it. They’re really planning to foster a social aspect around Clip+Sling and Sling.com. The one thing that Sling.com doesn’t allow is YouTube-style embedding of content, right now it is only linking. I really hope they allow embedding, as it would be more useful for blogging about content. And that would encourage the use of Clip+Sling, which in turn could fuel the growth of the site. So I think it would be the right thing to do all-around.

On a different note, Dave clued me in on something interesting. In the DISH Network booth they had a ViP622 DISH PVR connected to a Slingbox, which isn’t too surprising. But what most people would probably not notice is that there were no IR blasters. And that wasn’t just a trade show blunder. Now that Sling is under the EchoStar roof one of the first cooperative efforts has been to enable network control of the DISH PVR from the Slingbox. Since both units can be connected to the network they can communicate that way instead of using the IR blasters. Dave said Sling is willing to work with other STB vendors, such as TiVo, to so the same. Of course, there is the small matter of the pending litigation between TiVo and EchoStar that will need to be settled before the two can really cooperate on developments.

Overall it was a fairly impressive showing from Sling this year, and 2008 should be an exciting year for them. I suspect there is even more in the works than has been announced to date. Personally I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the Slingbox PRO-HD and the SlingCatcher.

Now, looking at everything Sling was showing gave me a few ideas. One thing I’d love to see is a Slingbox PRO-HD combined with a SlingCatcher. While I want a Slingbox PRO-HD to connect to my TiVo Series3, and a SlingCatcher to access it from the bedroom, it would be nice to have a SlingCatcher with my main set as well, to access the content. And one less STB is always a good thing. So I do hope they release an all-in-one box.

I also wonder if the Slingbox PRO-HD has the internal wiring to act as a digital converter box. It has an ATSC tuner, and it has the physical analog video output ports, but I don’t know if it has the wiring to take that tuned ATSC signal and feed it out the analog ports. Probably not, but it is just an idle idea really.

One thing the SlingCatcher is missing, and I think this is a big gap, is streaming media from a PC. (Well, and any Mac support – but I have to believe that is coming.) SlingSync will copy content from the PC to storage on the SlingCatcher. SlingProjector will project content playing on the PC to the SlingCatcher. But if you have media on the PC, audio or video files, there is no way to access them – to stream them – immediately. You either have to copy them to the local storage or play them on the PC and project the PC’s media player output. I think they really need to give the SlingCatcher the ability to access network content – music, videos, and photos – across the network.

When they do this (and I do think it is when and not if, it just needs to be done) I hope they allow access to network shares without the need for any special software. That would allow viewing of content stored on a NAS, which are becoming increasingly common for home users. And it would also make it easier to access content from all manner of devices. Another good addition would be DLNA support as an increasing number of devices have it. With DLNA support the SlingCatcher could even act as a client for XStreamHD.

Something else that I think would be a clever addition – recognizing TiVo Desktop. Since TiVo Desktop can publish music, photos, and video, and there is a fairly significant installed base (and I bet a lot of SlingCatcher customers will be TiVo owners), it would be very nifty if the SlingCatcher just automagically recognized the existing TiVo Desktop media. And since the protocol format is published and open, it should be quite possible. There is no need to work with TiVo, you just need to recognize the Bonjour server publication and support the TiVo Server HTTP/XML protocol. Even if they don’t make a big deal out of it, it would be a sweet Easter Egg of a feature to plug-in your SlingCatcher and find your existing published media waiting to be accessed.

The next logical step would be to make the SlingCatcher a TiVo Multi-Room Viewing or TiVoToGo client. To be able to copy content directly from a TiVo to the SlingCatcher, so it could access as a ‘thin’ client instead of needing a TiVo in the second room. However, since MRV and TTG are encrypted, Sling would need to work with TiVo to support this – and see the above comment about the lawsuit needing to be resolved first. Sure, the TTG protection has been cracked by 3rd parties in software like TiVo Decode, and Sling could technically use that work to support it without TiVo’s help, but that’s hairy legal territory. And it would probably sour any potential relationship between the companies, which is the important issue in the longer term. But it would still be a fantastic feature, so I hope the lawsuit is settled soon and they can get past it to work together.

And I had an idea for a piece of hardware. You know how I said the SlingCatcher was designed to sit on top of the Sling-branded drive, which has been dropped from the current plans? And how the SlingCatcher has two USB ports – one which may have a SlingLink Wireless, and the other storage? Well, the latter is a little inconvenient for attaching other devices. Say you have the SlingLink Wireless and a USB hard drive attached, you’ll have to disconnect one of them (probably the drive) to attach another USB device to access the content. During the demo Dave mentioned using a USB card reader to access digital photos from a digital camera, or attaching the camera directly via USB, which seems like a great idea. But not only will many users have to unplug something first, but the ports are on the back of the unit, making them harder to access.

That’s where the drive design comes in. Sling should recycle the hardware design work they did for the drive. They already have the design for it, making a nice base for the SlingCatcher to sit on top of so that it looks like one slick unit. It is a shame to waste. But I understand not wanting to deal with selling a drive, especially as USB storage devices proliferate and come down in price. So here’s what I suggest – recycle the overall design as a memory card reader and USB hub!

Take the same basic design and put a multi-format card reader on the *front* – Compact Flash, MMC/SD, MemoryStick, etc. Multi-format card readers are dirt cheap these days, even at retail, and I’m sure Sling could acquire a module wholesale for peanuts. Take the shape developed for the drive and leave the drive out. Put in the card reader so that the slots are on the front, along with a couple of USB ports for easy access from other devices. And put a couple of USB ports on the back as well, for permanently attached storage (since the base would be connected to one of the two USB ports on the SlingCatcher, and keeping the other one for the SlingLink Wireless). There you go – instantly increasing the usefulness of the SlingCatcher as a media access STB. And it is pretty much a hollow plastic shell with simple components – a USB hub and a card reader – so it shouldn’t cost much to produce, comparatively. C’mon Sling, you know it is a good idea.

OK, that’s enough out of me – for now.

On the other hand, the HAVA’s integration with Windows allows it to be used as a Windows Media Center tuner, just like a tuner installed in the PC only over the network. And HAVA’s PC software allows for recording the streams, something Sling has yet to offer in their official products. (There have been 3rd party solutions for recording Sling streams.)

The HAVA Wireless with HD has a built in NTSC/ATSC tuner (no mention of QAM like the SB PRO-HD) as well as component video input and can stream video up to 1080i. There is no mention of any digital audio input however, so it doesn’t sound like it has the ability to stream 5.1 audio like the PRO-HD.

The HAVA streams using MPEG-2 locally, which probably explains the need for 11n WiFi instead of 11g, while using MPEG-4 for Internet streaming.

It will be available in ‘Spring 2008′, and no pricing has been announced at this time.

The press release:

Jan 7, 2008 11:30 ET

Monsoon Multimedia Announces Streaming HD Video Over WiFi With HAVA

Monsoon HAVA First to Stream True 1080i Video to any PC Throughout a Home Wireless Network

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ — Monsoon Multimedia, an innovative digital video solutions provider, today announced HAVA as the first consumer solution to stream HD video throughout a home 802.11n or wired network. Customers can now enjoy the full glory of HD video on multiple PCs throughout the home or view and control live home TV from anywhere in the world on a broadband-connected PC, Windows Mobile phone or handheld computer.

The HAVA wireless hardware setup is fast, easy and eliminates the need to run ethernet cables, or purchase costly HomePlug or PowerLine adapters required by similar place-shifting solutions. The included HAVA Player software includes a wide range of familiar virtual remote control designs allowing users to change channels and control other features of their video source as if they were sitting at home.

Combined with 802.11n-enabled laptops, Monsoon’s breakthrough technology in streaming true HD offers households a viable alternative to the traditional TV set. Users can enjoy television and video content on their laptops as a portable, hi-resolution alternative that brings together all of the features of a television and the power of a PC.

“Wireless-N technology with notebook computers based on Intel(R) Centrino(R) processor technology featuring 45nm Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor delivers the speed and coverage needed for consumers to wirelessly enjoy their digital entertainment in full HD,” said Erik Reid, Director of Marketing, Mobile Platforms Group, Intel Corporation. ” Our wireless-N technology improves the home network experience — especially when multiple people access their wireless network simultaneously and enjoy bandwidth consuming applications such as full HD video entertainment.”

Monsoon’s HAVA also allows a PC to operate with TiVo-like functionality. Customers can pause, fast forward, rewind and record live TV to a PC hard disk and burn the recorded content to DVD for archiving purposes. In addition, the HAVA can employ WiFi to serve as a wireless network TV tuner for Media Center PCs within the home allowing customers to enjoy the full functionality of their Media Center XP or Vista PC without having to install a TV Tuner Card or place their PC in the living room.

“Wirelessly streaming HD TV to PCs and other portable devices throughout the home has been a dream until now,” said Colin Stiles EVP, Sales and Marketing at Monsoon. “Our world class engineering team continues to enrich the consumer TV experience, by mobilizing HD TV content with 802.11n and eliminating the inconvenience of wires or costly power-line adapters. Monsoon’s leadership position in place-shifting technology is really TV Set Free”

HAVA features Monsoon’s vBooster technology which provides superior picture quality and enables multicast video allowing an unlimited* number of PCs connected to a home network to view video content while simultaneously transmitting video to a broadband-connected PC or mobile phone anywhere in the world. Monsoon’s vBooster technology allows the local MPEG-2 video streams to bypass the router, effectively doubling the available bandwidth, while simultaneously keeping the PC connected to the router for non-video traffic.

  Monsoon HAVA Features:

  -- Stream Live 1080i, 720p and 480p HD TV to multiple PCs within the home
     (Multicast)
  -- ATSC/NTSC hybrid tuner to receive off-the-air HDTV broadcast
  -- Component input and support for HD video source (1080i, 720p,
     480p/576p) played back in the native 16:9 aspect ratio on the client
     display
  -- Supports Windows Vista
  -- Functions as a wireless networked TV Tuner for Microsoft Media Center
     PCs on home network
  -- Connects to any TV source including Cable, Satellite, DVD, TiVo or a
     Camcorder
  -- Enables TiVo-like functionality on the PC. Users can record, store,
     pause, rewind and fast forward stored video
  -- Schedule and record programs for later viewing
  -- Allows archival of recorded material to DVD
  -- All inputs include a pass-through connector, eliminating the use of
     splitters when connecting HAVA to home video equipment
  -- Streams video at an average of 18-20Mbps directly to PCs in a home
     network in MPEG-2 at HD resolution up to 1920x1080
  -- Streams MPEG-2 format over the home network, MPEG-4 format over the
     Internet
  -- Supports Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0 cell phones and PDAs

Pricing and Availability

The Monsoon Multimedia HAVA with true HD streaming will be available Spring 2008 through select retailers and etailers nationwide as well as directly through Monsoon’s e-tailing division at http://www.myhava.com/

About Monsoon Multimedia

Monsoon Multimedia provides advanced, standards based multimedia products and technologies for the PC and Consumer Electronics industries. Monsoon licenses highly optimized multimedia solutions compromised of applications, drivers, frameworks, middleware and reference designs. Monsoon customers and partners are semiconductor companies, PC manufacturers, software suppliers and consumer electronics companies. Founded by the founders of Dazzle and Emuzed, Monsoon Multimedia is headquartered in Noida, India with offices in California and Russia. For more information, please visit http://www.monsoonmultimedia.com/.

  * The number of PCs is based on available network bandwidth

   Media Contact:
   Anders Steele
   FortyThree, Inc.
   831.239.0960
   monsoon@fortythreepr.com

Source: Monsoon Multimedia

CONTACT: Anders Steele of FortyThree, Inc., +1-831-239-0960,
monsoon@fortythreepr.com, for Monsoon Multimedia

Web site: http://www.myhava.com/
http://www.monsoonmultimedia.com/

First let me just say – I CALLED IT! Sling has developd a SlingModem – a cable modem with integrated Slingbox. As previously reported, it has already been certified by CableLabs. According to Dave Zatz, Sling is in talks with a number of cable MSOs, both domestic and foreign to bring the product to market. They don’t have any current plans to market it independently. Having been, apparently, the first person to notice Sling was working on a cable modem, it is nice to see it officially confirmed. But that’s not all…

I also called it! The SlingLink Wireless is Sling’s branded 802.11g WiFi adapter. It will be available in 2Q08 for $49.99. While, currently, it will officially only be supported on the SlingCatcher, note that the Slingbox SOLO also has a USB port, as does the just announced Slingbox PRO-HD. I think it is reasonable to expect the SlingLink Wireless to be supported on these units as well in the future. The design of the SlingLink Wireless looks somewhat familiar, but I can’t place it off-hand. You have a USB WiFi dongle and a kind of docking station with a cable that allows you to position it better. So you could stick it right into the box, if that works for you, or use the cable and position it away from the Slingbox for better reception.

And, speaking of the SlingCatcher, after being teased with FCC and packaging leaks, we have more official news. Having been postponed from late 2007, Sling has now set the release for 2Q08 with an MSRP of $249.99. We’ve previously seen the SlingCatcher and the remote, and there isn’t really anything new there. The SlingCatcher will work as a client for Slingboxes, of course, including support for streams up to 1080i from the Slingbox PRO-HD. We’ll have to see at the show if all the leaked specifications are accurate. But Dave did say that, while it was displayed at CES 2007 with a branded hard drive ‘dock’ that the SlingCatcher would sit on top of, Sling will not initially be selling the drive. The chassis has still been designed to support the dock if it is shipped in the future, but for now it will be ‘bring your own storage’. It supports USB mass storage devices – USB flash drives, hard drives, etc. So you can supply the amount of storage you want.

The SlingCatcher has two USB ports, with the second port intended for the above-mentioned SlingLink Wireless. It also comes with software applications. SlingSync will synchronize a variety of content, including HD content, from a PC to the USB mass storage device attached to the SlingCatcher. SlingProjector will stream content from a PC to the SlingCatcher in real-time. It can stream anything form the PC’s desktop, including select regions. And it has some intelligence to recognize specific content, such as a video playing from YouTube, to make it easy to stream just that content to the SlingCatcher.

Also on display at CES 2008 is SlingPlayer 2.0, which includes the Clip+Sling functionality. You’ll be able to grab short clips of the shows you’re streaming and share them online. Sling Media has already parked the domain Sling.com for use with Clip+Sling. SlingPlayer 2.0 will be available in 1Q08 as a free download for Slingbox owners.

SlingPlayer 2.0 also includes an Electronic Program Guide, with data from TMS, which makes it easy to find programs to stream from Live TV. Especially useful for those who feed their Slingbox directly from a cable or satellite receiver, or those with a Slingbox Tuner, Slingbox PRO, or Slingbox PRO-HD, which have built-in tuners. And, finally, SlingPlayer 2.0 includes a 60 minute stream buffer that allows you to pause, rewind, and fast-forward locally even if you don’t have a DVR feeding your Slingbox.

The official press releases will be up on Sling’s site in the morning.

Well, the nice thing about technology is that it doesn’t rest. Each new generation of chips has been more capable and less expensive, and now we’re seeing HD-capable consumer products starting to appear. They’re still at the high-end of the consumer products, but it is inevitable that pricing will come down and we’ll see these capabilities in more products. I covered the Slingbox PRO-HD the other day. It isn’t a DVR, but it does accept HD component input at resolutions up to 1080i and it can encode and stream the signal in the same resolutions. Unlike previous generation products like the Slingbox PRO and Slingbox SOLO, which accept 1080i input but down-sample it to 640×480 for encoding, the Slingbox PRO-HD can stream up to 1080i. The same capabilities could just as easily be used to save the encoded video to media as to stream it – a DVR. The Slingbox PRO-HD will carry an MSRP of $399.99 when it ships in the third quarter.

But that’s not all, Gefen is releasing an HD DVR which can record from not only component input, but also HDMI. Now, details are thin, but I’d bet this unit has the same limitation as existing HDMI capture devices, namely that it can’t record content protected with HDCP. So don’t get too excited. Still, the unit can record HD video in resolutions of up to 1080i to SD cards (SecureDigital) or an internal 80GB hard drive. It is a fairly basic recorder, nothing fancy, and 80GB isn’t a lot of storage. The price? $999.00. Yeah, you’re not going to be picking one of these up instead of a TiVo HD, or even a Series3. But, unlike the TiVos, it could be used with HD cable or satellite STBs.

This isn’t what most people are looking for in a DVR – no scheduled recordings, let alone Season Passes – but the fact that the hardware exists is a good predictor for the future. Give it another year or two and another generation or two of hardware development, and the costs will come down. This is the kind of capability we might see in a future HD TiVo for applications where direct access to the digital stream is unavailable – like satellite or digital cable in other countries (Canada).

However, it is unlikely that you would want to use this kind of product when you have the direct option – it isn’t going to replace CableCARD. Why? Quality. As users of digital DVRs are probably already personally aware, SD digital cable channels look much better on a digital DVR than when recorded on an older STB-DVR pairing, like the TiVo Series2. And that is because the digital model records the native digital source as-is, while recording the same channel from a STB requires encoding it in real time in the DVR. Digital signals are normally encoded at the head end using powerful, multi-pass encoding systems which produce very high quality encodes with lower bandwidth requirements. When you can record that signal as-is, watching a recording is identical to watch live.

But when you use an STB that signal is received by the STB, decoded for output, output as an analog component video signal, then captured by the DVR and encoded. And the local encoding has to be done as a single-pass, real-time encoding, since the DVR doesn’t have the luxury of making multiple passes over the video to optimize the encoding. This produces a lower-quality encoding with higher bandwidth requirements. That’s just the nature of the beast.

Not to mention that it mens going back to all the mess we’ve gotten away from – connecting STBs to the DVR, using IR blasters, paying the box fees for the STB, etc. And doing dual-tuners would be complicated as you’d need two STBs and two IR blasters and would have to avoid cross-talk. That’s one of the main reasons the TiVo Series2DT only supports one STB. I think most users would rather deal with CableCARD than go back to that mess and accept lower quality. But when you don’t have another option, it doesn’t look so bad. The technological-economic barriers to a consumer level component DVR are falling.

The official press releases go out in the morning, but Dave Zatz of Sling Media dropped me an email to let me know about two new products. I also spoke to him by phone to clarify a few points and to get some additional information. First is the Slingbox PRO-HD, pictured here. As the name implies, it is a new version of the Slingbox PRO which supports HD streaming.

It has been fully updated. The internal tuner is now digital and supports ATSC and clear QAM. It no longer needs the HD Connect cable, instead it has integrated component video inputs, like the Slingbox SOLO. It also has a coax digital audio input and can stream 5.1 audio. (There is no optical digital input.) The biggest change of all is the ability to stream content at resolutions of up to 1080i, bandwidth allowing. All current Slingboxes stream at a maximum resolution of 640×480 progressive. Speaking with Dave, he believes it will stream at the resolution fed to the box (up to 1080i), so a 720p source will be streamed at 720p. And these HD streams are also available remotely for those with fast enough broadband connections, such as the higher end FiOS service options.

Not only will it stream HD content to the SlingPlayer clients, but it will also stream HD to the forthcoming SlingCatcher – more details of which will be coming soon. The Slingbox PRO-HD is slated for a 3Q2008 release with an MSRP of USD$399.99, so start saving those pennies today.

The other product announcement is SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry. Unlike the Slingbox PRO-HD, which has been a well kept secret, the BlackBerry software has been a known project. Sling will be demonstrating SlingPlayer Mobile on the Blackberry Pearl 8120 at CES. It is similar to the existing SlingPlayer Mobile clients for Windows Mobile, Palm OS, and Symbian, and will support viewing over 3G cellular networks and WiFi. SPM for Blackberry will be available later this year with an MSRP of USD$29.99.

Sling has more news yet to come when CES kicks off Monday. Though if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog you might have a good idea of what to expect.

EDIT: Engadget got some hands-on time with both products and have more photos.