SlingPlayer 1.3 has been released. As with the beta software, you’ll get sexy new skins, a conflict manager, higher LAN throughput and resolution, and several other goodies. If you run Applian’s At-Large-Recorder, you’ll probably want to skip the firmware portion of the upgrade. Go get the details and the download here.

Never enough time…

• Pay Circuit City to bypass the DMCA for you. (Davis Freeberg)
• HAVA place-shifting boxes now shipping. (Press Release)
• Hands-on with the new Archos 604 PMP. (T3)
• Fellow consumer charts Netflix shipping patterns. (Hacking Netflix)

If the BBB can rate these guys, why not me? I’m a stickler for good service — I won’t patronize companies providing inferior service. When I had a billing problem with Sprint about 5 years ago and the phone rep called me a liar, I switched to VoiceStream (Jamie Lee Curtis had nothing to do with it). Conversely, I’m willing to pay for good service: Apple’s not cheap, but they generally take care of you.

The most important aspect of customer service is being treated with respect. If you hear me out and professionally attempt to resolve my issue you’re doing a good job. Obviously, the next set of criteria is being able to actually resolve the issue efficiently. Online forums, support docs, and web apps make me happy too — I’d rather research the problem myself or manage my account if you give me the tools.

With that in mind, here are my ratings of several companies I’ve dealt with over the last year. Feel free to contribute your own ratings in the comments.

I guess this means the Mac SlingPlayer is real! When does Hava’s Mac Beta begin?

Sling VP Jeremy Toeman says: I am letting y’all know that the email just went out to the first wave testers. We will have at least 4 ‘waves’ of testers, and each wave gets almost exponentially larger.

The Sling folks are simultaneously expanding and consolidating their beta programs. As with TiVo’s betas, Sling is now recruiting a pool of applicants to be called up as needed. You can apply here.

VP Jeremy Toeman says: So, if you like the Slingbox and want to get your hands a bit dirty with us on upcoming beta programs, sign up now. As you’ll notice in the application, it is open to virtually anyone regardless of race, creed, sex, or operating system. We will use this as an ongoing program, and will pull people from the pool as needed. So you could hear from us next week, next month, or next year, depending on our needs at the time. For those of you who signed up to the Mac beta program, you might want to consider signing up here as well There won’t be any crossover, but it could get you slotted in for some future stuff.

The place-shifting universe expands next week with the introduction of HAVA, a Slingbox-like hardware device. I rang up Mark Rouchonik, a Director at Monsoon Multimedia, for the details. Mark tells me the major distinction between their device and the Slingbox are LAN multicasting and WiFi features. Multicast doesn’t do a whole lot for me as only one video feed or channel can be displayed at a time, not to mention it is likely to receive negative industry attention (see HBO and MLB). WiFi (no WPA!?) is a great enhancement — one that I’ve suggested Sling incorporate. Initially, only Windows XP (with or without MCE) will be supported. Mark believes their video quality is superior to Sling’s, though I can’t verify his claim until he sends that eval unit.

HAVA boxes are pre-selling online for $199 after a $50 mail-in rebate. From what I gather, “HAVA” will only be available via their website with a wider distribution expected as an OEM for others. Mark wouldn’t tell me who, but said the “big partners” would be announced next month. The likely candidates would be home networking companies like a Netgear or DLink or someone already in this space like a Hauppauge. I can’t imagine a Dell or Gateway getting involved, though anything is possible. Anyone remember the GoVideo Gateway-branded network DVD player?

UPDATE: Shipping has been pushed from 7/17 to 7/31. We shall see…

UPDATE 2: Comments on this post have been closed. I welcome all sorts of discussion but if you choose to engage in deceptive business practices or personal vendettas, do it elsewhere.