The SlingPlayer Mobile for portable Windows devices, which has been in public beta for a month, is officially released today. If you were savvy enough to buy and register a Slingbox by 4/26, the software is free… otherwise it’s going to cost you $29.99. It looks like they’re still working out the kinks on non-touchscreen devices like the TMo SDA (HTC Tornado) and will provide a software update in the near future.

By the way, if you look real closely at the press clipping below you’ll notice additional phone OS support is in the works…

Sling says: Sling Media, Inc., a digital lifestyle consumer electronics products company, today announced the first official release of SlingPlayer™ Mobile for Slingbox™ owners. SlingPlayer Mobile is a new software package that gives Slingbox owners the ability to watch and control their home TV from any network-enabled mobile phone or handheld computer (PDA) powered by Windows Mobile. The SlingPlayer Mobile software available today is compatible with devices that run Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition. Sling Media will deliver a version for non-touchscreen devices based on Windows Mobile Smartphone later this quarter.

“We have been thrilled with the response to our public beta and the feedback we’ve received from our customers,” said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media. “Having completed this important phase of development, we are now ready to officially release SlingPlayer Mobile. While Microsoft Windows Mobile is the first handheld and mobile phone platform that Sling Media is supporting, we are committed to expanding support for other mobile device platforms in the future.”

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Does it really come as any surprise that HBO isn’t in favor of place shifting? If you recall, HBO petitioned the FCC to ban DVR recording too.

Light Reading says: “Content owners don’t like it [Sling] because they think it violates their copyrights,” HBO CTO Bob Zitter said during a panel here Tuesday. Zitter’s comment came in response to a question from the audience concerning how new technologies are changing the way content is distributed. After his keynote address here, HBO’s Zitter wasn’t eager to expand on his on-stage comments. He told Light Reading: “I’m not going to go any deeper into it than that. There are still a number of legal issues that need to be worked out.” Asked if legal proceedings were underway against Sling, Zitter said: “Not involving us, but from others.” When asked if HBO was planning such legal actions, Zitter replied: “I don’t think I want to say.”

Never enough time…

• TiVo cofounder Jim Barton broadcasts the revolution. (ACM Queue)
• Netflix quarterly conference call doesn’t mention TiVo. (Internet Stock Blog)
• Save fifty bucks on a Slingbox and get 2000 United Airlines miles. (Sling)
• Details on Clear Channel’s digital radio plans (aka HD) to compete with satellite. (MarketWatch, Business Week)
• Sony releases PSP firmware 2.7 (in Japan) providing Flash and AAC support. (Engadget)
• NHL scores and standings plugin released for BeyondTV. (SnapStream)
• Pay for a year of service and get a free refurb TiVo offer still available. (TiVo)

I may doubt the necessity of 1080p and HD DVD at these prices and with limited content, but the fact is I’m down to a lone standard definition setup (the 9″ kitchen TV doesn’t count) holed up in the bedroom.

TV
I picked up this 32″ JVC about 6 years ago when Consumer Reports recommended a similar model. The picture quality can’t compare to current technology, but I’m having a hard time letting go of a fully functional TV. Maybe I’ll take it off the surge protector and hope for an electrical storm.

TiVo
The 80 hour DVD-burning Humax model replaced my Toshiba SD-H400 DVD-playing unit a few months ago. As the guy who wrote the book on TiVoToGo, I can tell you burning DVDs directly from the TiVo is a more efficient and joyful experience. (Assuming you can live with commercials. If you can’t, see this.) The TiVo is fed directly by analog cable which I output to the TV via S-Video and analog audio cables.

Slingbox
I’m not traveling much these days, so I don’t use the Slingbox regularly. However, my mom doesn’t have a cable drop in her computer room (formerly known as the ‘dining room’) and has been enjoying TLC and Discovery fed to her PC over the Internet. I use TiVo’s video pass-thru to provide the entire range of channels to the internal Slingbox tuner — essentially splitting the cable feed so Mom can’t change my channels or control the TiVo. Occasionally I fire up the laptop SlingPlayer in bed when my fiancé must watch Skating with the Next Top Celebrity American Idol Stars.

Buffalo Wireless Bridge
The Slingbox only provides an Ethernet jack and TiVo still doesn’t support WPA which led to this wireless bridge and Linksys USB -> Ethernet adapter. Incidentally, TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing transfers are quicker than using a typical wireless adapter such as the Netgear WG111 I replaced.

If you’re a photogenic Slingbox owner living in the DC area, check out this television opportunity posted to the Sling Community.

We have an interesting media opportunity coming up, and I would like to recruit a greater DC-area Slingbox owner to get a chance to participate in it! Here are the requirements:

• You must be a Slingbox owner, and have it installed in your home/apartment, which must be located in the greater DC area
• You must use BOTH SlingPlayer for Windows and Mobile software
• You must be congenial/charismatic enough to appear on nation-wide television

This will be for a prominent, nationally aired TV show. Taping will occur late this month or early next month. Just think, you could actually watch yourself on your Slingbox!

The Sling folks allude to some enticing news with this job opening…

Sling Media says:

Job Title: Tech Lead, Mobile Embedded Software

Essential Responsibilities

• Directly participate in design and development of multimedia/networking software products using J2ME, BREW and Symbian operating systems/platforms.
• Architect multimedia software frameworks for Sling Media mobile software products that address the requirements of Slingbox client software.

Jim McMurry has reported success at running the SlingPlayer within Parallels, a free-during-beta virtualization software for Intel Macs. If you have a copy of XP lying around and can’t wait the 2 or 3 months until Slingbox natively supports OSX, you’ve got your solution. Jim’s Slingbox is controlling & streaming his Dish Network DVR 510 and he has enabled Parallels audio output.

Jim says: I decided to make a project out of getting Slingbox setup today. Not knowing for sure if it would work on OSX, I got everything setup using only OSX and Parallels VM running Windows XP. Overall the video is pretty awesome for a player running inside of a VM on Parallels. Full screen inside Parallels (not full screen Parallels, but Slingplayer fullscreen inside Parallels) works very as well.

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