Several people have gotten in touch regarding yesterday’s CNET blog post:

Apple TV does not stream over the Internet or across a cellular phone network, but the SlingBox does. And Sling Media, the maker of the SlingBox, confirmed to CNET News.com on Monday that the company is working on making the Slingbox compatible with Apple TV. The most likely–and compelling–scenario would be to allow the streaming of Apple TV content to a mobile device.

Yes, I can confirm this is accurate. (I work for Sling Media.) The Slingbox currently supports over 5,000 AV devices (cable boxes, DVRs, DVD players, etc) via IR and we’ve got many more in the pipeline. For Apple TV, you’d use the component pass-thru on a Slingbox PRO with HD Connect to remotely view, or listen, to your content. Our SlingPlayer software (computer and mobile) offers an audio-only mode, so we’re not just talking ATV video here… Select an iTunes playlist, switch to audio-only if you’d like (reducing bandwidth), and listen to your music anywhere you’ve got Internet. I don’t have anything to say on availability other than we’re currently in testing and it is coming…

Apparently the talk of CTIA was the Apple iPhone (MIA), though I seem to have missed it. In my circles, HTC’s new offerings (both big and small) and Helio’s Ocean generated the most discussion (and lust).

Some pics from the show… (more…)

I may have mentioned I’m down in Florida for CTIA… but I may have failed to disclose I am stationed in Palm’s booth. Showing off the new SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS! (In addition to our existing Windows Mobile client and a Slingbox or two.) Just a few hours ago we unleashed the Palm OS public beta in the US and Canada, with initial support for the 700p.

Here are some of the fine folks I’ve had an opportunity to work with as part of our review program:

• CNET
• Laptop Magazine
• MyTreo
• PalmAddicts
• Sling Community
• TreoCentral
• UneasySilence

NBC, via MobiTV, intends to offer cell phone television show rentals. Deployment is scheduled for Q2, though Forbes reports no wireless carriers have signed on. I’m obviously not the only one who thinks the model is flawed and the pricing is extreme:

For one thing, the shows seem expensive, going for a minimum of $1.99 per episode, which will buy users only a 24-hour viewing period. That’s the same as most shows go for on Apple, but iTunes downloaders own those programs — meaning they’re not limited to a 24-hour viewing window. With Apple’s iPhone due to hit the market soon, NBC’s plans to offer 24-hour rentals of its shows isn’t likely to lure many early adopters.

Even if I didn’t own a Slingbox (and didn’t work for Sling Media), I’d tell you this is ridiculous. How many times must one pay for the same content, and at such unfavorable rates? Thank goodness there are (granted, less mainstream) alternatives to move recorded shows to portables such as TiVoToGo, Windows MCE, etc. Hey Mari, what’s up with Moto’s Follow Me TV service? Anyone implemented the cell phone content portion yet?

My copy of Vista finally arrived. Not as late as mid-April, but still later than I would have liked. The HP “Express Upgrade” kit came with two discs: an HP prep/config CD and the Vista DVD.

Prior to upgrading last night, HP had me disconnect a variety of peripherals (I declined), update my BIOS (was already current), and then their CD removed incompatible software that had been preloaded with my machine (most of which I had already blown away). The actual Vista upgrade took several hours, followed by running that HP CD again… to reinstall Vista-compatible software I don’t need (blown away a second time). I did have some trouble finding a NVIDIA driver that supported my LCD’s native resolution (1400×900) — Neither the default Vista driver nor HP’s driver update would go that high, but a direct NVIDIA download took care of it.

(more…)

AT&T Homezone customers will able to…

use their mobile handsets to remotely view listings and schedule or delete recordings from their DVR set-top boxes. All that is needed is a WAP 2.0-enabled handset that lets subscribers access the AT&T-Yahoo portal.

As soon as I read that, my immediate thought was: Where’s the TiVo Verizon Java scheduling widget? Well, PVRWire reports something may be announced shortly:

Next week Verizon and Vodafone will launch a service allowing customers to program TiVo units by phone. Sprint plans to enter the remote recording market later this year.

(more…)

Apple and Sony aren’t the only ones with media extenders launching in the $200 - $300 range later this year. My employer (Sling Media) will release the SlingCatcher in the second half of 2007. Our initial features will be the ability receive a Slingbox video feed on a television (without any sort of computer in the mix) and the ability to push any sort of multimedia from PC to TV.

While there’s nothing new to (publicly) report at this time, I’ve had numerous interesting discussions with folks at work, with press, with analysts, and with my peers in the blogosphere. For Dave-the-consumer, being able to control and watch my primary DVR from another set (within or outside of my apartment) is quite compelling, whereas watching YouTube or home video (I don’t have kids) on the TV doesn’t really interest me. However amongst those I’ve chatted with, people are pretty much evenly split on which feature is more appealing/important. Guess it’s a good thing we’ll be offering both.