Sling Community - Sling in the News

Sling Media Releases SlingPlayer for Mac OS X 1.0.9

SlingCommunity News — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:43:37 GMT

Sling Media may be pushing the new web-based SlingPlayer for Mac a lot these days, but it doesn't appear they've completely abandonded the stand-alone desktop client either. SlingPlayer for Mac OS X 1.0.9 has just been released and is now available for download at Sling Media's website. We don't have any official word as to what's included here since the noted release highlights are identical to those for the 1.0.8 release last month , but we do know this version contains the latest firmware builds for the PRO-HD, SOLO, and Pro, as well as a few unspecified fixes. We'll update this entry if we're able to get our hands on any additional information on this new release. Download SlingPlayer for Mac OS X 1.0.9 Now

The Register: Baseball, Yes. Sling Media, No. - AT&T Playing iPhone Streaming Favorites

SlingCommunity News — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:45:19 GMT

AT&T has been facing some harsh criticism over their continued push to disallow placeshifting to the iPhone over their 3G network , going so far as modifying their Terms of Use ( twice ) to specifically ban the practice. Yet, not even a month later, Apple gives the MLB "At Bat 2009" app for iPhone free reign over the 3G network, letting iPhone users stream Baseball games to their handsets. Rik Myslewski' recent post to The Register goes one step further, indicating that AT&T is playing favorites when it comes to who gets to use the 3G network for streaming video. What's worse, thanks to AT&T's exclusivity agreement for the iPhone, it looks like they're pretty well protected says Rik. Read the full article at The Register What do you think about AT&T playing favorites? Should the MLB streaming app also be denied 3G access?

Web Based SlingPlayer for Mac Public Beta Released

SlingCommunity News — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:00:04 GMT

Sling Media first talked about their OS X web player for Sling.com back at CES , which was poised to bring HD streaming and other 2.0 features to Mac owners. Their lofty goal of Q1 has come and gone, but Sling has finally opened up their efforts to OS X users in what they're calling a "sneak peek" of the OS X Web Player Plugin. It's available for download now at Sling.com. According to the company, the Web Based SlingPlayer for Mac is beta software lacking features and functionality that will be present in the final product. However, that doesn't mean there isn't anything new for Mac owners. In fact, the web player beta delivers the core functionality Mac based Slingers have been hoping fo, like HD streaming, live pause, Sling Accounts, and the program guide. As beta software, there are still several missing features and limitations that Slingers should be aware of. For starters, the beta lacks proxy support and any form of conflict management (meaning you can't take over a Slingbox in use with your admin password). There are also performance limitations/decryption problems that could limit streaming speed to 500kbps on WAN. Sling is also alluding to some...

Updated: Sling Media Lets Loose SlingCatcher, SlingProjector May Update

SlingCommunity News — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:50:11 GMT

If you happen to be a fan of new upgrades and enhancements, then we'd say it's a pretty good day to be a SlingCatcher owner. Sling Media's quietly released a solid duo of upgrades, a firmware update for the SlingCatcher and a new version of SlingProjector. According to the release notes, here's what the May Update brings: SlingCatcher firmware: Better handling of more types of files: Improved handling of MJPG codecs ( My Media ) Support for MP4 files that previously would not play ( My Media ) Faster and more reliable Fast Forward and Rewind in AVI files ( My Media ) Enhanced QVGA resolution video quality ( SlingPlayer for TV ) A variety of enhancements that improve the stability and performance SlingProjector: Now localized for French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch languages Better, more reliable streaming It's certainly not as significant as the upgrade they put out in March in terms of new features, which added near-HD streaming and the ability to stream media from network shares, but appears to be focused on improving the overall stability and performance of the Catcher. Of course, fixing some nagging issues with My Media, like MJPEG and MP4 playback are certainly...

SlingPlayer Mobile Headed to Palm Pre?

SlingCommunity News — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:58:06 GMT

The boys over at Engadget happened to be peering through a a Sprint-sourced page out of a Pre slide deck, and caught Sling Media's name in a section titled "Showcase Apps." We haven't gotten any wind of a Pre app already in development, but perhaps the cool cats over at Sling HQ are getting pretty good at keeping secrets these days. Of course, it's also just as likely this slide may just mean that the Palm Pre can handle 'showcase apps' like SlingPlayer should Sling decide to create a SlingPlayer App for it. We won't know for sure until Sling gives up anything concrete, but what we can tell you is that for a phone that isn't even out yet, there's already some pretty strong demand for a Pre SlingPlayer. It's (as of this writing) currently winning our " Where should Sling go next poll ." [Via Engadget ]

Vanna White Loves Her Slingbox, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone

SlingCommunity News — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:18:15 GMT

While we don't typically report on celebrity gossip here at SlingCommunity, we're fairly certain now that at least some of you are pretty darn excited Vanna White, long time co-host of the popular game show Wheel of Fortune, mentioned her love of all things Slingbox during an interview at a shopping mall event seeking Wheel of Fortune contestants. We've received over a dozen direct tweets and tip submissions on this story since it appeared on Engadget last weekend. Vanna's apparently quite the "girl geek," and specifically called out Slingbox and the new SlingPlayer app for iPhone when confronted about her gadget passions. She didn't seem particularly upset that it's Wi-Fi only , and from her perspective, probably thinks the iPhone Player is a good deal compared to the cost of a vowel on her show. Of course, any time we hear about a new celebrity Slinger, we have to wonder if they're a part of the SlingCommunity... Hey Vanna, are you out there?