Sling Media Inc. on Thursday unveiled their Slingbox — a new Personal Video Recorder (PVR) that lets you redirect a live video stream from your cable or satellite TV to a computer anywhere in the house, or, through a broadband connection, anywhere on the Internet. The Slingbox costs US$249.99.
Sling Media calls the technique “placeshifting,” a play on the word “timeshifting,” which describes the viewing of recorded video material after it’s first broadcasted. The Slingbox hardware is accessed using a SlingPlayer application on the computer, which streams content over a wired or wireless network, or the Internet. The initial release of Slingbox introduced today only works with Windows XP-based PCs and laptops. though Sling Media Inc. has announced plans to release Macintosh software in the coming months.
“Our goal is to enhance the TV-viewing experience by allowing people easy access to their living room television content, no matter their location: around the house or around the world,” said Sling Media co-founder and CEO Black Krikorian in a statement.