Sling
Media is pleased to announce that SlingCatcher is now available for purchase from
leading retailers and online retailers in the U.S. as well as in Canada and the UK.
The SlingCatcher is a universal media player that seamlessly delivers broadcast TV,
Internet video and personal content to the TV.
The SlingCatcher allows customers to watch online video from any popular site on the
internet including network television sites like ABC.com, video content sites like
Hulu.com and CollegeHumor.com, community video sites like YouTube.com, and even online
movie rentals from popular services like Netflix, directly from a PC to the TV for
the ultimate lean-back, social viewing experience. The SlingCatcher, with its included
remote control, also allows customers to access and control any device connected to
a Slingbox – for instance a DVR, Cable or Satellite set-top box – located in another
room in the house or even from a Slingbox in a remote location. And finally, connect
a standard USB hard drive or USB flash drive and the SlingCatcher can playback on
the TV most personal media stored on the hard disk, including home movies, personal
videos, internet video downloads, etc.
SlingCatcher comes with three built-in applications: SlingPlayer for TV, SlingProjector
and My Media that combine to create a unified media platform capable of delivering
content from disparate places for viewing on a single TV screen. This unique approach
promises to give customers unprecedented control over their home television experience.
SlingPlayer for TV delivers one of the most requested features from existing Slingbox
customers: the ability to watch and control their living room TV on another TV in
the home or on a TV in a remote location without using a PC or custom cabling.
Customers today have on-demand access to a variety of video programming over the Internet
that dwarfs the linear programming that comes into their homes from cable and satellite.
This includes literally thousands of video sites streaming movies, TV shows, cultural
and niche programming, sporting events, and much more, right to their PC. The SlingProjector
software allows consumers to project any of this programming directly onto their TV
via the SlingCatcher. Using SlingProjector, customers can catch up on back episodes
of their favorite TV programs without having to wait for them to air again, or they
can sample new TV programs online before scheduling them on their DVR. SlingProjector
supports virtually any video streaming web site, media player and Internet video player
and is designed to give the user control over how the video is projected to the TV.
The SlingProjector software lets a user select a specific video playing within a web
site or media player, projecting just the video and not the entire PC screen making
for a much more enjoyable viewing experience.
My Media gives customers the ability to playback on their TV a broad range of media
files from a wide variety of sources, including camcorders, digital cameras, personal
DVD recordings, and Internet video downloads. With My Media, customers can play their
favorite videos from their own personal media libraries using an external USB hard
drive or flash drive that they connect to one of the SlingCatcher’s two USB ports.
Today the SlingCatcher supports a variety of native media formats including WMV, MPEG-2,
MPEG-4, H.264 and Xvid as well as a number of file formats including .avi, .vob, .ifo,
.mpg, .mov, .wma. Because there is a huge variety of media file formats on the market
today, Sling Media created and is in testing on a conversion utility called SlingSync
that will convert incompatible files into a format that can be played back on the
TV via SlingCatcher. SlingSync will also pre-scan a media library to determine which
files are compatible at the outset saving the customer the uncertainty of whether
their media will playback properly.
SlingCatcher includes both standard definition and high definition outputs to connect
to a TV including HDMI, component video, S-Video and composite video, as well as both
analog and digital audio connectors. SlingCatcher also features a standard Ethernet
jack to connect to the home network, either directly or via SlingLink powerline Ethernet
adapters.
SlingCatcher Now on Store Shelves
Widevine announces that EchoStar and Sling Media have selected Widevine’s DRM solution for the protection of content delivered by SlingLoaded consumer devices, giving added security when subscribers are watching or controlling their TV programming from a wide universe of video devices. This announcement was made in advance of EchoStar’s and Widevine’s participation at the Cable Labs Summer Conference 2010 in Keystone, Colo., Aug.15-18.
