TVSquad

With all the talk about Slingbox and Hava, you may have forgotten that Sony was one of the pioneers of the place-shifting revolution (if you can call it a revolution).

Sony's LocationFree boxes, which let you stream content from your TV, PVR, DVD player or other A/V components to any internet-connected PC, Windows Mobile device, or Playstation Portable. But in recent years, Sony's LocationFree line has been operating in the shadow of the more popular Slingbox.

Sony plans to launch the latest member of the LocationFree family under the VAIO name. Not that the move alone is likely to raise much awareness about the product. But Sony also plans to pre-install LocationFree software on VAIO noetobooks. In other words, buy a PC, notice that it has place-shifting software, and maybe you'll go out and buy the hardware to enable it. Maybe.

The newest LocationFree box will be the LF-V30, which will sell for about $250 and include the following features:

• Component I/O
• WiFi streaming
• Reduced bandwidth usage
• Improved on-screen graphics including remote control GUIs from major PVR providers
• Easier setup
  

[via TiVo Lovers]