TVSquad

Recently, TV Squad reported that NBC has added all kinds of classic TV shows to their online outlets. Now comes the announcement that CBS is also bringing a variety of well-loved TV dramas to the web. CBS Interactive is raiding the CBS Library, which is "one of the largest television programming libraries in the entertainment business," to present TV series online across the CBS Audience Network.

Like the NBC fodder, the CBS offering is gangbusters: full-length episodes of classic Star Trek, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O and Melrose Place. CBS plans to add more programs and clips in the coming months, including sports and other kinds of entertainment.

Last Friday we held the first ever TV Squad meet-up in Boston (well, technically Allston). We just wanted to finally take time to thank everyone who came out to meet up with us, have some free beer, food and pool (yes, free, thanks to SlingBox makers, Sling Media) and walk away with bags (bags, I tell you!) of TV shows on DVD, all courtesy of Paramount Home Video and HBO Home Video. One lucky woman even walked away with our grand prize (well, only "prize," really) of a SlingBox Solo and SlingLink Turbo.

I didn't have a whole lot of time to myself to take pics of the event, but there are some in the gallery below. We're hoping for another one in the near future, most probably New York. Hope you can make it then!

This is just a quick reminder that a week from today is TV Squad's first (of what we hope to be many) meet-up of readers and writers, sponsored by Sling Media. You can read full details on our original post as far as time and location.

Just a quick update: I've got a good amount of TV shows on DVD to give away, thanks to Paramount Home Video and HBO Home Video, as well as some TV Squad T-shirts. We're not sure yet how we're giving it all away, but we'll come up with something. Hope to see you there!

Living without cable can be a real hassle... especially when one's job depends on it. "TV blogger" kind of implies the need for TV. I recently moved into an apartment where there is absolutely no option for cable television and had no choice but to look into alternative methods of getting quick access to TV. Enter Slingbox, about which I have been hearing nothing but glowing reviews. It's been around for a while, sure, but I haven't had any need for it until now.

For those of you who don't know what a Slingbox is, here's the short explanation: It's a box that you hook up to your home's cable and Internet. Once you grant that Slingbox remote access, you can watch your home's cable TV and access TiVo or DVR on your computer, from anywhere in the world. No subscription is required; it's a one-time purchase. The only catch is that if you're watching your home TV with your laptop in a hotel states away, your family back in the house cannot change channels on that home TV. Not too big of a deal, I think, unless you're already an inconsiderate TV hog. Anyway, since my current apartment isn't my permanent residence, I have cable set up in my house in Florida and I'm doing this whole Slingbox thing.

I was originally going to buy the basic tuner from the official website for about $129, but then I checked out Amazon and saw the same thing for $99.99. Just as I was about to buy it, my family in Florida insisted that they look around in stores before I buy anything, to save on shipping and handling. So here's the best part...

Almost a year after Sling Media announced a SlingPlayer client would be available for European phones running the Symbian operating system, the company is working on an American version.

Sling is currently accepting testers, but the beta is currently live. SlingPlayer for Symbian will officially work on Nokia N75, N95, and E65 phones, although your results may vary with other devices. You'll need a 3G or Wi-Fi capable device to apply for the beta, seeing as how streaming video is going to look pretty bad on any phone without a high speed internet connection.

You'll also want to be on AT&T or T-Mobile to sign up, since the client supports GSM networks.

No word as to when an official US Symbian client will be released. But it's probably fair to say you'll have to wait at least a month or two since the beta is just getting underway.

[via Engadget]

It looks like the FCC has spilled the beans on yet another top secret product. Sling Media has received approval for an update to its Slingbox Pro place-shifting device.

While the new model carries the Slingbox Pro name, it doesn't include an HDMI port, making it a cut below the existing version. But it does support S-video, coaxial, and RCA inputs and outputs as well as an ethernet jack. TG Daily speculates that this feature set could make the new box a replacement for the Slingbox A/V.

No word on pricing or availability, and a Slingbox rep would neither confirm nor deny this device's existence, other than to say that the company continues to develop new products. But thanks to the FCC, we do have a whole slew of pictures after the jump.

[Photo credit: Sling Media via FCC]

There's a whole slew of updates coming out of the Sling Media camp this week.

• The SlingCatcher launch has been pushed back to this fall.
• Sling Media released a firmware update for all Slingbox models with some minor networking fixes.
• HP is shipping selected laptops with SlingPlayer preinstalled.

Of course, having SlingPlayer preinstalled does no good unless you also shell out the money for a Slingbox. But with PC makers constantly dangling incentives like free printers or flash drives in order to convince you to buy their model, perhaps we'll see a notebook/Slingbox bundle some time down the road?

The nice thing about HP's SlingPlayer integration is that the application has been added to HP's QuickPlay software, meaning you can load up the SlingPlayer to watch streaming television without fully booting up your PC.
[via TiVo Lovers and Dave Zatz]

Sling Media has released the final version of SlingPlayer for Windows Mobile 6. The full version will set you back $30, but it's a free upgrade for Windows Mobile 5.0 users. You'll need to contact Sling Media to get anew registration key.

While the main new feature is Windows Mobile 6 compatibility, there are a few other goodies in the latest release:

• Support for wide screen viewing
• New remote control functions for additional audio/video devices
• Localised UK client with channel logos and written in "Queen's English," (as opposed to Queens, New Yawk)
• Automatic installer support broadened to support Windows Vista

There was a Woot-Off yesterday, and while there were a few great deals on items like video cards and TV tuners, it's not worth posting about them while the Woot-Off is still going on, because the items could sell out before we hit publish.

But today Woot is selling a Slingbox Classic for just $70. While it's a bit outdated by today's standards, that's still a box that can take your TV, TiVo, or other A/V sources and send them out into the internets in tiny little digital bits for your remote viewing pleasure.

In other words, $70 is a pretty good price. These are still selling for upwards up $120 at most stores that have them in stock.

CBS has gone a few steps beyond just announcing partnerships with a few digital content providers and created what it's calling the CBS Interactive Audience Network.

For now, that means distribution deals with AOL, Microsoft, CNET, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media, and Veoh. All of the content, which will include full-length television episodes and video clips will be advertiser-supported.

While most of the partners are online video websites and portals, Sling Media is in the business of letting users stream their own media over the internet. Sling Media plans to launch a Clip+Sling online video site this summer, which will feature CBS content. But users will also be able to watch the videos using SlingPlayer software, or using the upcoming SlingCatcher box, which lets users watch web video on their television sets.

Some of the content to be made available will include clips and episodes from CSI, The Late Show with David Letterman, Survivor, Showtime Championship Boxing, and CSTV Game of the Week.

iPhone Shmi-phone. There might be another way to watch iTunes videos on your cellphone. Stream them from an AppleTV using Slingbox.

Yeah, you can pretty much plug a Slingbox into anything with a video output and stream media to a PC, Mac, or mobile phone. But Sling Media is testing remote control codes to make sure the Slingbox can control an AppleTV remotely.

When all is said and done, you'll probably see a client that lets you flip through an AppleTV interface on your laptop, PDA, or mobile phone using a virtual AppleTV remote control.

Of course, it's possible that Apple will announce support for streaming audio and video directly from an AppleTV to the iPhone, due out in June. But if you've already dropped the money on an AppleTV and a Slingbox, wouldn't it be nice to be able to stream media to your existing cellphone without having to buy a new one for $500?

We've known Sling Media was working on a (long overdue) version of SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm for a while. And now Sling Media has broken out a public beta of the product.

In case you haven't been keeping track, a slingbox is a device that you plug into your TV, PVR, or any other A/V device in order to stream content from your home to an internet-connected computer, PDA, or mobile phone.

This version of the beta requires a Palm Treo 700p and an NTSC version of the Slingbox. Treo 650 and PAL users are out of luck at the moment. You'll also want a high speed (EV-DO) connection for your Treo, and a a broadband connection at home capable of at sending least 256kbps upstream.

Sling Media's Dave Zatz has a roundup of reviews on his blog.

A man who invented a system for transmitting audio signals from a home system to other devices through a wireless telephone network is suing Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox. Inventor Stuart Mershon says their devices, which lets you stream video from home theater devices like DVD players or PVRs over the internet to a computer, PDA, or mobile phone running SlingPlayer software.

On its face, these seem like two pretty different technologies. One is audio, the other is video. One relies on wireless technology, the other on wired (Slingbox requires an Ethernet connection. While I always figured that's because they weren't sure 802.11g provided a strong enough signal for streaming video, perhaps they were trying to avoid just such a lawsuit?).

Also, most of the claims in Mershon's patent relate to a "wireless speaker system," which I supposed could technically be the computer you're running SlingPlayer on, but I think that's really pushing it.

The Slingbox is a curious thing. On top of many things I'm a huge gadget geek, so I've heard of the Slingbox back when it was first unleashed onto the world. The original box was so odd looking, though, with embossed lettering all over its top that resembled the chiselings of famous author names around the top of the Boston Public Library. Though I read what this thing was supposed to do, I still didn't quite get it.

Forward ahead to today, where Sling Media now has an updated line of Slingboxen in their arsenal. Along with the Slingbox AV and Slingbox TUNER, they've now got an HD-capable unit available, the Slingbox PRO. And gone are the days of strange etchings across their tops.