2 posts tagged “sling player”

Slingbox, slungbox

Yesterday at 3 UK's press bash I was left with the impression that Sling Media's place-shifting service is now but a distant memory.  There are no plans for 3-ified Slingplayer Mobile software on the upcoming devices that were on display.  And, I'm sure I heard a, "do we even sell those anymore?" regarding the Slingboxes.

For those that don't know what Sling is, here's the lowdown nutshell-wise:  There's a Slingbox - a device you place near your TV and connect to your broadband as well as your cable (satellite or whatever.)  You then use the software - Slingplayer on your Windows PC or Slingplayer Mobile on your phone to tune in and control your TV service no matter where you are as long as you have internet service.

When Slingplayer works (I had no end of trouble with a bunch of routers), it works well.  Picture quality on my old Nokia N73 was astoundingly good.  Sound quality wasn't bad.  It was reliable and responsive and well worth the extra fiver a month 3 UK charged on top of the £5 unlimited internet.  That included more hours than any sane person would need for telly on a mobile (80-freaking hours, for what it's worth.)

If it was so good, why did I stop using it?  I got a new wireless router and couldn't figure out how to get it to play nicely.  Not long after I replaced that and tried to get another one working... no good.  Went back to my old wired one - the one that had originally worked, still no good.  In the end I gave up.  Maybe that's the problem - all those support calls!  Or perhaps the potential network overload if the service had really taken off (offering 80 hours of really good quality video over 3G takes up shedloads of bandwidth).

I think the writing was on the wall when Sling Media brought out a newer version of the software that offered a couple of better features, the main one being fullscreen video.  It was a must have to anyone that had 3's version but only 3's version could be used if one wanted the 80 hour allowance.  Those using the new version would instead have their allowance coming out of their data plan.  1 gig doesn't go that far when Slinging, not far at all - maybe a couple of hours.

It's a crying shame as Slingplayer would be great on the Blackberry Bold, one of those touchscreen Samsungs (I don't think there's a client for whatever they run on, but one can dream), the Nokia N96 or E71.  Bundled with HP's Mini-note which is to be bundled with 3's Mobile Broadband it would be, to paraphrase my 9-year-old nephew... awesome!  Travelodges and Holiday Inn Expresses would never be the same again.

El Reg's summer gadgets numero diez... Slingbox

Interestingly, El Reg has the Slingbox rated as their number 10 gadget choice for techie travellers this summer.  They actually sum it up far better than I could, although I'm surprised that they're showing what is an out of date price.  Shop around and you can pick up this version (known simply as Slingbox or Slingbox Classic) for around the £60 mark.  If you're a customer of 3, you may still be able to pick one of these up for zero, nothing, zilch.  Okay, there's a catch - you have to take X-Series Gold for 12 months.  That's £120, hardly free.  But as X-Series Silver (or unlimited internet - which are more or less the same thing) is £5 a month.  Who on earth is on 3, reads this blog and doesn't already pay £5 for the 'net on their handset?  So over the course of a year that works out as just £60 extra plus you get 960 hours of streaming included.  That's 40 days worth!

Good luck finding a 3Store that knows about the offer... that was always the fly in the ointment!

When I could get Sling Player working on my phone it was great.  Unfortunately it wouldn't work with my replacement wireless router.  Oh well, I thought, I'll just have to plug the wired one back in again.  Still couldn't get it to work.  Tried really hard, did everything I could think of and wasted a lot of time.  In the end I figured it just wasn't worth it and my Slingbox is just sitting there months later with blinking lights and no way to communicate with the outside world.

I could've just checked which WiFi router Sling Media recommends and gone out and got one but I just don't have the money to waste on another dud and there's no way of knowing if that wouldn't cause some other problems somewhere else.

I can no longer use Sling over 3G on my phone anyway as I've since dropped my X-Series service (from 3 mobile) down from Gold to Silver.  Saves me £5 p/m and really, was a non-working Sling Player really worth £5?!!

Anyway, it now appears that Sling have made what amounts to be a fool-proof Slingbox - the Slingbox is the modem, it plugs straight into a cable connection.  It really should be plug and play.  Initially US cable TV only.

Found via Electricpig