6 posts tagged “slingplayer”

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I think the writing was on the wall when Sling Media brought out a newer version of the software that offered a couple of better features, the main one being fullscreen video.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

The price on those Vuzix iWear video glasses from UK mobile operator 3 has come down to £199.95 - that's a £25 saving!  Well, to be honest I think that's the price they were meant to be sold at and that 3's accessory site had it wrong for some reason.

Coming down, the price is less!

Even at £199.95, is there anyone out there that's actually going to buy a pair?  Regardless of cost, I imagine that like the Slingbox before it, these Vuzix will go largely unnoticed due in part to lack of promotion.  There's not even that much info on them in the mobile blogosphere, many of the usual suspects have made no mention of them.

Even 3mobilebuzz made no mention of them until they saw my previous blog post!  Did the guys there even know about them I wonder?

Oh, and try finding the glasses on the 3's accessory site without using search (ie like if you were just browsing the site and had no idea these existed).  Good luck finding them!  To be fair the site appears to be run by a 3rd party on behalf of 3 and it's a new product line, maybe that will change sometime soon.

What price would be the right price for you?  If these really are as good as the (few) reviews I've seen say they are I'd be tempted to drop £100 ($200) on the table, maybe a bit more.  It's not like they're not worth more money, it's a question of just how useful will they be and what I feel I can justify spending.  Having said that the glasses I recently lost cost a little under £180 and don't do anything fancy other than unblurring my vision!

Maybe 3 should consider bundling a pair with some contracts or offering a discount on them in relation to what price plan you're on.  These coupled with Slingplayer on 3 would be amazing, a sign that we really are in the 21st Century even if we have a serious lack of flying cars.

I had a play with the Nokia 6120 Classic - my sister's new phone - the other night, .  I'd recommended it to her based on what I'd read/heard about it.  I hadn't used one myself as, even at the Symbian Smartphone show back in October, most of the Nokia phones out on display were N95s or N95 8GBs.  It was nice that not only did she seek my advice but that she actually took it!

My thoughts about the phone?  It's quick, very quick.  It's seems to be stable (it didn't crash or hang - but I only used it for 30 minutes).  The screen looks great, although it is smaller than I'm used to.  It's bright, it's very clear - it just looks nice, easy to read etc.  The keypad is great, it's well spaced out and keys are logically placed.  It's sturdy.  The built-in browser is way better than on my creaking N73!

Unfortunately she's not got a data plan so I couldn't have too much fun with it.  I would've loved to give Nokia Internet Radio a spin whilst using Sports Tracker or seeing if Nokia Maps is actually usuable on it (it's way too slow on my N73 - even if TomTom has no problems)

Would I want a 6120c as my next phone?  If you'd asked me a few months ago, no.  Now, not so sure.  It does most things that I want (I believe it even does Slingplayer) but the camera is only 2MP, it has no WiFi and, although the screen is really nice, it's small.  I also like the idea of having TV-out and accelerometers and neither are available on the 6120c, but I can live without them.

Hmm, going into Bill & Ted mode.  Excellent!

Below is a short video clip I took with my N73.  It shows the TV show 'Californication' as it was broadcast last night on Five (aka Channel 5).  What's so great about that?  Glad you asked!  The laptop is connected via the 'net to a set-top-box about a mile away and it's connected to the 'net thanks to my Skypephone.

I can only imagine what the quality would be like with HSDPA (aka 3.5G) and the possibilites!  Anyone fancy cable or satellite TV in the back of their car on a 17" screen?  MTV, pimp my ride!

For those that don't know, Father Ted is probably the world's funniest sitcom about priests.  You don't have to be raised Catholic to find it funny, but it helps.

Tucked away on 3 UK's 'Planet 3' portal are clips of the show in bite-sized chunks, ad-supported but free!  Video quality isn't great though (compare with the images of SlingPlayer on the exact same mobile) but is what is expected of current mobile videoclips in 3gp format.  3 UK may soon choose to go down the same route as 3 Austria with their H.264* encoded HD MobileTV service.

*The images shown of The Colbert Report are of H.264 encoded video and give you some idea of what can be achieved even on relatively old phones such as my N73