Slingbox released in UK

Because you can never have convenient enough access to all that great BBC programming, Sling Media has just released a version of their popular Slingbox for British TV junkies. The UK model has been tweaked a bit for European viewing, with PAL tuners replacing the NTSC versions found in US boxes, and a DVB-T tuner thrown in for placeshifting that sweet, sweet OTA Freeview content. In conjunction with the UK rollout, the folks at Sling also announced an updated version of the SlingPlayer PC software, whose main upgrades include widescreen 16:9 support and a skinnable client. Slingbox: UK will initially be available exclusively at PC World's website and retail locations -- and at Currys stores in four to six weeks -- for £180, VAT included.

[GunForHire @ May 30th 2006 9:25AM]

£180? That's a bit steep. What's so special about this Slingbox anyway apart from being a Freeview receiver?

[Maff Mace @ May 30th 2006 9:34AM]

how can you say £180 is a bit steep whan you don't even know what it does?!

[Todd @ May 30th 2006 10:04AM]

QUESTION: Just what the hell is the box supposed to be shaped like? What is the symbolism? Is it a giant heat sink?

Confused.

[Dylan @ May 30th 2006 10:09AM]

Ok, so say i buy this slingbox, plug it into my tv so i can broadcast my tv from my parets house onto the net, now say i go to uni and watch TV and the TV licence man comes a knocking on the door, can i just tell him "hey, i dont need no tv licence cos this is just my parents tv downloaded through the net"

In other words can i dodge my tv licence fee?

Oh and whats the quality like all you americans who have this, i cant say current streaming media is all that, and upload speeds here in the uk are simply abominable.

[joe @ May 30th 2006 10:15AM]

Looks like a candy bar to me, or maybe a gold ingot... I don't fully understand what it does either.

[E71 @ May 30th 2006 10:19AM]

The British have TVs??

I thought they were stuck in the dark ages.

[Maff Mace @ May 30th 2006 10:23AM]

the slingbox sends video signals from whatever's plugged into it (or freeview) over the internet to your PC where ever you are

so if you're working away this summer you can still watch the world cup as long as you have an internet connection

or, if you're stuck in a hotel room with a crap TV, you can connect to your slingbox and watch whatever your partner's watching at home on Sky or watch something else on freeview etc etc

[joe @ May 30th 2006 10:26AM]

Thanks for the explanation mace. So when I go on holiday I just leave my tv at home On all the time and I can watch it.

Can I change channels with slingbox?

[anthonysimilion @ May 30th 2006 10:39AM]

Because it's got a built in DVB-T tuners, you don't even need to leave your television on to view Freeview broadcasts over the internet from your house. The SlingPlayer software allows you to select channels and other settings.

[John Logie Baird @ May 30th 2006 10:42AM]

E71, you're just jealous cos the USA wasn't even around in the dark ages ;)

Perhaps if you went to school you'd learn about... uh, state capitals? Oh forget it.

[Maff Mace @ May 30th 2006 10:42AM]

@E71, the UK has been well ahead of the US in terms of TV technology for years and still is.
We've had digital TV for longer (we've had widescreen as standard since 1998) in terrestrial (OTA to you), cable and satellite. PAL is much, much better than NTSC (your standard broadcast and DVD standard). Until last week you were ahead with HDTV but we've since caught you up with that

[heh @ May 30th 2006 10:48AM]

Surely the quality will be crap as most of our upload speeds are like 30kB/s?

[Ben Hobbs @ May 30th 2006 10:50AM]

Cant you just log onto someone elses slingbox.

or have one shared between like 500 people, seeing as this thing isn't gonna get exactly much use, how many people want to log in over the internet from a hotel room abroad to watch A poor resolution version of whats on Tv at home in the UK.

[Keith @ May 30th 2006 11:14AM]

To add on to Mace's explanation and to answer Joe's question, The Slingbox is a device that sends your home television signal anywhere in the world over a broadband internet connection for free (after paying for the box). The Slingbox client has the ability to change the channels and even control a satellite box, digital cable box, and/or dvr. The Slingbox only has the ablility to have one client on the box at a time, so no you can't give your username and password to 500 people and you can all watch TV together. The Slingbox monopolizes the TV it is connected to; if you change the channel on the Slingbox client, and an actual person watching that TV the channels will change for him also. I'm happy the people at Sling Media waited until now to release the Sling Box in the UK. The Slingbox has greatly improved since its launch in the US because of firmware upgrades. The Slingbox is an amazing device. I suggest you go to two places to check this thing out.

http://slingbox.com/

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sling_Media_Slingbox/4505-6463_7-31423815.html

[m @ May 30th 2006 11:42AM]

Top Gearrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[Josh @ May 30th 2006 11:48AM]

Freeviews nothing special...its getting filled up with quiz channels...your not missing out on much!

[Osiris @ May 30th 2006 12:13PM]

Freeview isn't too bad.. extra channels such as BBC4, ITV3, E4, TMF etc are worthwhile additions.

I do think technically you can dodge the TV licencing fee with this. Basically what they look for is a tiny signal that is produced from tuners that recieve a TV signal. If you don't have one, they won't even come near.

If you're looking for better upload, i can STRONGLY recommend Be broadband http://bethere.co.uk
They offer 24Mbit/1.3Mbit. The extra upload really makes such a difference in my experience.
It's only £25/month too. Availability is a little limited though atm, check it out.

[OlivierB @ May 30th 2006 12:13PM]

I know a Mac version of the software is in the works, but what can Slingbox do for me that an EyeTV product already does?

[Dave Hall @ May 30th 2006 3:32PM]

Well it seems to be going okay for them at the moment. I can't see stock in London - though I know they did have some or any of the random places that I tried.

They just need to get some new stock.

[Rob Miles @ Jun 19th 2006 9:03AM]

I've been using a Slingbox for a little while. I've connected mine to the Sky+ box as well so that I can use that remotely. (including changing channels and setting up recordings). It works a treat and now there is a program that lets you record Slingbox output.

http://applian.com/replay-slingcorder/

The only thing to remember is that as a plan for a student to watch dad's telly via the university network this will probably not work. Most university networks are firewalled to blazes and all the ones we've tried (and we have tried a few) have not worked. This is also true of networks at the office.

But for watching telly round the house it is wonderful.

[Turns @ Jul 7th 2006 4:37PM]

I think it's a great idea with some great reviews, I have 54mbps Wireless-G on my Laptop and 54mbps Linksys Router, My home machine has a CAPTURE-CARD already installed so why can't I get some video signal sending software and use both my Wireless-G cards to beam the picture and sound to other Wireless-G connections with capture cards or just using software, thus cutting the cost, OR! why not just use a VIDEO SENDER from ARGOS and 1 capture card! better for just home use,
I use a £10 scart switcher from Maplin makes everything tidy, then I take the output from my scart switcher tot he video sender. OR just take the signal from your DVD-RW/Freeview/NTL/SKY Box to the Video Sender. My YAMADA HARDDISC DVD-RW has a CABLE TV TUNER built in which is handy for sending the FREE CABLE TV signals that exist out to the video sender or capture card. just a thought.