Sling's CES showing gives us a Touch of optimism
By Richard Lawler 
posted January 7th 2010 5:06PM
posted January 7th 2010 5:06PM
CES is officially under way so of course we got our hands all over the Sling Touch Control 100 in person and screwed up the DVR queue mightily over WiFi thanks to simple touch controls, then took control our imaginary Sony Blu-ray player with an overlay that matched the native remote functions. Reps confirmed to Dave Zatz that an Android Sling app is under development -- for owners of other phones, a Flash implementation of the mobile app is your most likely bet. Most tantalizing? SlingCatcher-style software running on plain-jane Broadcom boxes representing future TVs or set-top boxes that could ship with Sling functionality embedded in them. Given Sling's lack of acceptance on non-Dish content distributors so far, we can't help but wish for a Yahoo! or VUDU style invasion of third-party devices to come. Check the gallery for pics of all the hardware announced recently, as well as a video of the remote after the break.
yeah numba one!
Hmmm, despite Echostar/Dish Network's ownership of Sling they seem to be on a provider independent path. Surprises me.
@myself
Charlie has a plan we don't know about.
This is so dumb. Just give me a remote for the PC so that I can control SlingPlayer on PC with a normal remote control.
A good remote is something you never have to look down at. This is a terrible remote.
Sling is really going down the toilet. Where is the Palm webOS app? How about an update to the WinMo software?
@cool8man
I'd like to 2nd that request for an update to Windows Mobile client as well.
Even more pressing however would be a firmware update for the SlingCatcher. I'd like to see them do away with the OPT button on the SlingCather remote to get at extra remote buttons on the devices original remote and instead have an onscreen remote for the SlingCatcher like they do on the desktop SlingPlayer app.
Now for the dream...being able to play IFO and VOB files on the SlingCatcher so that one could simply rip their DVD library to their network and then play them natively.
@DaveBach
Reading the bottom of my SlingCatcher box:
file Formats: .avi, .vob, .ifo, .ps, .ts, mpg, . wmv, .asf, .mov, .mp4, .m4v, .mp3, .wma, .mp4a, .m4a, .wav
I know you can get this from an attached drive, and I believe it works via network as well (My NAS stinks).
I actually would prefer .ISO images, as that's how I rip them disks.
@DaveBach You guys should really check out SlingCommunity.com. There is a Win Mobile update coming soon. Don't rely on Zatz go to the real source of info.
@DaveBach Yeah, you know, today I thought it would be good if there would be an update for my BD player. It has a couple of issues with some of my discs. Oh. Sorry. I forgot, this is a thread about a new remote control.