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SlingPlayer for Android gets a long-awaited update, adds reminders and better Android 4 video quality
Fans of both Android and Slingbox streaming have had a long wait for a significant update to the SlingPlayer app, to put it mildly -- the last major upgrade was to introduce Kindle Fire support at the start of the year. Imagine our delight when Sling Media posts a pair of low-key but significant updates for Android phone and tablet users alike. Smartphone owners get the most out of the upgrade with a new electronic program guide, a fresher overall look and better high-quality video for any phone using Android 4.0 and beyond. Tablet users do get a more optimized interface for the Nexus 7, however, and both form factors will let avid placeshifters remind themselves when a much-anticipated show goes live in the future. Neither of the updates is a complete revolution, but we would say they're coming just in time.
Slingbox 350 and 500 show up unannounced in Best Buy, flaunt 1080p and built-in WiFi
You might say Dave Zatz just had a happy accident. While he was hunting for the as yet unofficial Logitech Harmony Touch in Best Buy, he discovered the Slingbox 350 and 500 -- two more living room gadgets that have yet to receive an official introduction. The placeshifting hubs both look to be major improvements over the aging Slingbox Pro HD and Solo, making 1080p streaming available as long as the connection is up to snuff. Those who spring for the 500 should also get long overdue support for WiFi without having to use a wireless bridge, although they may miss the Pro HD's ATSC tuner. Outside of the networking, Sling Media is making expansion its upsell angle: the 500 supports USB media sharing and HDMI, while the 350 has to make do with whatever can pipe through its component and composite jacks. Zatz was unfortunately foiled in an attempt to buy one of the new Slingboxes and couldn't get final pricing, but Best Buy's suggestion to try again around mid-October hints that we won't have long to wait for a much-needed upgrade to our remote TV viewing.
Simple.tv DVR / placeshifter frees free TV from the constraints of location, time
One of the many innovative products we checked out tonight was this ViXS XCode 4210 powered Simple.TV box, which tunes into free, unencrypted channels (even in HD) via cable or antenna. Where it starts to differ from other boxes like Sling and Monsoon however, is that it eschews any direct video out or even passthrough, working solely to transcode those feeds to variable bitrate MPEG-4 streams for playback on internet-connected mobile devices and TV boxes. Besides the missing TV out, this headless unit also only supports DVRs courtesy of whatever storage you may add yourself, since it doesn't contain any. The Simple.TV box is set to launch this spring and initially should have viewing apps available for Roku and iPad, with Boxee Box and Google TV viewers eventually planned as well (there is also a $29 Windows Media Center app). Currently the pricing is set at $149, and while streaming to another device in the home and simple DVR function are free to use, adding a guide and allowing streaming to up to 5 devices over the internet will require another $4.99 per month. If you're interested, check out the video after the break and keep a spot near your coax line open.
Vulkano Flow now available, does 480p placeshifting for under a hundred bucks
Monsoon has announced the "general availability" of a new placeshifting box, the Vulkano Flow. As we learned during CES, this box has a $99 price tag and trims last year's Vulkano to just the placeshifting essentials. It's most similar to the Slingbox Solo in that it will accept HD inputs but can only stream video at a max 720x480 resolution, which could be passable watching on a PC with a small screen or one of the mobile apps (iOS, Blackberry, Android, $12.99/ea.) There are a few hands-ons and reviews out already, with ZatzNotFunny noting a few tweaks were still necessary to get things running while The Gadgeteer has a bevy of screenshots for you to check out the UI. Monsoon's other new box, the Blast, is still launching in "the near future," which builds on the Flow's specs (detailed after the break) with DVR recording capability and HDMI output for $199.
Monsoon Vulkano do-it-all media box starts shipping, gets unboxed
Looking for one box to rule them all? If so, you must have glossed right over Monsoon's Vulkano launch, but lucky for you, there's a reminder coming in the form of a 'now shipping' proclamation. Just weeks after the $379 mega-box -- which aims to replace all of those other STBs under your television -- went up for pre-order, the earliest of adopters have started to receive their devices. We're still waiting on a proper critique, but if you're yearning to have a glance at what the future of media looks like, give those links below a look. Just kidding about that last part, by the way. [Thanks, Dan]
Monsoon Vulkano all-in-one DVR/placeshifting/media streaming box ready for preorder, ships August 10
Monsoon -- after taking advantage of a few delays since our initial hands-on by adjusting the name and pricing -- is finally ready to show off the followup to its HAVA line of placeshifting media streamers, the Vulkano. Integrating a video processor and local storage into its slim frame, the Vulkano accepts HD video over its analog inputs for recording and live streaming to other devices (PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Blackberry and Android players will be available at launch, with a Symbian version on the way) or it can convert recordings locally for them to be downloaded over WiFi or 3G and stored on those devices for offline viewing. Remote scheduling and channel changing functionality (controlling connected set-top boxes via IR blaster) isn't a shocking new feature, but this goes a step further by bringing internet videos to your TV (YouTube, local UPnP devices) Boxee and Popbox style, and other big names like Hulu, Netflix, Google TV, Amazon Yahoo! Widgets and a full HTML browser are promised to show up in firmware updates soon. Believers can hit the site to preorder now, with units ranging from the $279 Vulkano with 8GB of SD card storage, up to a $379 Vulkano Pro with 1TB eSATA HDD included and other sizes planned in between. Check after the break for a press release with more details, and our hands on video from CES. %Gallery-98258%
Monsoon's HAVA line gets Windows Mobile support
Placeshifting just seems to make so much more sense when you can shift to your handset. Sling recognized that last year (though its Symbian support is still a no-show unless you're on 3) and now Monsoon's hopping on the mobile video bandwagon, adding Windows Mobile support to its HAVA line of placeshifters. No word on exactly when it'll be coming out of beta, but when it does, HAVA owners will have compatibility with Pocket PC phones, Smartphones, and even classic Pocket PCs (via WiFi, naturally) to get their TV fix on the go. If they make it free, it's a strong marketing point over Sling's now-commercialized offering (hint, hint, Monsoon).[Via PhysOrg.com]
Snappy adds the stripped-down HAVA Gold to its placeshifting line
If you can't quite scrape together the cash for one of HAVA's high-end placeshifters, you might be into Snappy's new HAVA Gold, which sheds the WiFi and internal tuner of its big brother, slims down considerably and adds an extra audio input. The best news is the $129 pricetag and complete HAVA software functionality for multicasting and a bit of timeshifting. Now word on distributors yet, so we're not sure when you'll be able to score your own.
SageTV releases Placeshifter for Mac
SageTV has released their Placeshifter client for OS X. SageTV is a two piece solution for making a PC centered PVR. A Windows or Linux PC (with video capture hardware) runs the SageTV Media Center software which offers standard PVR type functions (scheduled recordings, pause live TV, etc.). The Placeshifter client allows you to access this recorded content over the internet. In this respect it's similar to Slingbox and LocationFree (both of which also have Mac clients), but instead of a hardware box at home you run a Media Center PC. Unfortunately, the Media Center software itself is still only Windows or Linux, but they expect a Mac version early next year. Thus, while the Placeshifter client allows Mac users to access recorded content on the road, you still have to have a Windows or Linux box at home to do the actual recording.
SageTV Placeshifter hitting the Mac
If hardware-based placeshifting isn't your thing, but you're still set on toting that MacBook of yours, then SageTV might have a solution for you. This month, as expected, they're launching SageTV Placeshifter, a Mac app that will let you connect to SageTV Media Center running on a Windows or Linux box. You won't be able to build a media center Mac yet, but if you're a dual or tri-platform type of person, the Placeshifter's client functionalities should fit in nicely. All the usual PVR and media functionalities will be available to your shiny OS X box, and the app will come bundled with a $99 license of SageTV Media Center. If you'd like to add another concurrent placeshifting connection, it'll cost ya $29.99 per.
SageTV Placeshifter offers mobile content streaming
Those of you who do the home theater thing from your PC and are for some reason unhappy with the free streaming service offered by Orb now have a new way of "slinging" your content to a remote computer with SageTV's Placeshifter add-on. The $30 software, which requires the $80 SageTV media center package, offers remote access to videos, music, photos, and if you have a TV tuner card or USB device, both live and recorded programming. Cnet got a "first look" at Placeshifter in action, and reports spotty but acceptable performance, with the delays and artifact-infested video we've come to expect accept from these remote streaming services. While we're pretty happy with our free Windows Media Center and Orb setup, if you already own SageTV, the one-time fee might be worth it to free your content with the knowledge that someone's there to troubleshoot the inevitable problems.[Via PVR Wire]
