Sling Debuts Solo Box, Nokia Software

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 9/27/2007

Foster City, Calif. — Fresh on the heels of its announced pending acquisition by satellite TV provider EchoStar, Sling Media introduced Thursday a new version of its place-shifting video system, called Slingbox Solo, that can connect to standard-definition or high-definition set-top boxes and offer increased streaming performance.

The company also said its SlingPlayer Mobile software is now available in the United States for select Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices running S60 third-edition software on the Symbian OS, including the just released US HSDPA (high-speed download packet access) version of the Nokia N95.

The Slingbox Solo ($179 suggested retail) features will bring video from the home entertainment system to PCs, laptops, Macs and a variety of smartphones.

The product includes standard (4:3) and widescreen (16:9) video support and increased streaming performance (full VGA resolution, up to 8Mbps around the home). The Slingbox Solo accepts inputs from either standard-definition or high-definition set-top boxes, including component video, S-Video or composite video. It also adds integrated looping outputs for each input.

Sling Media said the Slingbox Solo will be available nationwide through retail partners, including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Buy.com, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fry’s, J&R Music World and Micro Center as well as www.slingmedia.com.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned SlingPlayer Mobile software will enable Slingbox owners to watch and control their home TV from a network-connected mobile phone. For a limited time Sling Media is offering Nokia N95 current and future handset owners in the United States a discount on Slingbox AV. In addition, all U.S. Nokia N95 customers will receive a free version of SlingPlayer Mobile (a $29.99 value). Complete details can be found here.

The SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian OS software version will be available to customers in the United States, Canada and in the United Kingdom on a select number of Nokia handsets at launch, the company said. Sling Media plans to extend support for additional handsets in the near future.

The retail price of the application is $29.99. Downloads of the application are available here.