Sling Media, creator of the Slingbox products that let you watch your home TV on any Internet-connected PC, now has a gizmo that lets you watch Internet and personal video on your home TV.
Like a Slingbox, the $300 SlingCatcher, which goes on sale today, hooks up to your broadband network and your TV (although a Slingbox can also connect to other home video sources such as a cable box or digital video recorder). But while a Slingbox makes your live or recorded TV programming available remotely on a PC or some mobile devices, the SlingCatcher brings to the TV content that you might otherwise have to watch on a PC.
That content can be on-demand streaming prime-time shows on sites such as Hulu or the various network sites; online movie rental sites such as Netflix; or community sites such as YouTube. Sling Media says the SlingCatcher supports just about any Internet video site. The device's built-in SlingProjector software lets you set up the video stream so that you only see the video (you don't have to see the rest of the host site).
Another built-in SlingCatcher application, SlingPlayer for TV, lets you view any of your Slingbox-connected TVs or video sources. So, for example, you could watch a show from your Slingbox-connected living room DVR on a SlingCatcher-connected TV anywhere else in the home.
The SlingCatcher's third application, My Media, lets you play video stored on a USB flash drive--for example, video downloaded from a camcorder or the Internet. My Media supports several popular video formats and codecs, but to ensure compatibility, Sling Media says it will be releasing a utility called SlingSync that will convert video files to a format the SlingCatcher can play. SlingSync will also be able to scan your computer for compatible video files, so you don't bother trying to play incompatible content, Sling Media says.
The SlingCatcher arrives on the heels of Sling Media's first Slingbox to support high-definition content playback, the Slingbox Pro-HD. The SlingCatcher too supports HDTV, with HDMI, component, composite, and S-Video outputs as well as both digital and analog audio outputs. It comes with its own remote controller.
And we can't wait to try it out.
