The Sling Media SlingCatcher media extender goes on sale today. It seems like we've been waiting for this product for about as long as we've awaited Guns and Roses' "Chinese Democracy" album. In fact, I originally saw this product at CES back in 2007, and we still haven't gotten our hands on it for more than a half hour, so I'd take this announcement with a large grain of salt.
The SlingCatcher ($299.99 direct) gives you access to all of types of digital content on your television--basically, if you can see it on your PC monitor, you'll be able to see it on your TV. With the player you can stream content from your hard drive or the Web to your television.
Sling gave us a demo in our Labs recently, and we were able to stream YouTube, "South Park," and Hulu.com videos to our television with a few mouse clicks. Unfortunately, the device does not also have Sling Media's Slingbox functionality, but the interface does give you access to any devices connected to a Slingbox, if you have one. So you will be able to use it to watch Slingbox content on multiple TVs in your home, or really, anywhere.
In addition to streaming content to your television, you can attach a USB storage device directly to the SlingCatcher and broadcast content that way. The player currently supports WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, and Xvid, as well as a number of file formats including AVE, VOB, IFO, MPG, MOV, and WMA. The company is currently working on a program called SlingSync that will convert incompatible file formats into files that can be played on your television via the SlingCatcher.
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October 12, 2008 9:00 PM
I was one of the "first on the block" to get the Slingcatcher - delivered on the evening of 10/9 from Walmart.com. The idea is great ... the technology is lacking.
1. The advertising indicates that it will work with wireless, the reality is different. It requires an ethernet cable to work - so you have to have a router nearby. Even with that, out of the box the unit works well with the projection software "IF" there is no motion. With motion, the picture quality was marginal with a lot of pixelation.
2. Technical support is lacking. I called on Friday evening. After waiting just under an hour, I did get to speak with someone who was lacking in clear English. They had me go through all of the normal resetting, unplugging, etc. Nothing worked. I was then told to download software that would allow them to log onto my PC.
3. Accessing www.speedtest.net showed that I had 6 MPS download and 500 KPS upload. This was identified as the "problem." The tech person informed me that I had to have at least 1 MPS "UP"loan in order to use the projector software. (How many people in the US have 1 MPS UPload capability.
4. So, after nearly 2 hours with tech support, it was determined that I was not able to use the projection feature (which is why I purchased the unit). By 10pm, I was at Customer Service at Walmart returning the unit.
Great idea ... technology is not ready.