Audio Video News

Sling Media is best known for the Slingbox, which ferries your a/v fix from any home device to any computer in the home or over the net. This well-received technology is now multiplying into new uses in the wake of Sling Media's acquisition by EchoStar.

The latest iteration of the company's signature product is the Slingbox SOLO. Selling for just $179, it "builds on the goals of the original Slingbox," now extending your home entertainment fix to your smartphone, with full VGA (640 x 480) resolution at 8Mbps. HDTV and 16:9 are supported as signal inputs.

SlingPlayer Mobile software now runs on Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices running the third-generation Symbian OS, including the HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) version of the Nokia N95. Current and future owners of the Nokia N95 are offered a discount on Slingbox AV plus a free version of SlingPlayer Mobile, worth $29.99. See details at the Sling Media site.

All this happens in the wake of other to-ings and fro-ings involving Sling Media and EchoStar. The satellite provider acquired Sling for $380 million. A day later EchoStar announced it may split up into two smaller companies, one concentrating on satellite TV delivery and the other on technology development. AT&T is rumored to be interested in buying the Dish Network operation, according to TheStreet.com, which would give the telco-TV provider an entry point into the satellite-TV business.