Adding Sling to Your DISH

[Chuong Nguyen]

DISH Network parent company EchoStar acquires Sling Media, maker of the Sling Box (http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=4285). Sling Box is a combination of hardware and software that allows you to stream live TV, cable, and satellite broadcast to any laptop, company, Windows Mobile, Palm, and now in beta with Symbian OS devices without the need for your computer to be on. The acquisition is set to close the fourth quarter and is worth $380 million in cash and EchoStar options.

Hopefully, this acquisition will make Sling technologies more readily available. Boy Genius Report (http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2007/09/25/echostar-aquires-sling-media/#more-1928) is pondering the fact of a release of an integrated Sling Box with a satellite receiver. That would be a nice product: satellite receiver, Sling Box, and DVR. Hopefully, the technology that Sling Box has pioneered will extend beyond DISH Network's satellite set top boxes.

[Rainman]

I hope they don't start charging for slinging your tv. That would really tick me off. I love my slingbox and have it installed on my 8525. It works pretty well considering I have a slow upload speed at home of about 400-500 kb/sec.

[Chuong Nguyen]

Hi, Rainman.

I love the Sling technology in that there is no buffer. If your connection drops, it either speeds up the frames to catch up or will play audio with skippy visual so there is very little interruption in audio at the very least. This is great if you want to understand the gist of things still, despite a slower connection at times preventing smooth streaming.

I have a slow home connection and Sling still works fine for me. I love the player! As a college football junkie, I can now not be tied to the living room and can roam with friends.

My only request for my 8525 is a longer-lasting battery. At this point in time, since I am considering the switch to the new AT&T Tilt or HP iPAQ, I can't justify the investment this late in the game in a larger capacity batter. Hopefully, a larger capacity battery will be available with the AT&T Tilt/8925.

Chuong

[Rainman]

Agree on the extra battery capacity. It does eat it up real fast, part of which I think has to do with the 3G usage. I myself am a football/MLB junkie. I have my 8525 on a boxwave cradle, so I can leave it plugged in and watch at a nice angle. I had the Yankees/Blue Jays game on while I was working yesterday, even though the Yanks lost. :( But combined with my BT stereo headphones, it's just great!

[Chuong Nguyen]

Nice! I still need to invest in a pair of Bluetooth headphones myself.

[Rainman]

Nice! I still need to invest in a pair of Bluetooth headphones myself.
I have the Motorola HT820's and they are just awesome. Very comfortable to wear and the sound is actually pretty decent. The only complaint I have is I look like a male Vietnamese version Princess Leia :rolleyes: Got them on Amazon for $66 with free shipping. Though the new Plantronics that were just announced looked cool.

[Chuong Nguyen]

Thanks for the rec! Definitely will need to check those out.