Like the Apple TV or Xbox 360, it lets you play PC-based video on your TV. But it also hooks into Slingboxes, letting you control one TV with another. Sling Catcher will be release “sometimes between” April and June 2008 and sell for $249.
The new "clip and sling" feature in Sling Player 2.0, due by March, could be a copyright nightmare. It lets Slingbox owners grab a chunk of TV programming and publish it to a Web page, operated by Sling Media, where other folks can view it as streaming Flash video.
Sling is hoping to prevent enraging TV networks by offering them chances to make money from the content. If a viewer shares a Jay Leno clip, "imagine presenting to a friend a custom Web page that had branding around it that was NBC and Jay Leno-related, with advertising sold by NBC," said Rich Buchanan, Sling's VP of marketing. Sling won't tack commercials onto the beginnings of clips, he added.
“Clip and sling functionality” will start as a beta. Rights holders will be allowed to impose their own restrictions on sharing content, or make content un-shareable, Buchanan said.
Sling Player 2.0 has two other improvements. The software will come with its own electronic program guide, so you won't have to rely on streaming the program guide from your home DVR. It will also have a buffer, much like home DVRs – the buffer size is still being worked out, but for now it's 20 minutes. Sling Player 2.0 will initially be available for Windows XP and Vista, with a Mac version coming later in the year. How much later, Sling Media?
Cybercast credit: YouTube
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