GigaOM

Om,

Do you know if it is possible to let other people view your SlingBox feed? Or if more than one user can log in (both husband and wife are away on business — both interested in watching different shows)?

If, in fact, multiple users can have access to your SlingBox feed, it could have even bigger effects on the market.

Thanks.

no only one user at a time. there is no way you can share this feed. that my friends would run slingbox into a lot of legal trouble. I think they can let maybe a couple of people log in but the thing is you can control live tv one person at a time. so no two people can be watching different channels at the same time

Of my 12 Tivos (9 SD and 3HD) I can certainly find one of the SD ones to hook this into. My frustration is that they’ve ‘released’ this thing but it’s nowhere to be found…c’mon I want my Sling TV ;) This is definitely my next toy purchase if I can find one, I’m already getting bored with the PSP.

Damn, forget to ask a quick question….will the thing support all 10 of the Tivo remote code sets? Having multiple Tivos, I’ve had to set each one to a different set of IR codes.

what router did you use, because i just got mine and i cant set up remote viewing keeps giving me an error. i have a netgear router and every thing is there, the setup just wont work

mike since i don’t have a tivo i am sorry i cannot answer the question. apologies for that.

Sy

i am using an Airport Extreme for this - I cannot trust other products given the all apple environment i live in. i am not sure what your specific issue is but post it here, and i will try and help out.

Well, in attempting to set up my sling box this evening, it appears as though the IR code set they’re using for ‘Other’ DirecTV with Tivo units (other than Hughes that is, such as Philips, Sony, etc.) is the default code set, which is 0 to those of you who know what I’m talking about. This concerns me as Tivo remotes can support up to nine additional IR code sets (to prevent multiple Tivos from responding to commands meant for one Tivo). This means that I won’t be able to use my main ‘hacked with 225 hours of recording time’ DirecTV with Tivo box with the Sling Box as all three Tivos will be confused by the 0 default IR code set. Sorry for going on about this, there’s probably only about 200 other guys in the country that care about this feature and if you count those that just bought sling boxes, probably only about 5 of us.

To add insult to injury, my ISP just went down so now I can’t use SlingFinder to set up my remote access (not that it would’ve worked anyway since slingmedia.com is getting hit by a lot of requests from people who bought units today. They even have a message up saying they’re trying to increase the ‘capacity of the Sling Finder service’. Oh well, I’ll try again tomorrow. Live to fight another day.

I want my Sling TV! ;)

let me know if you figure out the ir code deal. I have 3 tivo’s w/ different ir codes and just picked up a slingbox at compusa today

Set it up last night. Available through CompUSA in stores. Works pretty good in home network over a wireless bridge (802.11b). Same for upstream through cable and to work.

Requires both a password and a pretty long (dozens of bytes) authentication key for security — but in reality to prevent more than the owner from using it.

In home it can eat up about 500kbps max and decent quality at 1:1 — but perceptually lower if you zoom in to 3:1 or 4:1 or so (full screen at 1000 lines). It’s clearly limited by the upstream in cable to 358kbps where I think my upstream is actually at 384kbps. So it begs for upgrading the home cable internet access.

Buffering is clearly not as good as Real player. Controls are reasonable for direct channel change — but a bit slow to use a cable guide. There is a “Control” mode that ostensibly makes this faster — but I didn’t observe a difference.

I’d claim one bug/goofy setup problem with the box. That is that if you setup a reserved address for it (or allow it to DHCP) you go through the setup fine and everything works — but then when you go to configure it for off network (Internet access to the device) it asks for its own IP address (which is goofy because it already knows it) and it won’t let you enter the address it is already set to. If you click next it will not accept it. However, I canceled the “Wizard” and it just worked anyhow …

I might try that soon and see how it goes.

One great app — if my wife/kids put it on at home (and they are just little ones right now — but certainly a great app when then get older) I can see/monitor what they are watching and control the box …

-Victor

Om,

I share your excitement for the Slingbox, I grabbed one and reviewed it over at LIVEdigitally. I feel the same way when you talk about the sub-optimal video levels at full screen. When I watch a pre-recorded program it’s the same quality as live TV. I also felt the audio could be a tad better. Read my full review here:
http://www.livedigitally.com/?p=288

G’luck Slingin’!

Ameer

I just ordered a Slingbox, and am a multiple TiVo owner. One Tivo IR code is on “1″ and the other is on “2″. Post a message if you guys find out if the IR code can be sent by the Slingplayer.

[...] Some other people have had better luck: Live Digitally’s Review Slingbox 411 SlingBox, Comes Out Slinging

Tags: slingbox

This entry was posted

on Fri [...]

First unit was DOA out of the box. CompUSA store closest to me was sold out upon return. Drove 30 miles to next closest store and they had 5 in stock.

Second unit works perfectly. If you are looking for the unit on the shelf I found that both stores had them hidden away in the back room.

You had to ask around in the store to find the “kid” who knew what you were talking about.

Streaming rate on LAN averages about 956K. Over Cable modem, rate dropped to 768K with little visible difference viewing Tivo feed.

DOA? we have not seen a single one even thru all our beta tests. i want to track down that unit. which compusa was it?
thanks,
Blake
Sling Media

Hey Mike/Bill Ford:

we are looking into the multiple Tivo IR codesets situation already. for the time being, i don’t believe we have a solution for you (unless one of the hundreds of codes we have in there just happen to work). I am pretty confident we will have a solution for you soon. maybe as early as next week.

if you don’t mind, please send me an email directly (our email form for support is not yet up) and i will take care of you personally.

Blake Krikorian
co-founder / CEO, Sling Media

duh, my email is:
blake@slingmedia.com

[...] hacks like me and Walt Mossberg, but also from folks who matter the most: the consumers. (Here is my review of the box!) Technorati Tags: slingbox In Connected Home [...]

[...] st-4525′).parentNode.className += ‘ adhesive_post’; Nokia’s CTO Says, Keep It Simple SlingBox, Comes Out Slinging MCI VoIP, Powered by Net2Phone Nextel to trial IPWireless [...]

[...] In case you missed these…. Nokia’s CTO Says, Keep It Simple SlingBox, Comes Out Slinging MCI VoIP, Powered by Net2Phone Nextel to trial IPWireless [...]

Dear Om,

Can I connect the SLing box via wireless net work. I do not want to run a ethernet cabel from the Sling box to router. my e-mail is yogeshmalhotra@hotmail.com

Slingbox: Fine, but why would you use it?

Sling Media is the latest venture-backed Silicon Valley company that lets you watch your TV over the Internet or other connected device. The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has an effusive review of the San Mateo company’s product. Om Malik joins…

Blake has an interesting perspective on Slingbox, as a response to my post. Blake, thanks and of course it’s not about saving the world, just plain old good, fun product that we can all enjoy…:-)

http://www.talkativeman.com/talkativeman/2005/07/slingbox_why_it.html

Since my original post about a DOA unit, my replacement unit has been performing perfectly.

After the holiday weekend, I showed off what the box
could do at work and just about everyone in my office went back
to their desks to look into the product more and contact their friends
about it.

I have staff that were coming up with all sorts of ideas on how they
could use the product personally and professionally.

Some want to buy one to let their relatives in other locations to be
able to keep up with news from their hometown to watching vacation or
other home videos with their extended families in remote locations.

Others were thinking of how they could use the box to hold training
sessions or play training videos over the network between 2
locations to allow for staff who can’t travel away from their offices.

The slingbox is so versatile and self contained that it lends itself to impromptu streaming applications especially since all it takes is to place it between the video/audio source and the local presentation device. Since it can also control the IR device at the remote location, it also allows for unattended or remote initiated streaming sessions of non-digitally encoded materials.

Since the unit can be moved around easily and contains no moving parts, it can be brought along in case the need arises to stream audio/video from one point to another where you have a network connection.

How come there is so little talk here of Orb vs. Slingbox. I’ve become a big Orb fan is it does what Slingbox does at zero cost (it’s software on my XP) plus it sends out all the music on my PC, pictures, home videos etc. The video even works on my gprs Smartphone. Given all this, I feel like I’m missing some core feature of Slingbox that Orb does not have. Anyone?

Ephraim:

The Orb software only broadcasts media files that already exist on your PC. The Slingbox on the other hand broadcasts video from an A/V component (cable box, DTV receiver, TiVo.) If your PC has a tuner and already acts as your PVR/Media Center, then I could see how Orb approximates the Slingbox’s utility. But many folks just want to watch live TV or their TiVo’ed shows at work, don’t have a Media Center PC, and the Slingbox allows them to do it.

I have two DirecTiVo’s in my living room (each assigned to different remote codes) and so I am waiting to hear when the Slingbox’s ability to control them is fixed. I’m thinking any customer interested in Slingbox would be one of those early adopter types that has more than one TiVo, so hopefully this was just an oversight on Slingmedia’s part. That said, it would be nice if the unit could “learn” remote codes, or if new codes were downloadable on the web.

Finally, I am a Mac consultant and user, so I’m waiting for the Mac client to come out. If Sling stays true to their word and it comes out soon, I’ll be buying at least 10 of these babies for myself, clients, family and friends.

Does the Sling-box allow downloading of recorded files from your PVR in addition to the stream?

I’m headed to Afghanistan in a few weeks to work on the reconstruction project there. While we have broadband internet there 24/7, TV is limited to shows in Arabic, Dari, French and Italian, none of which I speak. At home I have (1) broadband AOL, (2) cable TV, (3) a wireless network. If I install a Slingbox at home in the US, should I be able to watch TV on my laptop when I am over there?

Many thanks

Connected my Slingbox without issue - even gave a friend stationed in South Korea access and he’s having success with smaller window sizes. There’s still a bit of delay in moving about the Series 2 Tivo menus but he’s managing. This looks like a nice gift for overseas soldiers who have access to a broadband connection. Nice unit with lots of uses.

I was sold months ago, the trick is trying to get one. I placed an order with CompUSA the day it was released, and they’ve been giving me the run around ever since. They still don’t know when they will receive stock. Blake, I don’t suppose you’d sell me one of your Slingbox’s would you?

Josh:

I don’t know why you think that Orb only broadcasts media files already on your PC… sure it does that TOO… but as long as you have a tuner card, you can also access (and record!) your live TV. Not trying to get into an Orb vs. Sling as they are fundamentally different kinds of products… BUT did want to set the record straight. Orb DOES stream live TV. To any device. Including the Mac. And yes you can hook an XP machine (with a tuner card) running Orb up to your TiVo box.

best,

Ted Shelton (Orb Networks)

does orb allow different people to tune in to what it is streaming ?

[...] Orb Networks, one of the early pioneers is seeking a new orbit. Orb was one of the original three place shifting companies I wrote about in my Business 2.0 story. Sling Media and Avvenu are two other start-ups in this space. After having crafted a “swiss army knife” of place shifting services - watch TV anywhere via a browser, or listen to Skype voice mails away from your desk - the company is now trying to focus its offerings more sharply - starting with remote Skype VMail and another service that lets you watch your TiVo content anywhere. [...]

Hello i am thinking in purchasing Sling Box and i would like to get live preview if somebody would let me try to see the quality and things like that. And i also family in europe so i would like to see does it work over seas good. If somebody could let me connect just for couple minutes i would appreciate it. please contact me to this email. Thank you

and my if my email is not published contact me arturas1002000@yahoo.com

[...] Aswath has some thoughts on making SlingBox better. Just put it on ICE. [...]

Hi there,

Thanks for your article on the slingbox. I run apple powerbooks and would like to use this technology. Is there an alternative to the slingbox for the mac or is it necessary to wait for them to develop the mac version? If there is no alternative do you have a rough idea as to when the mac version will be available?

Thanks in advance

Justin Nicolson

i bought a slingbox and installed it fine but could not get a picture on my pc… i called tech support and was told i needed service pack 2 installed on my pc..service pack 2 crashed my computer and after three days on the phone with ms i had to a total sytem restore…. MS says that sling box is not compatible with sp2 and that it causes your computer to crash..does anyone have a solution to this problem..?>

I just got the SlingBox for Christmas but it doesn’t have mac soft software only Windows XP. Is their a mac software available?

[...] It is an all familiar story - a new disruptive technology comes to market, and the established players start to get hot under the collar. TiVo’s time shifting technology was met with “this is not good” for the industry skepticism from television networks. Now it is the turn of Slingbox, which is pushing the concept of ‘place-shifting.’ It has generally been met with praise from most, and has garnered big money investments from the likes of Charlie Ergen and John Malone. Capitol Broadcasting President Jim Goodmon, however, thinks that Slingbox is illegal. Goodmon suspects the Slingbox violates program copyright laws — and maybe retransmission-consent agreements — by enabling out-of-market viewing of network and syndicated content. “I have a deal with the cable system,” he says, “and they have retransmission consent for the cable system in this market. They don’t have it for everyplace else. They can’t do that; there’s no way that’s legal.” [...]

I have a question regarding the function/use of the sling box. My friend is a truck driver and he is interested in buying a slingbox and using my direct t.v as his satellite source. I am wondering how this works and what would we need to do/purchase in order for him to utilize the sling box.

Thanks
Rita

Hi people, I just bought the Slingbox and it works like a charm - setup on Windows XP SP2 without any issues. I bought the tuner model by mistake and am exchanging it for one compatible with my Comcast cable but I’m still able to watch movies on either my desktop or laptop. If you have any questions, get back to me at richter@newmexico.com and I’ll be happy to help.

Destin Richter

I have question.

Can multiple users access slingbox to watch a same channel?

Brad

Is there a service out there or even a individual that has slingboxes connected to various cable companies? I need to see Comcast channels including VOD.

email: victorcab@gmail.com

In reference to Brad’s question above, only one person can access a Slingbox at a time - it does not support multiple users.

I wondered the same thing and finally found my answer at http://www.SlingboxGuide.com.

This site has a complete list of Slingbox GOTCHAS and this was listed as one of them. Great site (no ads). Found it on Digg.

mReplay has a software product (called mReplay Broadcast) coming out soon for multiple users to watch the stream(not control) of one Slingbox. The admin user controls what is being watched. In beta testing, it’s been a lot of fun with sports games, as there is chat functionality as well (lots of trash talking) ;-)

[...] SlingBox, Comes Out Slinging « GigaOMBy installing a Slingbox next to your home entertainment centre (TV, set-top box, etc), it has been possible to watch TV on a mobile phone using the 3G data … [...]

I have Sling box and it works at home when I tested it with my lap top

once it worked from Ottawa But now for some reason I cannot connect when I am away from home. says remote not set up or firewall well I turned off firewall and still nohing. how can the remote be set up if thats the problem
Thanks

[...] UPDATE: Om has some initial impressions of the system [...]

I’ve had great luck with the pro. It actually works alot better than my retarded step brother vinny narrating it on the phone.

If I purchase a Slingbox in the uk can I watch uk tele o my tele in My Florida villa or does it just work on Pcs dljobling@btintenet.com

Slingbox users should check out mReplay Live… you can watch, control, record, edit, and share your Slingbox… all from a browser window.

My favorite feature is the “Back-in-time” recording… where you can record the last 30 or 60 seconds of what you just watched to your local computer or the web… perfect for sports!

http://www.mreplay.com/live

-rich

ps-I was a beta tester. ;)