Filed under: Hardware, Software, Video, Internet Tools
New Slingbox supports Mac OS X, Symbian - but where's the software?
It's time to check in again on the Slingbox's journey to Mac OS X, as Dave Zatz pinged us with some more details and a purty picture he took off one of the new Slingbox AV models at Best Buy. Turns out there are going to be three new models - Tuner, AV and Pro. Tuner ($150) goes the bare bones route for regular cable or antenna, AV ($180)can interact with a set top box, and Pro ($250) is the One to Rule Them All™ with support for multiple feeds and that hot new 'HD' thing the internets keep talking about. The interesting thing, as you can see, is that these new models list support for Mac OS X (as well as Symbian) right on the box, but as we learned a couple weeks ago, the company is still in the middle of a private beta of their SlingPlayer software for the Mac - nothing is public yet. So for now, it sounds like they're cranking out these boxes without actually having any way for John Doe Mac user to work with them, though after an update over on Dave Zatz's original story, we might have a public beta of the software very soon.
If any of you rush out to grab one of these, feel free to let us know if there are some wires mixed here and Mac OS X software actually is shipping in the box.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Peter Payne said 12:28PM on 9-28-2006
I live in Japan, and could so see one of these sitting in my mother's living room, throwing television at me on the other side of the world. Hmmm...
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Matt said 8:13PM on 9-28-2006
Seems there prepping for public beta:
http://us.slingmedia.com/object/KB-005122.html
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Geoff Miller said 3:54PM on 9-28-2006
No. No wires crossed. Except for the ones that wire the folks in engineering at Slingmedia. It's just one huge cluster **ck of broken ship dates, revisions and missed deadlines.
Nothing like announcing in January and *maybe* shipping it by the end of the year. I would have suggested that keeping it under wraps until it was potty trained and then having the big coming out party at MW 2007.
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Jens Hembach said 8:59PM on 9-28-2006
I can't even believe this isn't more of a story. Personally, I'm pissed off enough at Sling for its dubious practises as is, but selling hardware with a MacOS (universal) and a Symbian logo on it when one software isn't available and the existence of the other hasn't even been confirmed is not only unethical, but possibly illegal, and surely violates contractual terms of both the symbian consortium and Apple. I mean honestly, what kind of behaviour is that!? I have no words for how poorly this company, and especially its publicity, is run. Don't have a product: don't advertise it as existing! Can't get your development on schedule: stop making up bogus release dates. Ack.
Don't get me wrong, the product itself is cool, and if I could actually use mine, I'd whine a little less at least. But after having to hard-reset the thing countless times, and having to spend months hunting down a license code for Slingplayer Mobile (which, until yesterday was not available to Canadian consumers even though it was prominently displayed on the Canadian homepage! But in all fairness to Sling, they did provide me with a free one after months of bickering), I'm not going to be buying anything until the product exists, as the promises this company spews isn't worth the bandwidth they incurr.
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Brian said 2:17PM on 9-28-2006
@Peter-
My brother is Somewhere In The Middle East working for A Large Invasionary Armed Force. He had me buy him a SlingBox and hook it up to a spare ReplayTV I had laying around. I plugged the cable from my cable provider into the ReplayTV and the slingbox into the network. He can now not only watch live tv, but he can record what he wants and stream those shows to himself at his leisure. The SlingBox includes remote controlling software that triggers an IR Blaster which controls the ReplayTV (or nearly anything else). After some setup pain and some dancing to get it through the various proxies and filters he has to live with we're up and running. He's happily watching Battlestar Galactica on his laptop twenty odd thousand miles away.
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David LaRoche said 2:54PM on 9-28-2006
I just got the SlingBox AV from Bestbuy. The box does says that it works with OSX. The included CD's label only says that it has the Windows software, but I haven't looked at its contents. The manual instructs Mac users to go to http://www.slingplayer.com/mac/ , but that link is broken, and as far as I can tell, so is the entire domain. Looks like this think is useless to me until they release the software.
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JoJo said 5:51PM on 9-28-2006
Just got the Slingbox Tuner, but the CD had no Mac software, only PC!! Just like David LaRoche (above), I also found the link for Mac users to be broken (DEAD). What a waste of time....arrrgh
http://www.slingplayer.com/mac/
This sucks! I guess I'll continue using my Sony LocationFree device until these Sling Poops get their act together!
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JoJo said 6:02PM on 9-28-2006
The PC (windows) installer on the CD forrwards you to the the following URL to download the "SlingPlayer for Windows v1.4 Download (only for Slingbox TUNER/AV/PRO)". This is a 43.5 MB file download. Why couldn't they provide the software on the CD when they shipped these to the retailers?! This is wierd.
http://us.slingmedia.com/object/KB-c.html
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Will said 7:29PM on 9-28-2006
2 Questions:
1-If you have a wireless network set up in your house, does the Slingbox pick that up or do you need the SlingLink?
2-If someone else is watching TV, can you watch something else from your computer or do you have to watch what they're watching? Or can you play recordings while someone's watching live TV?
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JoJo said 8:11PM on 9-28-2006
Just installed the software on WinXP within Parallels and it worked fine, although I noticed a Firmware was required before software installation. This update was done automatically (downloaded and installed itself). Setting up was surprisingly very easy and took about 10 minutes. I would still prefer to run the software within OSX, but where is the Mac installer Sling people?
Some screen captures here:
http://magnomite.com/slingbox/
MacBook 2.0GHz
512MB RAM
OSX (10.4.7)
Parallels (WinXP SP2)
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Jody said 3:47AM on 9-29-2006
I just talked to a rep at the Engadget meetup in Boston this evening and he said give him a month. I said that was bullshit and I was going to buy something else, and he said he was sorry but they were working as hard as they could to get it out ASAP.
I'm thinking about buying one, then calling up Sling and being like WTF. I mean... class action suit of 'false advertising'? Anyone else in?
-Jody-
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Henry Oh said 1:18PM on 9-29-2006
From what I can tell, Slingmedia looks like it is just tripping all over itself. Great initial product but they can't seem to make the transition to the next step.
Don't lock yourselves in to their format/hardware. Get an EyeTV or some other capture card and look into the world of Hamachi and/or CyTV. You won't get realtime streaming but if you're halfway around the world, who wants to be up at 3am watching a small grainy video?
Save yourself the eyestrain. Record it in full-screen glory using EyeTV or whatever else you want, burn to DVD using toast or some other burning utility, and watch on a regular TV.
The drawbacks to this are expense. It's easiest if you have Macs on both ends. So if your parents don't have one, they'll need to buy one. Here's a chance to do them a good deed as well. Give them a Mac on the condition that they let you hook up the appropriate equipment. You can use VNC to manage the recordings. Set the computer to wake from sleep at an appropriate and convenient time and you'll always have a window each day to set the recordings and transfer the shows from computer to computer. You could set up an automator task to transfer the EyeTV library from computer to computer.
Just google the terms if you need any clarification.
This can save you and your relatives a lot of inconveience and can be a huge plus for any expat sports fan. Good luck.
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Henry Oh said 1:28PM on 9-29-2006
Can one of you who bought it contact your state attorney generals office. Tell them about this. They'll want to know. Trust me.
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Henry Oh said 1:30PM on 9-29-2006
What happened to my question marks? ;)
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Chris said 11:11AM on 10-02-2006
This page actually shows a download link for the mac 10.4 and above but goes nowhere. It seems to be getting closer.
http://us.slingmedia.com/page/slingplayerdesktop.html
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james said 8:43AM on 10-05-2006
This is one of the most talked about thinks on the sling community forum.
http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/thread/11357
They have a private beta, but no word when they will make it public. (I don't understand why they aren't making it open to all).
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Dr Van Smythe said 12:22PM on 11-01-2006
A monkey could run Slingbox/Slingmedia better than these guys do. Stay away from their products. What a headache.
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bob evans said 1:30AM on 10-26-2006
I think I will call the state Attorney General's office - I am sure this is illegal....I wonder why Apple isnt all over them for the misrepresentation.....Is Steve Jobs and investor ?
Gee, selling a box with the Mac OS logo - Putting in a CD , again with printing stating the Mac software is upon it....instructions enclosed telling you to go to the web site for download....a download that doesnt exist. All after hype & promotion in January - then releasing a product - baiting me not to return it to the store during the 30 day policy time frame. It's coming - it's coming - Even tech support trained to collect my email address (wonder how much spam that could lead to giving you email address to a company that has already got my money and lied to me).....sending me to slingcommunity.com in hopes of finding a workaround available. Hours of hunting around...nothing. The search on that site is poor for a reason - and full of press releases...designed to make you click pages deep with only about 10 selections per page...it appears there must be something someplace on the site....nothing yet.
Never saw any company looking for customer loyalty do this before.
Why isnt Apple Computer after these guys ! The best way to kill the Mac growth is to have companies claim they have Mac software and not deliver...but gee, by the way the Windows version is out...maybe Microsoft is paying Sling Media to NOT to come out with Mac software. Hummmmm, I wonder.
I have never seen so many product awards given to a company that missleads so much...I would guess that those are just "purchased awards" from Time Magazine, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, engadget, CNET, Businessweek.
Bob Evans
If I treated my customers the way Slingbox treats it's Mac customers, I would be out of business.
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