Slingbox Coming To Australia Next Month (About Time!)

Finally! Almost four years after Sling Media launched their very first Sling branded streaming box onto the US market, us Australians are finally going to be able to get a taste of universal entertainment access next month. Digital Products Group have announced that they’ll start selling Slingbox products starting next month.As a quick reminder, Slingbox essentially plugs into your home theatre setup – either your DVR or TV or set-top box – and then streams whatever content is on that device onto the internet. That means that no matter where you are in the world, you can use your laptop or mobile phone to access that content and watch your own entertainment.

DPG will be selling a range of Sling products, including the Slingbox Solo (which connects to one product) for $349, the Slingbox Pro (connects to three sources), for $499, the Slingcatcher for $499 and the SlingLink Turbo 4-Port (which puts ethernet ports behind your TV, essentially).

I’m not sure about you guys, but I’m super excited by this announcement, although I am a bit disappointed that the Sling Box HD wasn’t part of the product lineup from the outset. In any case, March now can’t come soon enough!

Sydney – 04 February, 2009 – Digital Products Group one of Australia’s leading distributors of digital lifestyle products, today announced that it has been appointed by Sling Media Inc., as distributor of Slingbox in Australia and plans to launch the brands first products in late March 2009.

Slingbox is a revolutionary product that is capable of streaming content from a home television source, including Digital FTA TV, Set Top Boxes, PVR’s / DVR’s or PayTV Boxes, to a laptop or desktop computer (PC or Mac) in and around the house. Additionally, customers who have a high speed broadband connection such as ADSL 2+ that features upload speeds of 256kbps per second or higher, Slingbox can even stream TV signals outside the home to just about anywhere you can receive a high-speed network connection.

In addition to the ability to view your home TV on a Laptop or Desktop from just about anywhere in the world, with SlingPlayer Mobile you can view your home TV on the go with a compatible 3g or WiFi -capable mobile phone, some of the current compatible handsets include BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile and soon to be released on iPhone.

” Everyone at DPG are so excited to add Slingbox to our catalogue of Brands and products, we have always found great satisfaction in delivering new and exciting products that are at the fore front of technology and Slingbox not only fits into this category but has hugely exceeded our expectations” said Jai Kemp, General Manager and Founder of Digital Products Group Pty Ltd. ” Over 9 years ago DPG launched its first PVR, allowing TV lovers to watch what they want, When they want, with Slingbox you can now also watch your favorite show Where you want”

“We’ve had a strong response from Australian consumers from the moment we launched the first Slingbox in June 2005 and we are very pleased to be entering the Australian market today,”said John Gilmore, president and CEO of Sling Media, Inc. “The Slingbox will transform the way Australians watch and control their home television on their computer and combined with our SlingPlayer Mobile software Australians will also have the ability to access their home TV using the most popular smartphones from virtually anywhere they happen to be.”

Products, Pricing and Availability

Slingbox SOLO – Allows for the connection of 1 AV source with your choice of connecting via composite, S-Video or Component plus one pass through for the chosen input. RRP. $349 Available late March 2009.

Slingbox PRO – Allows connection of up to 3 separate sources and includes an integrated Analogue / Digital TV tuner. Connections include Composite, SVideo, Component and RF analogue / Digital TV tuner, all input have a pass through. RRP. $499 Available late March 2009.

SlingCatcher – The SlingCatcher, with its included remote control, allows customers to access and control any device connected to a Slingbox – for instance a PVR, STB or PayTV Box – located in another room in the house or even on a remote TV. With SlingCatcher you can now watch your home TV on another TV. The SlingCatcher also allows customers to watch online video from any popular site on the internet on your big screen TV. Simply highlight the the video window on your PC and the Audio and Video will sling up to the TV in full screen. And finally, connect a standard USB hard drive or USB flash drive and the SlingCatcher can playback on the TV most personal media stored on the hard disk, including home movies, personal videos, internet video downloads, etc. RRP. $499 Available late March 2009.

SlingLink TURBO 4 Port – If you don’t have a Ethernet (Computer Network) socket behind your TV the Slinglink allows you to use your Power Point instead, and with network connections for multiple devices such as PVR, game console, TV or computer, you can connect all your devices easily to the internet. You can expand your network and add up to 16 SlingLinks (up to 64 networked devices) throughout your house. Pricing and Availability TBC.

[DPG via Midnight Update]


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