Harvard University business professor Clayton Christensen coined the phrase “disruptive innovation” to describe a new product so advanced and appealing that it displaces all technology that preceded it. The SlingBox is a low-cost video streaming device that allows users to beam what they're watching at home to a computer or smart phone anywhere in the world.

Wow! What Slingbox somehow does is enable you to take your TV room at home with you anywhere in the world. Another nice thing in this age of being fee'd to death is that the Slingbox is a product, not a service. So once you buy it and set it up, there is no service fee

Wayne Carmona is line producer for HBO's popular Entourage, a series that's as much about the Los Angeles celebrity demimonde as it is about celebrity itself. Now he's got 16 Slingboxes piping video from the day's shoot to various members of the production team, and their work is a bit easier as a result.

Best video placeshifting device: Sling Media Slingbox Solo. Can't spend any time away from your favorite TV shows? Slingbox is the answer to your prayers. Bottom line: it's the traveling couch potato's best friend.

Many executives have come to rely on the Slingbox to let them catch their local news, sports and programs while traveling on business. The Slingbox, which attaches to the television at home, captures a local TV signal, digitizes it and sends it via the Internet to your hotel room. “I’ve got to be in Rome for a month in January,” Mr. Brancatelli said. “The presidential race will be decided then. Yeah, they have CNN but not the same CNN we have here. I’ll be able to fire up the Slingbox and see all of the primaries.”

Slingbox’s latest model allows you to watch and control your favorite TV or TiVo, including HD content, from anywhere in the world on your notebook or cell phone. You’ll need a high-speed connection (WiFi or 3G), but there are no monthly charges, just the cost for the device (about $180).

No TV fanatic who travels should be without Slingbox Pro. Use a laptop or phone to watch your local TV programming anywhere with an Internet connection. This HD-ready model streams up to four independent sources, such as a cable/satellite box, DVR or DVD player, so you'll never miss favorite shows.

Slingbox Edges Ahead: If overall buzz and an unexpected acquisition can be used to declare an early leader, if not an out-and-out winner, for the TV gadget business in 2007, then the $380 million acquisition of Sling Media by the satellite TV concern EchoStar (DISH) fits the bill. Sling makes the curious Slingbox, a device that lets users watch their home cable TV channels and videos stored on a DVR from a laptop or mobile device on the road.

The latest technology will ensure that the television lovers in your life will never have to miss their favorite shows again. The Slingbox Solo ($179.99) lets them watch and control their television, DVR, digital cable, satellite receiver and DVD player from their laptop or cell phone, no matter where they are.

Sling Media Slingbox SOLO: This trapezoid-shaped video-streaming gizmo lets you watch and control your television — from your cable or satellite box, or your DVR — on any broadband-connected Windows- or Mac-based computer anywhere in the world. For an extra $29, Slingbox users can buy software that streams the video to Windows Mobile-, Palm- or Symbian-based smart phones.

The Slingbox Solo is a slimmed down and less expensive version of the Sling Media Slingbox. Like other Sling models, it allows you to take your recorded shows from a digital video recorder (including high-definition video) and play them back on a laptop or a smart-phone while you're traveling.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is a blur of high-tech goodies, from ultra-thin cell phones to WiFi-enabled picture frames. The CES Innovation Awards, now in their 11th year, aim to help you cut to the chase. Dell, Sanyo, Kensington, and Sling Media all took home awards for sleekly designed products from slim laptops to smart set-top boxes.

The Slingbox is kinda perfect. I showed it to a bunch of friends, and the next day they all went out and bought one. Another amazing thing about the Slingbox: It's not a subscription service. You buy it, you own it. There are no additional charges beyond the cost of the device

There's a collision, you see, between the boob tube and the Internet. TV is all about instant gratification. The Net is about me having control. Put the two together, and the result should be personalized TV, or iTV, which lets me watch what I want, when I want it. A device called Slingbox lets you take recorded or live TV shows off a box at home and "sling" them miles away on a laptop, smartphone, or other mobile devices.

It isn't always easy to get a broadband connection from your home office to your living room. The folks at Sling Media, which makes the Slingbox that sends your recorded TV shows over the Internet to your portable devices, realize this. So they created the SlingLink Turbo 4 Port network hub.

The adorably squat little Slingbox AV plugs into both my cable TV and home Internet connection. With the included SlingPlayer software installed on a laptop, I've been able to watch live TV or recorded shows off my DVR anywhere from a hotel room in San Francisco to a bench in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

It comes in handy when you want to watch TV upstairs, but your fancy high-definition TiVo is downstairs. It’s also great when you’re in a hotel room, bristling at paying $13 for a movie when your video recorder back home is a veritable Blockbuster. And Slingboxes are also a blessing when you are overseas and longing for the news, or the sports broadcasts, of your hometown. the Solo does well what the Slingbox has always done well, but now for less money, in less space and with more flexibility.

The new version, Slingbox Solo, handles HD digital output. The software for the unit, Sling Player, mimics whichever set-top box you have, so the on-screen remote controls your TV as if you were sitting in the same room, rather that a world away.

Add the new Palm Centro to the list of smartphones that can stream live TV from the Slingbox family of placeshifting devices. To me, that's a far better deal in the long run than paying the $10-25 monthly fees for Sprint's Sprint TV service--which, unlike Sling, offers fewer channels and no access to your home DVR.

Mr. Scott said he became a supporter of the Chelsea Football Club while he was working in London in 1994. He bought the Slingbox in 2006 to track the club as his international business travel increased. Now, he said, he also follows tennis and international motor sports like Formula One while on the road. “Sports is one of the few live television events that one must see when it’s happening,” he said, “or it loses its drama.”

The Slingbox Solo is a first-class entertainment product. The best thing we can say about the Solo is that Sling Media was smart enough not to mess with a good thing. Setup is still incredibly simple. Once we were up and running on our MacBook, we were impressed by the picture quality and frame rate that the Solo provided using the SlingPlayer software.

As you can see in my video below the client works great on the Nokia N93 via WiFi. Video plays back very smoothly and the audio levels are clear and consistent. This is great timing for Sling Media with the 3G-enabled Nokia N95-3 now available at the Nokia Flagship stores.

You can take your mobile phone and be anywhere in the world (with an internet connection) and still watch your TV shows! Sitting in the airport waiting for your flight, you're covered. Also, sports maniacs are now covered, as well. You can now watch your local sports games from anywhere in the world. Business trip to China? No problem.

The news came only hours after EchoStar agreed to buy Sling Media, whose set-top box technology allows consumers to shift their TV signal to mobile and broadband devices anywhere in the world, for $380 million in cash.

The acquisition gives the privately held Sling entree to EchoStar’s 13.6 million DISH satellite TV network customers as well as access to technology EchoStar has created specifically for its digital video recorders. “This combination paves the way for the development of a host of new innovative products and services for our subscribers, new digital media consumers and strategic partners,” Charles W. Ergen, EchoStar’s chief executive, said in a statement.

EchoStar's planned purchase of Sling Media is likely to step up a battle between the satellite TV provider and a raft of rivals. It may also bring EchoStar a few new ones. Although considered something of a curiosity at the outset, the so-called place-shifting concept behind Slingbox is taking off.

“Two key things made the deal interesting to us,” Krikorian said. “One is the ability to continue with our business and our business model…and not be beholden to one particular operator.” The other? The entrepreneurial nature of the EchoStar and its founder and CEO Charlie Ergen.

Sling Media rolled out Slingbox Solo, a set-top box that lets you watch a home-bound HD source from anywhere in the world on a PC, Mac, Palm OS or Symbian mobile device. Solo is a worthy addition to the Slingbox line, and unlike the Slingbox Pro, requires no optional adapter to get it working with HD sources

the Slingbox Solo remains an excellent way to stream your home TV programming to an increasingly wide variety of broadband-connected computers and smart phones. The Solo is a nice choice for those who need HD compatibility and/or pass-through outputs

EchoStar doesn't plan to hoard Sling's technologies after the acquisition, which the companies say should close by the end of the year. "We hope to work with Dish Network," says Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. "But we have the ability and OK to license our technology to other companies and partner with them, as well. We'll be a stand-alone company."

"This is an excellent outcome for the Sling Media guys who really executed well," said Ward Williams, vice president of marketing for iChip India, an IPTV start-up. "They did a good job of taking what is essentially a great feature and communicating to consumers why they needed the service. For the rest of us, deals like this are encouraging."

Krikorian: "Our pockets will be a lot deeper so I don't have to be out there raising money every 12 months. We're going to continue to run like heck. We're only on step two of 10 that we want to achieve."

Of course you can’t blame Krikorian, who’s about 40, for being so, well, psyched. He just signed a deal that values his three-year-old company, which makes devices that let consumers watch TV over the Internet, for a cool $380 million.

“With EchoStar, we’d gotten to know them, to know Charlie. Charlie is one of the real pioneers. He’s a guy who helped build an entire industry, he’s a founder, he’s an entrepreneur. Clearly, there’s a lot I can learn from him. He understands us ... He knows what it’s like to be this passionate about what you do. I’m very confident that the position we’re being put in here, the opportunity being provided us is one that will only accelerate what we’re building.”

Diederik Karsten, CEO of UPC Netherlands, said: "The Slingbox brings a new digital TV experience to our customers. They can view and record their favourite programs remotely by using a broadband internet connection. We believe the Slingbox will certainly enhance UPC's leadership position in the Digital TV market."

Cable giant UPC and Sling Media are to trial the “place shifting” Slingbox device in the Netherlands. The deal was announced at IBC, and will allow UPC customers to use a Slingbox to remotely control their set-top boxes, and view the box’s output anywhere on the planet where they have access to a broadband connection.

6. Sling Media Slingbox AV: Want to watch TiVo'd shows at a coffee shop, the ball game on a plane, or C-Span at a sports bar?

Californian 'place-shifting' TV firm Sling Media has partnered with Liberty Global-owned UPC Broadband to supply its technology to the latter's digital TV customers in the Netherlands.

These are 12 of the best mobile applications available. Wther you're a music freak, a news addict, or an IM gunslinger, you'll find something here to suit your fancy. If you have a Slingbox, SlingPlayer Mobile lets you tap into it to watch TV from your cell phone. It even works with TiVo.

Windows Mobile and Palm devices won't be having all the placeshifting fun for much longer. Though carrier Hutchison 3 has had its own version for some time through its X-Series line, a generic, widely available SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian has eluded the populace for ages; thankfully, it looks like that's all about to change with Sling announcing a private beta for its upcoming S60-based player.

SlingMedia is in the process of introducing SlingPlayer for S60 3rd edition devices here in the States. Imagine... portable TV in my pocket!

We are respectful of copyright, and I would argue that the reason those sites exist is because the media companies that own that content have been incredibly slow in getting their content out there. We want to cut deals with cable and satellite TV providers so that our technology is integrated into their set-top boxes or modems or routers or whatever they're deploying into the home.

Blake Krikorian, the CEO of Sling Media, said the conference was both a time for intense learning as well as educating media executives about his company's technology, which allows people to view their home cable boxes from remote locations over high-speed Internet connections. As soon as TV executives realize that viewers still see the commercials and the viewership counts for Nielsen ratings, they usually warm up, Krikorian said. "They can see what you're made of and not a terror trying to destroy their business," Krikorian said.

And speaking of deep, really deep, Blake Krikorian of Sling Media, one of the conference hotties because his company’s technology allows consumers to time- and platform-shift content, said the morning’s private equity presenters were also terrific, but complicated fun.

If Dan Slentz has his way, soon there will be several live weather-traffic cams situated throughout Zanesville, Ohio. Slentz, chief engineer for WHIZ/AM/FM/TV, hasn’t suddenly come into a small fortune which he’s kindly donating to his operation. Instead, he’s in the process of testing a Slingbox from Sling Media Inc., which is essentially a consumer product designed to reroute all the content from a home TV cable or DBS source to a dedicated laptop or desktop computer anywhere in the world via a typical broadband connection.

Sling Media's Blake Krikorian returns to Sun Valley with a technology to help media companies craft new business models. Big media had been wary of his Sling Box device that lets viewers watch television on Web-connected laptops and smartphones.

But to really turbo-charge your multimedia content, check out the SlingPlayer Mobile client for Windows Mobile, Palm OS or Pocket PC ($30). If you're a Slingbox owner, the SlingPlayer Mobile client can stream content from your Slingbox to your phone.

The next time you’re on a business trip stuck in a hotel room without HBO, you’ll wish you had a Slingbox so you won’t miss Entourage again. The Slingbox AV is a bargain for what it can do, period. It has changed the way I consume media.

SlingPlayer Mobile for Palm OS is now out of beta and version 1.0 has been officially released. Combined with the Slingbox, this solution enables users to view their own live television and entertainment media on the go via the Treo 755p or 700p smartphone.

One of the worst things about work is having to pry yourself away from your TV. The Slingbox Pro turns your PC into your TV. These devices will help you escape the grind and free your mind with technological efficiency.

Dispatching content from a home television to hotels and other far-flung locations where a subscriber chooses to send them is good for the "average revenue per unit" of a cable-system operator, the vice president for Europe of Sling Media said Thursday. "People upgrade their broadband when they have Sling,'' Stuart Collingwood said

While the Slingbox was originally designed to allow consumers to “place-shift” their television viewing, by using an Internet-connected laptop or PC to remotely watch what's on their home TV set while on the road or at work, professional video users have found the Slingbox to be a very effective way to cheaply transmit video, particularly where video quality is not a big concern. Cable operators are using Slingboxes to monitor commercial insertion, content owners are using it to monitor video-on-demand delivery, and studios are using it to transmit dailies to remote executives, says Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. “These vertical markets or b-to-b applications are popping up like wildfire,” he says. “It's pretty exciting to see.”

I saw a product on the internet called Slingbox, it was a big hit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. This product claimed to help with the separation anxiety I would experience being away from my TV. It was time for a Troubleshooter Fame or Shame! I give the Slingbox Pro a definite FAME! It is a must have for any television junkie.

Do those Sling Media folks ever sleep? We just had version two of the Palm beta and today SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile 6 launches this morning for the U.S. and U.K. with Japan coming soon. It doesn't matter if you have WinMo 6 Standard or Professional, once you download the new client, you're all set to watch content from your television, DVD, DVR and more right on your handheld.

4 Mice Review. Slick hardware and software lets you watch your TV over the Internet. I know that, thanks to my Slingbox, I’ll never miss another game, and that makes it worth every penny.

The company today announced its SlingLink Powerline Ethernet Adapters, aimed at providing high-speed Ethernet connectivity via power lines within the home. I like the 4-port option, as the tech-savvy home is increasingly coming with Ethernet ports, and an adapter like this can put all of those devices onto a single powerline adapter instead of relying on another technology for connecting to the home router.

I thought the Slingbox was an amazing product then and at the time didn't see how they could improve on it. They have. Slingbox Pro ($300) looks better and works better than the original, and you now have the ability to view HD content on your computer.

What impresses me about the experience of using both of these products vs. the typical mobile TV experience is that they make me feel at home, as if I am simply accessing media I already arranged to have in my living room or on my PC. I don't have to choose all over again from another menu of selected brands that happened to partner with the carriers or a mobile aggregator. These solutions let me, as the consumer, mobilize my media experience.

While Major League Baseball continues its long, drawn-out War on Fans, the NHL, the little league that could -- disappear without too many people noticing, that is -- has done something smart. I'm talking about the NHL's agreement with Sling Media, a company that baseball is fighting. Good for the NHL. The Slingbox is a hot gadget, and clearly it's no Tamagotchi. It doesn't take a soothsayer to see that "place shifting" isn't some fad. It makes sense as an attractive way to use your television.

He can connect up through a Slingbox (a device from California-based Sling Media Inc. that transmits video) so it picks up his satellite and cable reception in the office and then connects to the network. So from anywhere in the world, he can watch something off his satellite receiver. And that's insatiable in the basketball world. The more you give these guys, the more they want.

Slingbox may actually be helping Major League Baseball by letting fans watch online.

The National Hockey League has entered a unique with Sling Media that will allow consumers who have purchased a Slingbox--the company's innovative device that allows users to stream live or recorded programming on various broadband devices--to record and share NHL programming with other Web users. Just days ago, Major League Baseball lawyers told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is mulling a legal against Sling Media because of potential copyright infringement issues. Yet the NHL does not seem to share such concerns.

Sling Media, a developer of "place-shifting" technology that lets consumers access their home TV channels while away on any Internet-connected device, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with the National Hockey League (NHL) to allow Slingbox users to clip and share live or recorded clips of NHL programming. The announcement comes a week after Major League Baseball said it believes the company's service allows consumers to illegally stream out-of-market games over the Internet.

Under its deal with Sling, the NHL will be able to cash in on fans' enthusiasm for sharing highlights from the games they watch, rather than trying to stop them from uploading those clips. Why would the NHL want to encourage viewers to do this? For starters, they're doing it anyway. What Sling is creating is a way for the NHL (and other copyright owners) to move the action to a new video site where the league can control the advertising inventory associated with the hockey clips.

But that’s not the point: it’s that they are working with Sling to see what the future holds, not working against them to see how lovely the fresh air was back in the 1970s. MLB can’t act like the music industry when it comes to Internet distribution, they must make deals with tech companies, experiment, and look to increased revenue through innovation, not lawsuits

The National Hockey League has partnered with Sling Media to let Sling users share live and recorded portions of NHL programming. Under the agreement, users will be able to share the content online.

There's been a lot of discussion here, and everywhere else about the NHL poor ratings and what can be done. One solution is potentially online video. The NHL has net a deal with Sling Media which definitely has a bright future.

Bob Bowman, MLBAM's president and chief executive, suggested a softer approach. "The way to win this is with good content and good technology, not with lawyers." Major League Baseball is conscious of its reputation for antagonizing its fans -- the most recent example was a dispute over its Extra Innings television package.

"This company (Sling Media) can help enhance baseball and help build its base of fans," said Robert Tuchman, president of TSE Sports & Entertainment.

"I think (MLB is) deploying that rhetoric to chill innovation in this segment. I don't think it's working, but I think it would be a big blow to the entertainment industry if they went to court and lost," said Fred von Lohmann, attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Major League Baseball seems to have its head stuck up where the sun don't shine. Because I have Sling Box at home, I end up watching MORE baseball, not less. I can watch the Red Sox games here at my desk at work, on the road in a hotel or where ever I happen to be. NESN, home to Red Sox baseball, should be thrilled that I am watching more of its programming live - meaning I am not skipping ads.

Someone should get MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to pay closer attention. Instead of spending his time fretting about the day Barry Bonds hits his 756th homer, Selig should dread the blowback that will result from any move against Slingbox. I can't predict which teams will play in the World Series, but you don't need to be Nostradamus to forecast the outraged fan reaction that would follow a lawsuit.

SlingMedia has heard your cries fellow TV fiends. They have now begun offering beta versions of Windows Mobile Professional and Standard compatible software.

With the T-Mobile Wing and the Windows Mobile 6 version of the Dash both in wide circulation, growing pains were pretty much inevitable; Sling's well aware of the issue and has an updated player on schedule for release in the next few weeks

While some broadcasters are actually utilizing the Slingbox and appreciating its benefits, leave it to Major League Baseball to further alienate its dwindling fanbase. Reportedly, the CEA has indeed come to Sling's side by proclaiming that this case is a "classic instance of copyright owners trying to suppress innovation purely because it empowers consumers."

For being "America's favorite pastime," the MLB is apparently populated by a bunch of whiners. Since Sling refused to pay extortion/licensing fees to the MLB, the league's currently contemplating that favorite of legal actions: a lawsuit. Them's fightin' words. Which is surprising, coming from a pack of whining, weeping, crying crybabies.

Sling Media has taken steps to mollify its critics in Big Media, introducing encryption. A Slingbox VP reminded Ars last year that the device's EULA made it clear that the device was for personal use only. So far, none of the Slingbox's critics has been upset enough about the technology to challenge its use in court, despite over a year of saber-rattling.