Dish Network To Offer Place-Shifting Functionality

Sling Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corp., was recently profiled in The New York Times. Sling Media produces Slingbox and other similar stand-alone video hardware products, which start at $180 and plug into televisions. The Slingbox enables users to pipe all of their existing cable and satellite channels over the Internet to any computer or mobile device.

Sling Media has generated media and industry buzz, but as of yet only a few hundred thousand technology geeks have adopted the product. This all may change, however, as the Dish Network plans to offer a set-top box embedded with Sling’s features to its 14 million subscribers across the country, this according to the New York Times. Called the SlingLoaded HD DVR ViP 922, the Times says it will be offered to subscribers for $199.

The NYT goes on to report that EchoStar plans to license Sling technology to other satellite and cable TV operators and consumer electronics companies. The idea of “place shifting” or “Slinging” shows to any device, the company hopes, will become a standard trick performed by most high-end cable boxes.

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