Until yesterday, the term Slingbox was one of those irrelevant tech terms for us Indians who knew about its existence – but were not sure as to what exactly it does. Yours truly for example had heard of it, but the only thing I knew was that it had something to do with TVs’s. There were far more important things to check out than some flashy sounding gadget that was relevant only to a few lucky souls. Anyway, that changed yesterday when Sling Media brought its range of Sling branded gizmos to India.
If you know what a Slingbox does, never mind reading this part.. (on second thoughts, you might as well go through a refresher course!). If you have no clue what this is all about, read on.
A Slingbox is a something that allows you to watch your TV, the one at your home irrespective of where you are on the planet. Your set top box is connected to the “Slingbox” at your home which in turn is connected to the Internet. Once the hardware is set up, the Slingbox streams your TV programmes over the Internet to any supported device of your choice, anywhere in the world. The supported devices include all Windows, Mac based computers, iOS and Android devices. The only requirement for the set up to work properly is a working, decently fast Internet connection on both the ends.
The advantage of Slingbox is that you are watching your own content that you have already paid for – even when you are not at home. This is unlike mobile TV apps where you need to subscribe to monthly rentals for watching your favorite programs on the move. These are the same programmes you might have already subscribed to on your TV.
What’s the catch? Well you cannot watch TV programmes at home on your TV AND the SlingBox at once. Only one device is supported at a time. However, you can still stream stuff from a source other than your TV set top box while someone is watching TV at home. It has a USB port but you cannot connect a hard disk to stream your content over the Internet.
In India, Slingbox offers two models, the SlingBox PRO HD and the Slingbox 120. The former is the high end variant that allows streaming of full HD content over the internet. This device costs Rs.14,999 and is now available in select cities of India. The Slingox 120 costs Rs.7999 and is capable of streaming standard TV content to supported devices. Sling Player also has iOS and Android apps available for purchase which is all that’s needed for your phone/ tablet to be Sling ready. The app is available for $29.99. It’s a one time purchase Sling will also sell its Sling Link home network connector for Rs.4999 which we think is a tad high – especially when the Slingbox doesn’t support Wi-fi.
Just a minor correction! You CAN watch remotely on a SINGLE device while your TV is being viewed at home. Depending on the type of STB used (DTH vs Cable), the programming on your TV and on the remote device may or may not be the same.
Parag Raval
Director, Business Operations–India
Sling Media