Article on E* at CES 2008

[nickg420]

Not sure if anyone read this or if it has been posted...I just stumbled across it and figured I would share...if this is a repost from old news please remove accordingly....

EchoStar plans to show HD-enabled Sling at CES

By Jacqueline Emigh, BetaNews

November 16, 2007, 12:17 PM

With the ink still barely dry on its agreement to buy SlingMedia, EchoStar is already mapping plans for a big Sling announcement at CES 2008 in January.
This week in New York City, EchoStar Satellite LLC , the provider of the satellite-based Dish Network, showed Sling's gear at its booths at both a pre-CES product expo and a press event in Pepcom's "Digital Experience" series. There, we learned the company's announcement is slated to involve SlingMedia's products for accessing video from PDAs, laptops, or just about anywhere else.

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Last September 24, EchoStar agreed to acquire Sling Media - makers of Slingbox hardware and SlingPlayer software - for $380 million cash.Francie Bauer, EchoStar's corporate communications manager, told BetaNews that EchoStar's plans for CES include the announcement of Sling Mobility Package, a bundle that will bring together an EchoStar HD-DVR receiver and Slingbox SOLO - both of which are HDTV-capable - with EchoStar's TV programming offerings.
Right now, it looks as though, for a small extra fee, users who lease the receiver will be able to lease Slingbox, too, making a separate purchase of Slingbox unnecessary.
Bauer said later that EchoStar is also eyeing the possibility of using CES as the launch pad for an upcoming, Wi-Fi-enabled edition of the EchoStar Pocket Disk media player, a product that provides handheld access to video content.
"It's possible that the bundle might include the WiFi Pocket Disk player, too, but that hasn't been decided yet," she told BetaNews.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Poor reporting.

I was at this show and spoke with Francie, she said that Dish was going to be featureing some of the new products from Sling (which is an Echostar company) including the Slingcatcher. She mentioned that possibly in the future folks could lease a Slingbox from Dish but didn't know if that would happen.

I asked about a receiver with a built in Slingbox and was told that anything like that was at least a year away.

 

[tigerfan33]

Scott. With the internet problems during the week of the CES, will you guys be able to give us a report as soon as the Dish guys speak on Monday?

 

[nickg420]

Poor reporting.

I was at this show and spoke with Francie, she said that Dish was going to be featureing some of the new products from Sling (which is an Echostar company) including the Slingcatcher. She mentioned that possibly in the future folks could lease a Slingbox from Dish but didn't know if that would happen.

I asked about a receiver with a built in Slingbox and was told that anything like that was at least a year away.

See that's why I love this site....I always get a no BS, No fluff, truthful, straight-to-the-point answer...

Thanks Scott and feel free to remove this at your leisure I do not want to be the proprietor of any misinformation..

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Scott. With the internet problems during the week of the CES, will you guys be able to give us a report as soon as the Dish guys speak on Monday?

Yes in fact we should be able to give you LIVE updates from the Press Confrence, which is Monday at 11am PT (2pm ET)

 

[Peter Parker]

Why would I want to lease or renta slingbox?

 

[mattopia]

I'm looking forward to getting the SlingCatcher. I think I can save my 211 fee by just "catching" my SlingBox Solo to the bedroom TV.

REALLY curious to see how the quality is with the SlingCatcher. It's "good" but nowhere near HD when going to my Mac with SlingPlayer on my local lan.

Hopefully someday we'll see an iPhone client too.

 

[DishSubLA]

Why would I want to lease or renta slingbox?

That product may not be for your or me, but there are a lot of people, usually younger males, who take their notebook everywhere and would love to watch whatever is on their Dish box at the airport or coffee shop or school or . . . Anyone whose job requires a lot of travel would also find this product attractive. The last time I was at a hotel, I really missed not having access to my Dish DVR that had all the shows--and channels--that I love to watch. The channels provided by the hotel were poor and limited in number. If my job required travel, I would definitely get a Slingbox. But for me, since I don't travel, I have absolutely no interest in it.

 

[SpaethCo]

I think he meant that when the product can be purchased for ~$150 with no additional recurring fees, why would you want to rent or lease one?

As a side note, the Slingbox doesn't only have to be used for remote viewing. I have a Slingbox solo hooked up to my 722 so I can watch TV on my workstation or laptop. Makes it great for having a CNN feed up while I'm catching up on forums / online banking / etc, or watching a show in bed on the laptop just before going to sleep.