SlingCatcher | Stream on tv without restrictions

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

At the last Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Sling Media announced SlingCatcher. The latter is the sibling of the Slingbox and will make it possible to stream video content directly on the television.

Its big advantage compared to other products (like Microsoft’s Media Center or Apple’s iTV) is that the SlingCatcher is really user oriented. The SlingCatcher does not force the user to watch only videos created using a particular codec. The SlingCatcher does not require the user to watch only content bought in a particular online store.

You can watch on your television whatever video content (in whatever format) you like. There will be some restrictions on what can be saved on the optional hard drive but there are not a lot of details about this add-on.

The SlingCatcher does not put particular restraints on the connection to use either. The SlingCatcher works with both standard and high definition content and is able to connect to the TV using HDMI, Component, S-Video or Composite video. The audio outputs are analog or digital while the network connections supported are both wireless and Ethernet.

The wireless connection is the base for the SlingProjector application that Sling will bundle with SlingCatcher. SlingProjector essentially will put on your television any kind of content, be it an Internet website, pictures, home movies or some other audio/video content.

To bring this beauty in our living room we will have to wait a few months though. The SlingCatcher is scheduled to be available by the middle of 2007. Sling Media has already announced that the retail price should be under $200 USD.