The new $150 Slingbox M1 is the cheapest Sling-branded way to stream from your home TV to a laptop or mobile device. Sling Media
After the Supreme Court ruling against Aereo, many people wondered what it would mean for the future of streaming services and devices that didn’t have the full blessing of the major networks. Indeed, an emboldened Fox is already making legal moves to ban the Dish Network’s Hopper DVRs due to their integrated “Sling” functionality, which lets users stream live programs to other devices.
None of this seems to be deterring EchoStar, the sister company of Dish and the owner of Sling Media, though. Today, the company announced a new entry-level Slingbox as well as a rebranded version of the higher-end Slingbox 500. The former, the Slingbox M1, doesn’t offer a huge jump in terms of functionality over the Slingbox 350 it replaces—bad for potential upgraders, but good for those who feared Aereo’s defeat would have an immediate chilling effect. The M1 will be the cheapest Sling-branded way to stream from your home TV to a laptop or mobile device.
The main thing it adds to the 350’s feature set is Wi-Fi connectivity. You had to connect the 350 to your router via an Ethernet cable, but now you just connect the box to your home Wi-Fi network during setup. What’s still missing is an HDMI-in option from your cable box to the Slingbox. The signal feeding into the Slingbox M1 is done via an included component-video cable.
Aesthetically, there are some minor changes, too. The Slingbox M1 is a low-key, VHS-tape-sized black box, and lacks the textured finish and space-Toblerone stylings of previous Slingbox hardware.
You can change channels while you’re watching the feed away from home, and the approach to doing so is pretty antiquated. There’s an IR emitter built into the M1, as well as an included emitter cable that gives you more flexibility when you’re positioning it. When you change the channel via the Slingbox app, you’re literally changing the channel at home. Literally meaning literally.
Because the feed is streaming from your home, you have access to your local news, sports, and other broadcasts when you’re thousands of miles away. There’s no geoblocking involved. You can also extend the feed from your cable box to other sets in your home (or your other homes) via a Slingbox app for Roku, Apple TV, and other set-top boxes.
Streaming from the Slingbox to the browser-based desktop or laptop browser is free, as is streaming to the desktop app for Mac OS and Windows. However, streaming to a mobile device will cost you, and you can’t use the browser in that scenario. The iOS and Android versions of the SlingPlayer app are $15 apiece, and buying one of those apps is required to make the Roku and Apple TV features work. The set-top boxes use your phone, which must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network, as a receiver.
The Slingbox M1 costs $150 and will be available starting July 20. But unless you plan on watching everything on a laptop or desktop, tack on that extra $15 for the mobile app.
The other “new” device is the $300 SlingTV, which is the same hardware as the Slingbox 500 running new firmware. The new platform is HTML 5 based, with its own app ecosystem, custom pop-up displays, and sports tickers that can run on top of live programming. All those new features are also available as a firmware update for the Slingbox 500. The rebranded box and firmware update are both due at the end of August.
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