Just a day after news broke that Sling Media's releasing a whole new class of product in its SlingCatcher, we've got a boatload of new details to share with you:
- SlingCatcher is the box, but there's two new software applications, SlingProjector and SlingPlayer for TV.
- SlingProjector lets you project "any web site or digital audio/video format" onto a TV. So instead of grabbing video from YouTube or CinemaNow or other sites, you can just slap the entire web page up onto your TV set. If you ask me, there's room for improvement here, since I'd like to be able to surf to a video on the TV screen, but then watch it in full screen.
- Sling Media expects SlingProjector to work best for slinging media from a laptop screen to a TV set. Sit with your laptop in front of the TV, find the video you want, and watch it on the big screen.
- SlingPlayer for TV lets you transfer video across a home network from one TV setup to another. In other words, if you've got your Slingbox plugged into your TiVo in the living room, and a SlingCatcher in the bedroom, you can use SlingPlayer for TV and a remote control to watch your TiVo recordings in bed.
- The SlingCatcher can also download or stream content from the internet without using a PC as a server. Sling is working on partnerships with online video providers to serve up that functionality.
- There'll be an add-on hard drive attachment that would let you download recordings in addition to streaming them live.
- The SlingCatcher includes HDMI, Component, S-Video, and composite outputs for connecting to a standard or high definition TV. It's also got WiFi and Ethernet jacks.
