Back at Macworld Expo in January , I got a demo of Slingbox , the ironware product that let you watch your TV from remote locations via the Internet . As a TV guy , I was pretty impressed — and excited that the monstrance I was vex from Sling Media include a Slingbox running on a Mac .
It ’s taken them much longer than anyone counter , but now there ’s in the end a publicly - available version of theSlingPlayersoftware for Mac OS X , albeitas a public beta . I ’ll admit , I was so delirious by my original demonstration that I prevail out and buy a Slingbox . For a few months , I used it on a crummy Dell personal computer that cowers in the box of my office . Once Boot Camp and Parallels Desktop come to the panorama , I began watching my Slingbox on my Intel - base Mac , albeit within Windows .
For the past month or so , I ’ve finally been able to watch my Slingbox natively on my Mac , using a pre - release version of the novel Mac player , and it ’s been a outstanding experience . The Sling Media team has done an admirable chore in getting a video product that ’s basically build on Windows Media technology to work — and ferment well — on the Mac .
But let me back up for a second and recapitulate what Slingbox is and how you might use it . Slingbox is a belittled hardware box — the company now makes several models , the $ 179Slingbox Tuner , the $ 179Slingbox AV , and the $ 249Slingbox professional — that you plume up to telecasting sources in your rest home . For example , my Slingbox ( a “ Slingbox Classic”—that ’s code for “ the original Slingbox that ’s now been replaced by these three nifty novel models ” ) is hooked up to my twoTiVo digital video recordersat home .
My Slingbox is also rob up to my house Internet connectedness , in my case via an Ethernet cable connected to a wireless bridge . ( The Slingbox has an Ethernet embrasure on the back ; it ’s up to you to detect a elbow room to colligate it , either directly via Ethernet or via a wireless bridge . Or you’re able to buy the $ 100 SlingLink , which uses your home electric organization to route connection dealings . )
So what do you do with a box that ’s connected to your home base video devices and to the Internet ? current video across the Internet , of trend . I ’ve watched San Francisco Giants games in a Chicago hotel room ; watched a TiVo action replay ofAmerican Idolwith my wife , with her at dwelling house and me on the road in New York ; watched World Cup association football and baseball playoff game in my office , which has no access to cable telecasting ; and even ascertain a baseball game game on my laptop computer while sit around in my backyard on a warm summer daylight .
Slingbox is n’t like other TV streams you might have link to on the net , mostly because it ’s a one - to - one connection . Because you ’re the only person viewing the Slingbox , the SlingPlayer software running on your Mac communicates with the Slingbox hardware and adjusts the quality of the video to make the most of your association . If you ’re watching video recording on your local connection , the quality is passing in high spirits ; if you ’re on a somewhat dull , far - off Internet connective , Slingbox scales back its lineament background until it can reliably provide you with smooth , uninterrupted video .
And since Slingboxes ( except the new Slingbox Tuner ) also come with an infrared emitter , you’re able to use the SlingPlayer software to change the channel and even operate complicated devices like a TiVo or other digital video recorders . SlingPlayer even comes with a immense variety of distant - restraint profiles ; when I tell it I was using a DirecTV - branded TiVo fipple pipe , it immediately exhibit a new Remote window hold back a arrant duplicate of my physical TiVo remote . When I squeeze the on - screen remote buttons , the signal is relay back to my TiVo via the Slingbox .
Slingbox is n’t for everyone , but if you jaunt a lot , and find yourself trap in a hotel elbow room with no accession to your favorite sports squad or the recorded TV shows you ’ve got sitting on a DVR at home , it ’s really a tremendous twist .
The Mac SlingPlayer software works essentially like its Windows counterpart , and that ’s unspoiled as well as bad . The first public genus Beta of the Mac software , released Tuesday , make no attempt to hide its Windows origins . Although the Brushed Steel port tegument approximates the QuickTime Player user interface , it ’s betrayed by the serial of Windows - panache button in the top remaining corner . ( It could be worse — they could be in the top right instead ! ) It ’s a little thing , but it ’s still despicable , and I go for that the last version of the software replace those button with one of a more Mac - friendly mixture .
In any event , almost 10 months after I first put oculus on a Mac act as back Slingbox telecasting , the Mac version of SlingPlayer is finally here . If you ’re a Mac exploiter who already has a Slingbox , rejoice — it ’s so much easier to not have to fall back to Windows to watch something . And if you ’ve never considered Slingbox before because it lack Mac compatibility , that barrier is finally gone .
