Sling Media, Inc., a digital lifestyle consumer
electronics products company, today announced that its award-winning
Slingbox(TM) is now available for purchase across the United Kingdom.
The Slingbox is offered both in store and online from DSG
International Plc, initially sold exclusively through its computer
superstore chain PC World and at www.pcworld.co.uk. The Slingbox will
also be available in Currys and the new Currys.digital stores in the
next four to six weeks. The Slingbox is available in the UK for GBP
179.99 including VAT.
Separately, Sling Media announced it hired Stuart Collingwood as
the company's Vice President of Europe. For the last three years Mr.
Collingwood advised pay TV providers, digital media companies and
technology start-ups on the launch of new digital platforms and
technology. He also served as Vice President EMEA for Liberate and
spent eight years at Fujitsu-ICL. Mr. Collingwood is based in London
and will oversee all aspects of Sling Media's European operations.
"The launch of the Slingbox into the UK market and ultimately to
the European consumer is a significant milestone for Sling Media as we
continue to build a worldwide footprint and deliver the same customer
experience internationally that we do today for customers in the
United States and Canada," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of
Sling Media, Inc. "We are also excited about the timing of the launch
with the World Cup set to start just over a week from today. When the
game is on, England fans with a Slingbox can watch the home team from
no matter where they are: halfway around the world, stuck at work or
simply around the home."
The European version of the Slingbox is tailored for the UK market
and features an integrated PAL analog/digital tuner with DVB-T
support, giving customers access to Freeview programming from their
aerial streamed to a laptop or desktop computer. In addition, Slingbox
controls a wide range of Freeview, digital cable and satellite set top
boxes that are available in the UK market including those offered by
Sky, Homechoice, NTL and Telewest.
Concurrently, Sling Media is releasing a new version of the
SlingPlayer PC software in conjunction with the Slingbox hardware.
SlingPlayer PC version 1.1 is now available to UK customers and
supports 16:9 widescreen video, enhanced favourite channels
organization features and the ability to customize the look and feel
of the software with a range of pre-installed or user-created skins.
Heralded as one of the hottest consumer electronics products for
2005 by top U.S industry and national publications alike, the Slingbox
is a breakthrough consumer electronics device that enables consumers
to watch their living room TV programming from wherever they are by
turning virtually any Internet-connected Windows-based computer into a
personal TV. The Slingbox redirects, or "placeshifts," a single live
TV stream from a basic aerial connection, cable box, satellite
receiver or personal video recorder (PVR) to the viewer's PC - located
anywhere in the home, the office, or on the go via the Internet.
About Sling Media
Sling Media, Inc. is a digital lifestyle products company creating
a family of consumer electronics solutions that are a natural
extension of today's digital way of life. The first member of the
Sling Media family is the award-winning Slingbox(TM), a device that
allows consumers to access their living room television experience at
any time, from any location, using a variety of different displays
including laptops and desktop PCs, PDAs and smartphones. For more
information on Sling Media or the Slingbox, visit www.slingmedia.com.
