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Live TV hits the road on your cell phone

Slingbox’s Mobile software is available as a free download — for now

By Gary Krakow
Columnist
MSNBC
Updated: 1:59 p.m. ET March 23, 2006

Sling Media Sling's new mobile software is now available. It gives you full remote control of your cable box from nearly anywhere.

For the past few months I've been living with a cell phone that allows me to watch live cable TV anywhere I go. That included trips to Las Vegas (for the Consumer Electronics Show) and Barcelona (for the 3GSM conference). Worked like a charm. I’m now so used to watching TV on my phone that I’m hooked.

The cell phone I’m using is T-Mobile’s MDA smart phone. It runs on the latest Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC operating system.

The software that allows me to watch on that phone is Slingbox’s brand-new mobile program. And beginning today you can get hooked too.

First of all, you need a Slingbox. That’s the cute little device that attaches to your cable/satellite TV box (or VCR/DVD) and your home computer network (which, in turn, is connected to a high-speed Internet connection). Then Slingbox lets you control your video source and channel the audio and video to your computer via the Internet.

Slingbox comes with software that lets you see and listen to your TV on any Windows PC. The company is also preparing a version for computers that run on the Mac OS.

Now, I can tell you all about their new smart phone software client. It’s called SlingPlayer Mobile and it is available beginning today. At this time, it’s compatible with devices that run Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition. Sling is also promising to deliver a version for non-touch-screen devices based on Windows Mobile smart phone in the next few weeks.

A trial version of SlingPlayer Mobile is now available as a free download on http://www.slingmedia.com as part of the public beta program. Slingbox owners who buy and register their Slingbox before April 26 will receive a free license for the mobile software. Beginning April 26, Sling will begin charging for it — a one-time fee of $29.99. There are no monthly or recurring charges for the use of the software.

The new software works on a small (but growing) number of portable devices. For now, think in terms of the Palm Treo 700 (currently listed for $499.99 on Verizon’s Web site), Sprint’s PPC-6700 ($449.99), Verizon’s version of the same phone, the XV6700 ($399.99), T-Mobile’s MDA ($349.99), Cingular’s 8125 ($299.99 after $50 on-line rebate) and a few others. I’m not going to list them all.

Non-touch-screen models include Nextel’s i930 ($349.99 after $150 on-line rebate) and T-Mobile’s SDA handset ($249.99).

Sling Media Sling Mobile’s Audio Player remote screen as seen on a Treo 700w.

The software itself installs easily (you need to physically attach your phone to your computer to install it) and works like a dream. I've tested a number of pre-beta versions. Some worked better than others. But the latest version seems to work better than all of the previous versions combined.

As you can see from the pictures, you not only watch your cable TV on your phone — but you can also control and change channels and other parameters from anywhere your phone can connect with a high-speed data network. That small caveat comes from personal experience: my weekend test location is not very cell phone-friendly — so finding the right spot to watch my cell phone SlingPlayer is sometimes tricky.

Adding it all up, Slingbox is a terrific device. Their new mobile software for cell phones is terrific. Once you have it, you'll wonder why everyone else doesn't.

If you were on the fence about buying a Slingbox, now is the time. For the next month or so you get the mobile software for free. That’s like getting a $50 rebate on the Slingbox itself. I can tell you from experience that you'll be getting yourself into a win-win situation.

NEWS     Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322     This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 17, 2006 NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Chelsea Fallon: (202) 418-7991     FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON PROPOSALS FOR MODIFYING 700 MHz PUBLIC SAFETY SPECTRUM TO ACCOMMODATE BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS Washington, D.C. – Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted an Eighth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) that seeks comment on whether certain channels within the 24 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band allocated for public safety use should be modified to accommodate broadband communications. The 700 MHz public safety spectrum is currently being used by television broadcasters during the digital television (DTV) transition but will become available for use by public safety agencies by February 18, 2009, when the DTV transition is completed. Under a band plan adopted by the FCC in 1998, the 700 MHz public safety spectrum (764-776 MHz and 794-806 MHz) is divided in half between narrowband channels, which allow voice and low-speed data services, and wideband channels, which allow high-speed data and slow scan video services (see attached diagrams). Within the 12 MHz of paired wideband spectrum, 4.8 MHz is currently designated for general use and 1.8 MHz for interoperability, and the remaining 5.4 MHz is held in reserve for future public safety needs. General use spectrum licenses are subject to a regional planning process similar to that used in the 800 MHz public safety band. Under the current rules, the individual channels within the general use and interoperability wideband segments have a bandwidth of 50 kHz, and licensees can aggregate three 50 kHz channels up to 150 kHz. In the December 2005 Intelligence Reform Act Report to Congress on public safety spectrum needs, the FCC recognized that it should expeditiously examine whether the 700 MHz public safety band plan could be modified to accommodate broadband communications. Today’s Notice seeks comment on three specific proposals to modify the 700 MHz band plan submitted by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council; Motorola, Inc.; and Lucent Technologies, Inc. All three plans propose combining the general use, interoperability, and reserve wideband segments in order to permit broadband communications. The proposals also support the creation of guard bands to protect narrowband voice operations. Today’s Notice also invites additional proposals and seeks comment on the FCC’s tentative conclusion not to alter the narrowband portions of the 700 MHz public safety band. In the Seventh Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in this proceeding, the FCC sought comment on a variety of technical and operational rules for the 700 MHz public safety spectrum,including a proposal by the Public Safety National Coordination Committee to adopt a wideband data interoperability standard, commonly known as “SAM” (Scalable Adaptive Modulation), and to require that all wideband radios be capable of supporting the SAM standard. Today’s Notice asks commenters to provide additional input and update the record regarding wideband interoperability and the SAM standard in light of proposals to accommodate broadband communications. Action by the Commission on March 17, 2006, by Eighth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 06-34). Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate. Separate statement issued by Chairman Martin. For additional information, contact John Evanoff, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (202) 418-0848, or John.Evanoff@fcc.gov; or Tim Maguire, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at (202) 418-2155 or Tim.Maguire@fcc.gov. WT Docket No. 96-86. – FCC – News and other information about the Federal Communications Commission is available at www.fcc.gov.

Source: FCC web site

Airspan Announces First Mobile WiMAX Device

3/10/06 - Airspan Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRN), a provider of WiMAX and WiFi based broadband wireless access networks, and carrier class Voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) solutions, announced support for Mobile WiMAX on its AS.MAX WiMAX product line and the first details of its Mobile WiMAX USB device, called the "16eUSB".

"The 16eUSB is the first Mobile WiMAX USB device. It is designed to be fully compatible with the IEEE's 802.16e-2005 standard and the WiMAX Forum Mobile WIMAX System Profile, and to support the Profile's intelligence with MIMO ("multiple-input multiple-output"), Beam-forming smart antennas, Idle and Sleep modes and Handover. As a quad-band device that will operate in all key WiMAX frequency bands, including 2.3-2.4 GHz, 2.5-2.7 GHz, 3.3-3.7 GHz, and the 4.9-5.4 GHz bands, it will allow a user to have access to WiMAX networks virtually anywhere in the world," said Eric Stonestrom, President and CEO of Airspan Networks.

Airspan also announced support for Mobile WiMAX on AS.MAX, its class-leading WiMAX product line. Airspan's high-end AS.MAX Base Stations, known as HiperMAX and MicroMAX-SDR, will require a "software only" upgrade to enable them to support Mobile WiMAX. With the upgrade, the base stations will simultaneously support both 256 OFDM Fixed CPEs and SOFDMA Mobile WiMAX laptop cards, handsets and USB devices.

Paul Senior, Airspan's Vice President of Marketing and Product Management, commented: "Operators combining the 16eUSB with a high performance, mobile-enhanced base station like HiperMAX will deliver a completely new broadband wireless experience for their users. When MIMO and Beam-forming antennas are used with a device such as the 16eUSB that properly supports the full Mobile WiMAX specification, users' experiences are elevated to a new level. Always-on, any-place access to the internet will change the way in which people work, relax and play."

Sunao Takatori, President and CEO of Yozan Inc., observed: "We are proud to be a sponsor of the development of Airspan's 16eUSB Mobile WiMAX device. It will enable Yozan to deliver our vision of a truly holistic communication service, which binds together wireline and wireless infrastructures and provides users with global access to the Internet, anywhere and anytime."

Source: 802.16 News

That's all for this week. Take good care of yourself. Let me know if you come across any news for next week's newsletter.

With best regards, K9IQY	Brad Dye Wireless Messaging Consultant P.O. Box 266 Fairfield, IL 62837 USA
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