If you've not seen this device before, it basically lets you rebroadcast your home television signal out over your Internet connection, allowing you (and only you) to view what's on your television, on a laptop or computer somewhere else. You can control the Slingbox remotely, and change the channels on your TV if you want. Great for people going on holiday, ex-pats, that kind of thing.

The only problem is the cost - a whopping £180 for something that should cost less than £50, based on the technologies and components involved.

I have the exact same system set up on my home TV system, and it cost me less than £30 to put together. I used free software (Windows Media Encoder), and a neat bit of kit called the Red Eye Serial, which basically lets you control a Sky set top box from your computer. A few lines of PHP code later, and I can now view and change channels on my TV set from anywhere in the world. I can even set Sky+ up to record and play back shows remotely.

If sufficient people are interested in how I did this, I'll write up a full tutorial. Drop me a line at the address listed on the contact page.

Posted by Alx Klive at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to a Wall Street Journal article this morning (subscription required), teenage sensation social networking site MySpace.com is to begin offering episodes of the Fox series 24 at $1.99 a pop. Two episodes will be made available for free thanks to a sponsorship with Burger King.

It's the first time MySpace has taken advantage of it's association with Fox, with both companies owned by News Corporation. Technical details were not available.

Posted by Alx Klive at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Catching up on a couple of stories from earlier in the week, this announcement from Tivo definitely catches the eye.

Tivo, makers of the eponymous PVR device, popular in the US (and to a lesser extent the UK), have inked a deal with Internet video heavyweights Brightcove. The deal basically means that producers of Internet television who are part of the Brightcove publisher network, can have their programming made available to Tivo users.

A Tivo user will be able to go to the website of a video publisher, and using their account information, initiate a download to their Tivo of that producer's video content.

It's a clever deal because it means the gap between Internet produced video and regular television is effectively bridged.

Expect the barriers to come down even more as the likes of Apple, Microsoft and others work to do the same with their media PC offerings.

Posted by Alx Klive at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On a trip this week to the Emerald Isle, I was obliged to visit the PC World in Limerick, to help a friend buy a wireless access point. I generally avoid the big box retailer unless absolutely necessary, the prices are simply too out of whack with reality. Sometimes though you are far from home, you need a quick solution, and you have no other choice but to delve into the local (& painfully overpriced) computer store.

But even I wasn't prepared for the sight that was to await me in the Apple section. There among the copies of Mac OS X Tiger, The Sims, and Garage Band, was arugably the world's stingiest discount for a piece of Apple software.

The shop, clearly wishing to shift some older stock having recently introduced iLife 2006 to the shelves, came up with the astounding discount of..... 2 cents!

Original image

P.S. Don't ask me why they are using a pounds sterling sticker.

Posted by Alx Klive at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apple rumour site AppleInsider is today reporting two separate deals regarding purchasable TV content on iTunes. In the first, NBA Playoff basketball games will be made available the day after they appear on ABC. In the second, new shows from Fox such as 24, Prison Break, and The Shield will be sold on Apple's steadily growing service. Apple now has over 90 TV shows available for purchase to their U.S. users.

Posted by Alx Klive at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Little bit of a stretch this one but the technology is very cool.

An Israeli company is showing off its video glasses, that will one day be as common as iPods. They're a breakthrough in terms of their much lower weight, and the fact they use a single piece of optical plastic to host the twin stereo images needed to simulate a larger screen.

It's a given that one day we'll all be completely comfortable with the idea of people wearing video 'specs'. Just as it was weird when people first started wearing headphones in the 80's (but we later grew accustomed to it), so it will be the same with these puppies. You'll be sitting on the train, and the person sitting across from you will be wearing 'sunglasses', but will be watching a music concert or movie. Eventually we won't even know they're doing so.

Posted by Alx Klive at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CBS has today launched a free original content streaming video service.

In a welcome move, they have decided to forego geo-restrictions (you can watch the service anywhere in the world), but the flip to this is that the fare on offer is currently pretty dire - part of a Letterman show featuring Pearl Jam, a made-for-net TV show called Greek to Chic, and a behind the scenes documentary called Beyond Survivor.

The service did not work for me with Firefox, so I had to access it through Internet Explorer.

When are these companies going to wake up and take note of what the Google and YouTube's of this world are doing with interfaces? Keep it simple!

Posted by Alx Klive at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Starting today, American network ABC is broadcasting up-to-date, free episodes of its hit shows Desparate Housewives, Lost, Alias, and Commander in Chief, on its website. The usual USA only restrictions apply, but I successfully connected from the UK without any difficulty using a proxy service.

This is a bold move for ABC, and they are supporting the service through sponsorship and advertising.

For more on using proxies to access sites that have geographic restrictions, see Step One of my post 'Accessing Movielink and Cinemanow from Outside the USA'. The same principles apply.

The service uses Flash 8 (like Google Video), and can be found here.

Posted by Alx Klive at 7:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)