By Anick Jesdanun, Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Sling Media, the maker of devices that let people watch their cable channels while traveling, is trying to become more relevant in the living room.
Traditionally, Sling's strength has been in so-called place shifting. Attached to the home cable box, the Slingbox device sends video to various phones, tablets and other devices. If you're on a work trip in Boston, you can still catch the local news in New York live on a SlingPlayer app. You can also use that to watch shows on your home video recorder.
Inside the home, though, the Slingbox hasn't been of much use beyond letting you watch from a phone or tablet in another room.
Sling is trying to change that with a model announced Tuesday. The new SlingTV is identical to the Slingbox 500 currently on the market, but with new software to recommend things to watch. On the living-room TV, you can see scores and stats for games currently on TV, along with a guide to what's exciting at the moment, such as a team making a comeback. The new software will also give you more information on movies and TV shows.
The new feature incorporates some of what's already found on TiVo recorders and cable set-top boxes. Because the box still can't record shows, the Slingbox's biggest appeal will likely remain in remote viewing — both when traveling and on devices in other rooms.
Although more people have been watching television on their computers and mobile devices, doing that with live TV has been difficult. Services such as Hulu offer shows on a delayed basis, while apps from cable providers and TV channels often have a maze of restrictions.
The Slingbox tries to take the hassle out of remote live viewing. For the most part, as long as something can be viewed on the home TV, it can be viewed on the app. Each Slingbox is attached to a personal account and password to allay piracy concerns.
Even so, Sling will have a tough time broadening its reach.
It works only with television channels you have at home, so it will exclude those who have dropped cable service and want more than what the antenna provides. At best, it's for college students who wish to remotely watch what's on their parents' TV.
In addition, Slingbox has been popular for sports fans wanting to keep up with their teams while traveling. Sling wants to broaden its appeal to those who keep up with fictional television shows and reality-style competitions, but fewer people are watching those live.
Like the model it replaces, the SlingTV will retail for about $300. Apps for phones and tablets will cost $15 each. Remote viewing is free on personal computers. Existing Slingbox 500 users will get the features through free software upgrades when the SlingTV comes out in late August.
Meanwhile, Sling is making a cheaper, entry-level model for $150, starting July 20. Called Slingbox M1, this model lacks the new living-room guides and focuses on the remote viewing that Slingboxes have been known for.
Sling Media is based in Foster City, California, and is owned by EchoStar Corp. of Englewood, Colorado.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More