sling

We told you the other day about Matt Lauer being attacked by a deer while riding his bike. Now come the inevitable jokes.

Lauer returned to Today this morning, arm and shoulder in a giant sling, and you knew the wisecracks were going to come. But where the humor came from was a bit of a surprise. A producer from rival morning show Good Morning, America brought a present for Lauer. He also read a funny note from ABC's president, who suggested that Lauer take some time off.

Brian Williams also sends a funny video message to Lauer, which is worth seeing just for hearing Williams use the phrase "gooned up on Percocets." There's also footage of Jay Leno joking about the incident. The funniest part of the video for me are the Today fans in the background, all wearing antlers.

DISH Network is working on a new set top box that will work as a satellite receiver, personal video recorder, Slingbox, and SlingCatcher. The move isn't particularly surprising. Why would EchoStar have purchased Sling Media if the satellite network didn't plan to release an all-in-one set top box. But this is the first time we've heard the company talk about an actual product.

The announcement came during a recent DISH Network team summit, and Satellite Guys has a writeup with some of the highlights from the event. Here's what we know about the upcoming 722s so far:

• Support for Clip + Sling, which lets you send short video clips over the internet to friends
• Redesigned user interface including a program guide with channel logos
• New UHF remote control with a touchpad
• Front of the unit has a touchscreen and no buttons
• 1 TB hard drive, half of which will be preloaded with HD movies
• Integrated web browser for accessing a handful of web sites
• Also works as a SlingCatcher, letting you watch internet video on your TV

No word on pricing or availability yet. If you don't feel like signing up for DISH Network, you can get all of these features by buying handful of boxes from Sling Media. But the idea of getting a single multi-function box is pretty compelling. If DISH can keep the price down on the 722s or even offer it for free with a subscription, the new box could be a major selling point for the company in its battle against DirecTV and the cable networks.

[via Gizmo Lovers]

Sling Media first announced the SlingModem in January, and we haven't heard much about the product since. Now it looks like Sling will be showing off the device at The Cable Show next week.

The box will basically have most of the features you'd expect from a Slingbox (ie: you connect it to your TiVo, cable box, or other device to stream live or recorded TV over the internet) plus a built in cable modem. The SlingModem is targeted at cable service providers who might want to offer the box to customers. Odds are you won't be able to pick up a SlingModem at your local Best Buy anytime soon.

The continued development of the cable-only SlingModem shows that Sling's parent company EchoStar was serious when it spun off the DISH Network satellite network as a separate division.

[via Gizmo Lovers]

Place-shifting software maker Orb Networks announced it's signed up its 1 millionth registered user. We've been using Orb for years to stream video from our PC-based PVR across the web, but in case you're not familiar, here's how it works.

You install a client on your PC and it scans specified directories for audio, video, and photos. When you login to mycast.orb.com from any computer, PDA, or mobile phone, you can stream video from your home PC. You can also use Orb to watch live TV using your PC's TV tuner card. Just make sure that card's not scheduled to record something else, as we've found that Orb stop BeyondTV recordings in order to stream live TV.

While Sling Media gets all the attention (and rightfully so, since the Slingbox is easy to use with or without a PC), Orb is free and a handy addition to any home theater PC.

Along with a self-congratulatory press release marking the 1 million customer mark, Orb also released a couple interesting facts about what people have been streaming. For example, Pink Floyd, Linkin Park, and Metallica are the top three music artists streamed. Sportsl, local and national news, and Seinfeld, Mythbusters, and Scrubs have topped the TV streams.

[via Mobility Site]