So you are stuck at work or in traffic and you are missing the beginning of the big game – do you ever wish you could watch TV on your computer or on your cellphone? Now you can with the Slingbox by Sling Media. Within minutes of hooking up one of their boxes you can remotely watch and control your TV/ DVR / DVD / Blueray player with their SlingPlayer or SlingPlayer Mobile software.

SlingPlayer Mobile
Extend your living room TV experience to your mobile phone with SlingPlayer Mobile software. With a Slingbox at home and SlingPlayer Mobile on your compatible phone, enjoy live or recorded TV over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. If you like TV, it’s hard not to smile when you take control of your TV and DVR right from your phone. Flip through channels with the virtual remote control. Pause, fast-forward, rewind, and even schedule DVR recordings.

Never miss your home TV shows, regardless of where you are. With the Slingbox take your TV with you on the road. Easily connect the Slingbox to practically any one of your home-theater devices and watch your standard-definition (SD) or high-definition (HD) TV shows, sporting events, or special programs on your computer or mobile phone over the Internet from anywhere in the world.

Dork Stuff

• Network Bandwidth – HD Streaming: 3 Mbps or higher; SD Streaming: 600 Kbps or higher; Mobile Streaming: 150 Kbps or higher
• SlingPlayer Mobile Compatible Phones – iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Palm and Symbian
• PC Minimum Requirements – HD Streaming: Intel 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo class processor or equivalent with 2 GB of RAM. Video acceleration support desirable on graphics card; SD Streaming: Pentium 4 class or equivalent with 256 MB RAM
• PC Operating Systems – Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 with latest updates
• PC Browser Support – Internet Explorer Version 7 or higher, Firefox Version 3 or higher
• Mac Minimum Requirements – HD Streaming: Intel 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo class processor or equivalent with 2 GB of RAM; SD Streaming – Intel-based Mac with 2 GB of RAM
• Mac Operating System – Mac OS 10.5.7 (Leopard) or later
• Mac Browser Support – Firefox Version 3 or higher, Safari Version 3 or higher
• Supported Audio and Video Sources -
• Basic Cable TV Set-top Box; Digital Cable Set-top Box; Digital Video Recorder (DVR) such as TiVo, Comcast, ReplayTV, DISH or one provided by your cable/satellite provider; DVD Player/Recorder; HD component input support with resolution up to 1080i (down-converted for streaming); Satellite Receiver such as DIRECTV or DISH; Video/Security Camera; Apple TV; Windows Media Center

I have been playing with Slingboxes for about 4 or 5 years. These things are great!  But it wasn’t until about a month ago that I got excited all over again because they released a version of SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone that lets you stream live TV over AT&T’s 3G network.

Once you get your Slingbox setup is a piece of cake: 1. Connect the Slingbox® to an A/V device, such as a DVR, a cable set-top box, or a satellite receiver (there are over 10,000 Slingbox-compatible devices); 2. Connect the Slingbox to your home network (if your router is too far from your Slingbox for a direct connection, use the SlingLink or other Ethernet bridge for connectivity); 3. Fire up your home network-connected desktop, Mac, or laptop computer, complete the Slingbox set-up, and enjoy your very own home theater via the Web. That is it!

HINT: When you are trying to choose between the Slingbox SOLO and Slingbox PRO the only real difference is that the PRO will control multiple sources  (Like a DVR and a DVD player) and let you change between them.

Availability: Now from either slingbox.com or Best Buy stores.