Sling Media Announces Its First Mobile Deal

Sling Media, Inc., and 3 to Deliver Exclusive new Mobile TV Service
Combining a unique personal home TV experience with the portability of the mobile, SlingPlayer Mobile will be available from December

Sling Media, Inc., a digital lifestyle consumer electronics products company, and the 3 Group, the global leader in 3G mobile broadband, today announced that they are partnering to give customers access to their home TV channels on their mobile handsets. The announcement was made today as part of Hutchison Whampoa's global launch of the X-Series from 3, which unveils the true power of the internet on mobile broadband.

This is the first time that Sling Media has partnered with a major mobile operator and signifies the increasing consumer demand for the Slingbox and the increasing focus on mobile TV services that deliver a truly personalized one-to-one experience to the customer.

The X-Series from 3, will give 3 customers the ability to experience all that they enjoy on the internet, using the latest mobile broadband handsets and with the award-winning Slingbox, customers will be able to watch anything they are able to watch on their own TV. The SlingPlayer Mobile service will be exclusive to 3 customers who purchase both an X-Series handset and a Slingbox. The X-Series from 3 will be available in the UK from the 1st December 2006 and in 3's other markets around the world in early 2007.

SlingPlayer Mobile delivers the home TV experience on mobile handsets using standard 3G network connections. Any programme that can be watched at home will be viewable through a Slingbox and compatible SlingPlayer Mobile software pre-installed on two new handsets, the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i including support for terrestrial TV, Freeview, cable, and satellite TV. In addition SlingPlayer Mobile lets customers control their TV recorder at home to watch recorded shows, pause and rewind live TV or even queue a recording when away from home using the handset.

The combined mobile TV experience is driven by Sling Media's breakthrough product, the Slingbox. The Slingbox redirects a single live TV stream from a standard cable connection, cable box, satellite receiver, or PVR to the viewer's PC—located anywhere in the home or anywhere in the world—or 3G handset.

"Working together with 3 has enabled us to push the boundaries of TV viewing further than ever before. 3 understands the power of mobile broadband to deliver compelling, value add applications and services like a truly personalized mobile TV experience and we are thrilled to be working with them," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media. "The availability of SlingPlayer Mobile for 3 customers is a major breakthrough in mobile TV viewing. Customers can now view all the programmes they love to watch at home whilst on the move via their mobile phone."

Technorati tags: mobile TV