SlingBox: Does Placeshifting Replace TiVo’s Timeshifting?

These days, TV’s new, advanced technological devices are entering the retail chain about once every 45 days, pushing aside older, outdated gadgets and devices. Some devices make it, most of them don’t. And only a rare few become culture icons. One of the last major TV-related consumer electronics (CE) breakthroughs came in 1998, when TiVo launched its revolutionary Digital Video Recorder (DVR) product to much consumer – and industry—fanfare.

Since TiVo’s debut, the DVR has become nearly a common household item, with more than 20 million U.S. users. TiVo’s revolutionary concept and technological breakthrough was unique. But it is also not beyond comparison.

California-based Sling Media is empowering the consumer in the same, if not more, ways than TiVo does when it comes to a quality viewing experience. With the concept of “anytime-anywhere,” Sling Media is taking the TV outside the living room and enabling consumers to watch their cable, satellite or DVR programming wherever they are, via Internet-connected laptops, desktops, PDAs or smartphones. Dubbed, the Slingbox, the smalle, candy-bar-like set-top box redirects a consumer’s TV feed to the viewer’s Internet-connected mobile device, anywhere in the world. In simple comparative terms, TiVo gives consumers greater control over their viewing experience, while Slingbox gives consumers greater mobility.

Today, the two technologies operate and function separately from one another: TiVo timeshifts, while Slingbox placeshifts. In other words, TiVo records and/or pauses live TV to a set-top box, while Slingbox transmits live TV to an Internet-connected mobile device.

Tomorrow, the two technologies will likely be bound together into a standard software code to provide consumers with one overall function offering “control” and “mobility” in one service and one device. As we see it, Sling Media will grow success in the consumer marketplace, but the ride as a solo company will be short-lived. With cutting-edge technology and cool concepts, the company is a major acquisition target for system operators, such as EchoStar, Comcast or Cox, to name just a few. By year-end 2007, Sling Media’s technology will be a powerful tool bundled within a satellite or cable system operator’s network that’s combined with DVR- and VOD-like technologies.

Just as TiVo gripped the industry and started a DVR revolution, Sling Media will open the TV doors to a new world of new opportunities. A few quick comparative points on the two companies are noted by The Carmel Group below: