You might say Dave Zatz just had a happy accident. While he was hunting for the as yet unofficial Logitech Harmony Touch in Best Buy, he discovered the Slingbox 350 and 500 — two more living room gadgets that have yet to receive an official introduction. The placeshifting hubs both look to be major improvements over the aging Slingbox Pro HD and Solo, making 1080p streaming available as long as the connection is up to snuff. Those who spring for the 500 should also get long overdue support for WiFi without having to use a wireless bridge, although they may miss the Pro HD’s ATSC tuner. Outside of the networking, Sling Media is making expansion its upsell angle: the 500 supports USB media sharing and HDMI, while the 350 has to make do with whatever can pipe through its component and composite jacks. Zatz was unfortunately foiled in an attempt to buy one of the new Slingboxes and couldn’t get final pricing, but Best Buy’s suggestion to try again around mid-October hints that we won’t have long to wait for a much-needed upgrade to our remote TV viewing.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Slingbox 350 and 500 show up unannounced in Best Buy, flaunt 1080p and built-in WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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