Sony Unveils Three New TV "Place-Shifting" Devices

Filed in archive Announcements on September 27, 2006

Well, this did not take long. Slingbox appears to have some heavy-duty completion in store from Sony. Sony Electronics has unveiled three new TV "place-shifting" devices: two LocationFree Base Stations (the LF-B10 and the LF-B20) and the LocationFree TV Box.

For those of you who are new to the idea of "place-shifting" it is basically a way of watching television where you want. Sony's LocationFree devices appear designed to go one better by streaming TV programs, movies and other content over a wireless or other broadband connection to a variety of devices, including PlayStation Portable units, Macintosh and Windows-based PC's or remote TV sets.

I think I would like that and the idea should appeal to a number of people who read this blog. If anyone has any experience with those devices, please drop us a comment and let all of us know what you think. I am inclined to pre-order the Sony equipment them through Amazon.com and will undoubtedly write a review myself on them. I've provided links just in case you are interested, too.

According to Sony, the new Base Station units are designed to integrate with any home entertainment center and work with a variety of viewing devices. Uplink and downlink speeds of at least 300kbps are required. There is easy set-up; users plug the units into their home entertainment system and then use a set-up wizard to install device registration onto a host device. If it really is easy, that too is a plus because as our own "Wired Home Weblog" asked last year Is Slingbox Too Complicated for the Masses?

What should make this easy for all of us is that the LF-B20 also serves as a wireless bridge, connecting directly to an existing wireless home network. The LocationFree TV Box is designed to eliminate the need to run wiring to multiple TV's in a household. Slingbox limits us to watching TV on our PC's, but Sony users who are traveling can connect the box to "any remotely located TV.

All three of the new LocationFree devices are scheduled for availability in October.