Slingbox maker Sling Media has announced a new version of its Slingbox Pro set-top box that has its own HD TV tuner and can send out a 1080i HD picture over the network.

The Slingbox Pro-HD will be initially aimed at the US market - with no terrestrial HD broadcasts in the UK, there's not much point releasing it over here yet - and provides the same range of analogue and digital, standard and high definition inputs and outputs as the Pro.

Sling's Slingbox Pro-HD: 1080i streaming (with the wind behind you)

However, it doesn't appear to have gained an HDMI output yet, the HDMI-like connector on the back simply being a proprietary port for the box's component-video I/O dongle.

Sling said the Pro-HD's codec chip is capable of converting a TV image to 1080i resolution, but you'll need a high upload bandwidth on your internet connection if you want to stream it out to a remote device, but results on a home LAN for room-to-room streaming should be "near-identical quality", it indicated.

Related stories

• Sling reschedules, redesigns SlingCatcher
• Logitech revamps Squeezebox as Duet
• Sennheiser to show 'CD quality' wireless 'phones
• Panasonic shows 32GB SDHC at CES
• Netgear preps power-passing powerline adaptor
• Pioneer presents first ever 'hybrid' navigation system
• Netgear extends next-gen Wi-Fi into 5GHz band
• SlingPlayer Mobile released for S60 phones
• Sling Media intros simplified Slingbox
• Sling states SlingCatcher release plan
• Slingbox snapped up by satellite TV company
• Sling preps TV show-snippet sharing service
• Sling shows SlingPlayer-for-TV gadget

Sling also said today announced a version of its SlingPlayer Mobile app for BlackBerry devices, though it won't appear until later this year, the company admitted.

The Slingbox Pro-HD is expected this Spring for around $400.

Related Reviews
• Slingbox Pro
• Slingbox Solo