CES Sling Media has finally named the date when it will ship SlingCatcher, the SlingPlayer-for-TVs box it announced at last year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Sling's new SlingCatcher: SlingPlayer for TVs

Based on the distinctive design of the Slingbox series - though the original look has been dropped - SlingCatcher can pick up the feed from its sibling or from a PC running SlingProjector, which not only streams content out to the SlingCatcher but provides a route for internet-stored content, such as YouTube videos, to be displayed too.

Sound a little like Apple TV? Unlike the Apple box, SlingCatcher has no local storage of its own, but it does boast not only a USB port to which you can hook up a hard drive but also on-board software to synchronise what's on the disc with content kept on a PC. That will allow users to get their SlingCatchers to play back content even when their computer's turned off.

SlingCatcher first time round

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SlingCatcher will work with both standard definition and HD TVs thanks to a mix of composite-, s- and component-video outputs and HDMI. There's an Ethernet port for the network connection, but no built-in wireless. For that, you'll need Sling's upcoming SlingLink Wireless add-on.

That adds $50 to the SlingCatcher's base $250 price. SlingCatcher will ship in Q2. Hopefully - at launch it was promised for mid-2007 but was later reschedulaed for before the end of that year... Third time lucky?

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