27 September 2007

Sling Media Launches SlingPlayer for S60 as US sales start of the new high-speed Nokia N95

Sling Media Inc., a leading digital lifestyle products company, today announced that its award-winning SlingPlayer™ Mobile software is now available in the U.S. for select Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices running S60 3rd edition software on Symbian OS™, including the just released US HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) version of the Nokia N95.

SlingPlayer Mobile gives Slingbox owners the ability to watch and control their home TV from a network-connected mobile phone.

For a limited time Sling Media is offering Nokia N95 current and future handset owners in the U.S. a discount on Slingbox AV.

In addition, all U.S. Nokia N95 customers will receive a free version of SlingPlayer Mobile (a $29.99 value). Complete details can be found at www.slingmedia.com/go/nokia.

“Customers have been calling for this software from the time we first announced support for Symbian OS last fall and I am thrilled to be answering the call with today’s announcement,” said Blake Krikorian, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sling Media. “SlingPlayer Mobile really showcases the multimedia capabilities of the N95 and we are greatly enhancing the overall mobile experience on these Nokia handsets with our SlingPlayer Mobile software. People love their living room TV programming and simply want the ability to watch it on any device wherever they happen to be.”

“Using SlingPlayer Mobile on the new high-speed Nokia N95, you never have to miss your football game again,” said Andrew Elliott, Director, Multimedia Experiences, Nokia North America. “The award-winning Nokia N95 offers a first class entertainment experience with a large 16 million color display, built-in stereo speakers and industry standard 3.5 mm audio jack for a great personal TV experience on the go. In this sense, the Nokia N95 and SlingPlayer Mobile are excellent companions.”

SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via a PC, Mac, Palm OS, Symbian OS and Windows Mobile-based devices via internet connections worldwide (3G Cellular, WiFi). In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind and fast forward live TV, or even program new recordings while on the road.

“SlingPlayer Mobile is a marvel of innovation and really comes to life on Symbian OS, which has been engineered to deliver the very best in mobile multimedia experiences,” said Jerry Panagrossi, vice president of US operations, Symbian. “This new release of SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian smartphones brings compelling new data revenue opportunities to operators and a feature-rich service to consumers looking for convenient access to their home TV channel surfing, programming and viewing experience.”

The enhanced, personalized mobile TV experience is enabled by Sling Media’s breakthrough product, the Slingbox. The Slingbox redirects, or “placeshifts,” live or recorded TV from an analog or digital cable box, satellite receiver, DVR or DVD player to the viewer’s 3G or WiFi-enabled handset or laptop located anywhere in the home or anywhere in the world.

Sling Media is making this version of SlingPlayer Mobile for Symbian OS software available to customers in the U.S., Canada and in the UK on a select number of Nokia handsets at launch, and plans to extend support for additional handsets in the near future. The retail price of the application is $29.99 U.S., $34.99 CAD and £19.99 GBP, including VAT. To download the application, please visit http://downloads.slingmedia.com.