Earlier this month, Sling Media's
Slingbox SOLO surfaced courtesy of the FCC, and now the firm's first box to be released with built-in component jacks is finally official. Granted, we already know that this
FCC-exposed Slingbox is set to include these coveted ports as well, but this bad boy should be the first of the two to hit store shelves. Furthermore, it'll boast passthrough outputs to save you from scrounging around for a splitter, the ability to control a single set-top-box and support for incoming HD signals. Oh, and while the actual purpose of the built-in USB port has yet to be confirmed, we've all got
external storage (and WiFi) on the brain. As for pricing and availability, look for this sucka to ship very soon for $179.99 in the US, $199.99 in Canada and £129.99 in the UK.
First spotted in FCC pics back in August, the Slingbox SOLO has finally hit the review circuit. Lacking the hardware-assisted HD streaming output of the just announced Slingbox PRO HD, the SOLO brings the original Slingbox Pro's HD inputs and VGA-res output to a dongle-less existence. The people at PC Magazine hooked up the 'box and found plenty to admire in Sling's software and easy setup, pausing only to lament the short included ethernet cable and lack of WiFi. With its $180 MSRP, this Slingbox is a good option when your HDTV is far away, at least until the PRO HD hits the streets.
