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December 2, 2008 9:38 AM PST

It's really official this time: Sling.com launches to the public

by David Carnoy

Sling.com Sling Media

The player and page for Arrested Development on Sling.com.

(Credit: CNET)

Last week, we reported that Sling.com, the streaming site of Slingbox maker Sling Media, was moving from the private beta phase and launching to the public. Well, that move is now official, as Sling has sent the site live to the world--though the "beta" moniker remains.

Much has been written about the impending launch of Sling.com. A partial list of partners has been circulating the last few weeks, but Sling's PR reps wanted to use today's announcement to showcase the full list, which naturally is "growing each and every week."

I'd list all the partners, but it would make for one ugly blog post and it's easier to just give you these links if you're interested.

Full list of shows available on Sling.com

Full list of channels available on Sling.com

Those of you waiting for a review of the recently released SlingCatcher--we're working on it now. Unfortunately, that product was pushed onto the market a little early (we assume to hit some sort of self-imposed deadline) and was basically still in a beta state. We'd been waiting for a couple of key software updates/fixes to arrive before passing final judgment.

Comments anyone? Does Sling.com live up to the hype? How could it be better?

Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter.
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by Ultimo01 December 2, 2008 12:57 PM PST
So far from what I have seen this takes almost everything from Hulu.com and puts a different name on it with a few different features that stand out like the fan activity. I took a quick look at it and saw it was another hulu copy.

Hulu has been around for a decent amount now and is adding things every week, if not sometimes sooner. Hulu also has better organization but not perfect. I will give a few things to Sling though, they have videos from internet sites like College Humor and CNET, a much sleeker look, and personally I like the way the video player is in location with details next to it.

Final Decision: Hulu is better because of how long it's been here and others are just trying to put on a different face onto Hulu with different designed web pages.
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by togo14 December 2, 2008 5:10 PM PST
agreed
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by broadscaler2 December 2, 2008 9:13 PM PST
Moving abroad I found a great solution which allows me to have my slingbox hosted in the USA so I can watch live american TV stations anywhere I travel - I've been using http://www.parkmytv.com for about 2 months and it works like a charm. Would rec to anyone traveling or moving abroad...
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by prince10bee December 3, 2008 9:35 AM PST
Not read for full release to many problems. They should have kept it in beta.
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by mattumanu December 4, 2008 2:48 AM PST
"Comments anyone? Does Sling.com live up to the hype? How could it be better?"

How could it be better? Hmmm... I dunno, maybe if it worked? That would make it better. On the bright side I've seen the commercial for Novel Adventures about 8 times now, but each time the actual video comes up it plays for a total of 3 seconds and stops. This is with both Internet explorer and Firefox.

Look! The Managerie part 1 played for 3 seconds, I now have a starship enterprise picture on my browser... again, the commercial for Novel Adventures played just fine. I've given them about all the ad money I can stand without getting anything at all in reture.
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