However, the Max PC guys told us behind the scenes that this LF-V30's feature set is still "markedly inferior to the Slingbox." They also smack down clueless Sony for charging $30 for the necessary PC viewing software, an uncalled-for ripoff. Even so, the Maximum PC verdict is still respectable, giving the LF-V30 a 7 out of 10. [Maximum PC]

HD Connect down-converts your 720p or 1080i signal into a 640x480 video stream, where the horizontal part is anamorphically compressed for transport, and then is stretched back out to that typical widescreen 16x9 format on your laptop in the field. How does it look, and is it worth $50?

Its video output looks significantly better than the stock Slingbox Pro's standard definition video, but there is a catch. You're only going to get near-HD-quality when you stream the Slingbox Pro's video within your own network. That makes it ideal for, say, watching some HD porn in your bedroom when your Slingbox is located elsewhere in the house on your wired or wireless G network. But its resolution is limited to 320x240 when you access your Slingbox from outside your own network via the InterWebs.

Here's a press photo of HD Connect, and next to it is the actual unit, not nearly as pretty as its PR propaganda:

A handy feature of the Slingbox Pro is its ability to connect and control four devices, and HD Connect now lets you do that with a component signal while also letting you pass that component video through to whatever viewing device you wish to use in your home theater as well.

HD Connect plugs into a port on the back right, which looks exactly like a HDMI port, but isn't:

The Slingbox Pro with HD Connect's improved quality was also noticeable using the SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows software on my Motorola Q Smartphone. Don't try watching an entire football game or a movie on the Motorola Q, though, because its lame-ass battery will give up the ghost after about an hour using the SlingPlayer Mobile software.

Overall, I give the Slingbox Pro HD Connect dongle a big thumbs-up, while at the same time wishing that it would've been included in the package with the Slingbox Pro. For more details, check out my full review at Consumer Electronics Net. – Charlie White

Slingbox Pro HD Connect [Consumer Electronics Net]

Remember the new Slingbox we posted about? The AV model with composite and s-video inputs? Looks like it's already out at Best Buy.

Zatz went down to Best Buy for lunch—he's on an all TiVo diet—and saw the AV staring back at him. According to the side of the box, the Pro and Tuner boxes are coming soon, with the Pro model supporting HD and multiple sources, and Tuner supporting cable and antenna. The surprise was that the AV model supported OS X and Symbian. Weird. Guess their engineers got their Symbian support done without anybody in marketing knowing about it. Touch nerds. Touch . – Jason Chen

New Slingbox AV at Best Buy. Symbian Support! [Zatz Not Funny]

The second use is to connect a compatible camera to the device, which will then stream home security video to you over the IP network. It's similar to how the TV channels get streamed, but instead of watching Oprah, you're watching an old, overweight babysitter you hired because your wife made you get rid of Sarah, the previous college-aged one. So, pretty much the same thing really, except less new car winning and more spanking. – Jason Chen

Product Site [Honestech via CNET]

Pioneer of all things TiVo, Dave Zatz points to a few things that deserve further attention. Firstly, the fact that Verizon is openly supporting the concept of room-to-room streaming means that TiVo's days as being the sole supporter of such forward-thinking technology may be coming to an end. Secondly, that we can expect to see more companies beginning to charge for services à la carte—nickel-and-diming us, as it were.

And don't be fooled by Verizon's professional tricksters who may want to call the DVR "place shifting," since throwing content from room-to-room isn't exactly the same as moving content across the country. – Nicholas Deleon

The Significance of Verizon's "New" DVR [Zatz Not Funny]

Sling Media broke Mac users' hearts a few weeks ago when they announced that the Mac version of SlingPlayer, the software used to interface with the company's place shifting Slingbox, would be delayed until around September. However, they did mention that they would launch a a private beta in July; the time is nigh, dear friends. Sling Media is opening up a limited beta and is encouraging its Mac users to sign up. It looks like you'll have to sign an NDA if you want in on the action, so if you're not comfortable with that, best move along.

The application will be open for the next two weeks, closing on July 26, and you'll only hear back from Sling if they select you—it's like Prom all over again. Users will be expected to keep Sling informed of the SlingPlayer's performance and other odds and ends that Sling demands. – Nicholas Deleon

Mac beta testers wanted [JeremyT (Sling Media)'s Blog via Zatz Not Funny]

Novac plans on making sure people don't just think of phone calls when they think of Skype. Using the video conferencing functionality of Skype, Novac has come up with a piece of software that lets you transmit TV over Skype. By plugging in a USB TV tuner into your PC (yes, PC. Apparently, Novac hates people with Macs.) and using their secret sauce, Novac promises that you'll be able to watch your TV from anywhere in the world, so long as there's a Internet-connected PC with Skype installed. You're even able to remotely change the channel. Think of all the possible pranking opportunities that materialize with the ability to remotely change the channel.

Of course, Novac isn't the only company to come up with a "place shifitng" solution. However, most of the others are hardware-based.

Novac's Skype TV goes on sale in Japan on July 14 for about $85.99. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page (in Japanese) [Novac via Akihabara News]

Essentially very similar to the Slingbox, the HAVA Video Streamer distinguishes itself from its rivals by offering a number of advanced features that may endear it to power users. For example, in addition to being able to function as a wireless access point, the HAVA can wirelessly connect to routers. This means that if your router's in one room but the TV cable is in another, you no longer have to lay hundreds of feet of ethernet cable in order to retransmit the signal across the Internet. Snappy also claims that its HAVA is able to retransmit signals with DVD-level quality; the fact that it supports MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 certainly lends some credence to this claim.

It's also worth noting that the HAVA supports multiple simultaneous users watching over a home network thanks to super secret Space Age technology. Snappy Multimedia's HAVA Video Streamer is expected to be available on July 17 for $249, though you can grab it for a limited time for $199. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Snappy Multimedia via The Red Ferret Journal]