Sony is now selling in the UK its rival to the Slingbox around-the-house video-distribution system and, like the recently-arrived Slingbox, the Sony LocationFree kit also lets you stream your own media over the internet, so you can view it on a PC away from home, too.
The LocationFree bundle, LFPK1.CEK, is available from Sony UK's online store for £229 - including VAT but excluding the £6 delivery charge. That's £70 less than Sony originally announced but still £50 more than the Slingbox (check out our recent news story), which is initially being sold exclusively by Dixons Store Group outlets, including PC World, for £180.
The Sony bundle should also be available now in France, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands, and is promised to roll out across other European countries later this year.
As well as being pricier than the Slingbox, Sony's offering appears to lose out in other ways. Unlike the Slingbox or the Sony-USA model, the UK Sony base station doesn't have a built in TV tuner.
And, Sony only allows users to install its access software on one PC at a time - not a restriction found with Slingbox - though there has been some talk of Sony stretching its license to allow it to run on eight machines. On both systems, though, the video stream can only be received on one PC at a time, simply because the boxes aren't able to output multiple video streams.
Sony charges for extra copies of the software - £30, we think - but Sony UK's online store is such a mess that we couldn't find the details again no matter how hard we searched and now think that, perhaps, we only actually located the software on the Sony US store - which is considerably easier to navigate and where it's priced at $30.
As with Slingbox, the Sony software puts up on screen a virtual IR handset that can, among other things, be used to control the hardware that's feeding video into the base station - by means of a cable-mounted transmitter that plugs into the base station.
One major advantage for the Sony box is that it can feed out videos to a Sony Playstation Portable at home or away (see this HEXUS.headline - LocationFree TV For The PSP : CES 2006) - something that Sling Media has been promising users in the USA but still hasn't delivered. To access the Sony box from a Playstation Portable, though, requires the PSP to be updated to V2.70 software. This is a free download from another stupidly complex and Flash-heavy Sony site - YourPSP.
Sony reckons that its system is ultra easy to set up and highlights a number of features that may or may not turn out to be significant. It says that the base station uses proprietary Sony technology, including an optimised dual-band antenna and custom software, to "ensure the best possible wireless performance".
It also points out that when the base station is accessed remotely over the internet, it does so via a free Dynamic DNS (Domain Name Server) service that "ensures that periodic changes to a user's global IP never prevent connection to the base station".
And, Sony reckons, the base station monitors the available bandwidth of the broadband connection and automatically optimises the bit-rate of the AV stream for the "best possible picture quality".
At a glance
LocationFree base station bundle (LFPK1.CEK) specs
*
Colour system - PAL; SECAM; PAL60; NTSC
* Wireless 802.11b/g with WEP encryption and WPA
* Single Ethernet port (10Base-T/100Base-T)
* Three video inputs - two composite (phono), one S-video, only two of which can be used simultaneously
* Two pairs of L/R audio inputs (phono)
* 12V DC input
* Wireless 802.11b/g with WEP encryption and WPA
* Single Ethernet port (10Base-T/100Base-T)
* Three video inputs - two composite (phono), one S-video, only two of which can be used simultaneously
* Two pairs of L/R audio inputs (phono)
* 12V DC input
What's included
*
LocationFree base station
* LocationFree player software CD-ROM - with one serial key
* Base station specifications:
* One Scart to phono A/V cable
* One A/V cable (phono)
* LocationFree player software CD-ROM - with one serial key
* Base station specifications:
* One Scart to phono A/V cable
* One A/V cable (phono)
Minimum requirements for LocationFree over the Internet (NetAV)
* Home broadband internet with at least
300kbps uplink speed for streaming video from the Base Station
through the internet
* A remote internet connection with a 300kbps downlink for accessing video
* A remote internet connection with a 300kbps downlink for accessing video
Minimum recommended hardware (PC or notebook)
* Operating systems -Windows 2000 Pro (SP4), Windows XP Pro or Home with SP2
* CPU - P4 1GHz
* RAM - 256MB
* Available hard disk space - 300MB
* Monitor resolution - 800x600 pixels and 16-bit colour
* Wireless card (IEEE802.11b/g) supporting WEP encryption.
* A 10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX LAN connector
* Installed LocationFree Player for PC software
So, does LocationFree tickle your fancy? Or would you prefer a Slingbox? Let us know your thoughts on these rival distribution system (perhaps including Orb, too) in the HEXUS.community.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community - forum thread about this article
Sony UK - LocationFree home page
Sony UK online store - home page (search for LocationFree); tel: 020 7365 2947
Sony - YourPSP
HEXUS.headline - LocationFree TV For The PSP : CES 2006
CES 2006 - all HEXUS coverage
HEXUS.headline - Revolutionary Slingbox video distribution system finally arrives in UK
PC World - Slingbox home page
Sling Media - Slingbox UK home page
Sling Media - home page
HEXUS.community - forum thread about Slingbox article
