The world we live in is increasingly hooked on HD, but, unfortunately, we rarely have the time to watch our favorite TV shows exactly when they're aired, simply because we're not at home at the respective moment. Enter SlingMedia's Slingbox SOLO, a specially designed new Slingbox that can connect to a standard definition or high definition set top box and features increased streaming performance for less than $200.

According to the company's statement, the main purpose of the Slingbox SOLO is to transforms PCs, laptops, Macs and a variety of smartphones into personal, portable TVs by allowing users to view their home cable, satellite or digital video recorder (DVR) programming on a wide range of devices anywhere they can access the Internet. The Slingbox SOLO is designed to meet the varied requirements of today's multi-faceted TV-viewing households. The product includes standard (4:3) and widescreen (16:9) video support and increased streaming performance (full VGA resolution, up to 8Mbps around the home).

The device accepts inputs from either standard definition or high definition set top boxes, giving customers the ability to connect virtually any Audio/Video device via component video, S-Video or composite video connectors and features integrated looping outputs for each input. Furthermore, it incorporates an USB interface, as well as an Ethernet connector, for hooking it up to the home network.

"Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of place-shifting their favorite TV and DVR programming, and are demanding products that are both attractively designed and future-proof as they look to upgrade their TV service from standard definition to HD in the coming year. Slingbox SOLO has all of the right features built-in, making it an ideal fit for a wide range of customer needs," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sling Media. "The Slingbox SOLO fits the digital media needs of both new and existing customers, giving them the flexibility and capability to enjoy personalized content from any of their home entertainment devices -- virtually anywhere."

The Slingbox SOLO from SlingMedia retails for around 180 US dollars, which could be considered quite a fair price to pay for this thing, taking into consideration both the features it can provide and the overall cool factor. Of course, if the device's specs and features are simply not sufficient, you can always go for the PRO version, but that's considerably more expensive.

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