Sony Ericsson has released a place-shifting device to team up with one of its high-end handsets. The LocationFree base station redirects TV shows to a target handset (currently the SE P990) via the internet. The base station costs £229 (about US$428). “You can watch live TV, playback recorded programmes and even set up future recordings, all on your P990.” It’s an interesting move by Sony Ericsson, but falls into the same problem all place shifting devices do—the cost of the data transfer. Of course, owners of high-end handsets are more likely to have unlimited data packages… The services (at least, SlingMedia’s service) uses 100MB/hour of data…
“Keeping up with your favourite TV shows is just the start,” Steve Walker said in the press release. “There are many more uses for LocationFree on your P990 as it will transmit content from any number of devices that are linked up to the Base Station.  For example with a video camera or video recorder connected you can use your P990 to see friends and family while you’re away, or even keep a check on home security.”
SlingMedia will launch its SlingPlayer application in Europe in the final quarter of this year. “SlingMedia initially made its mobile player available for Windows-powered phones in the US earlier this year. To use the service, punters need to buy a SlingBox for $180-$250, which plugs into their existing set-top-box.”