The Slingbox, created by US start-up company Sling Media, is a device that connects your home TV to your internet connection, allowing you to watch and control your favorite programs from literally anywhere – be it from the top of your house or the top of Mount Everest. It also gives you the opportunity to access your recorded TV content from your personal video recorder, so if you happen to be busy doing something else when your favorite show is on, you can record it and watch it later – wherever you are. All you have to do is start the SlingPlayer software on your computer or mobile, then program your TV.

Stuart Collingwood, head of Sling Media’s UK operation, says: “I never, ever get bored of seeing people’s reactions when they realize they can change their channels at home through their mobile or PC.”

The Slingbox, which costs from USD 179.99, was launched in 2005 and has already become something of a celebrity in the gadget world. Although Collingwood cannot reveal any exact figures, he says the company sold 100,000 copies in the first six months of releasing it in the US.

“There seems to be a big appetite for technology that helps you save time, allows you to be more productive and lets you watch TV in places you ordinarily wouldn’t,” he says.

In November, Sling Media introduced its SlingPlayer Mobile Software to Europe through UK operator 3, having released it in the US earlier in the year. “People [in the US] love it,” Collingwood says, commenting that the problem with mobile TV today is that people cannot access or record the channels or programs they watch at home – something that the Slingbox allows them to do.

SlingPlayer Mobile software is pre-installed on 3’s X-Series mobile phones. The X-Series includes free phone calls to Skype users, free instant messaging, and unlimited search and internet surfing – customers only pay a flat access fee on top of their basic subscriptions. Although the product only became available in December, Collingwood says the UK’s reaction to the 3 X-Series has been very positive.

Collingwood hopes that Slingbox is going to be as popular in Europe as it is in the US and, based on the feedback he has received from operators so far, the prospects look good. “The other operators that have looked at it comment on the fantastic user experience it generates and ask themselves how they can model the device into their business,” he says.

While the Slingbox lets you take your home TV with you wherever you go, In View’s ippi lets you communicate with your TV by allowing you to send SMS, MMS and e-mails to it via your mobile phone.

With a name inspired by the legend of Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, ippi was created for the traveling professional who wants to stay in touch with family and friends through text, sound and pictures. But its creators, Mats Segerström and Kjell Lindén, have since discovered that their simple-to-use gadget is an attractive tool for companies that help the elderly and disabled because it provides a way for their personnel to communicate with their clients.

“Not only have we made ippi physically attractive, so you can place it beside your TV, but the remote control is designed in such a way that it just has a few, large buttons,” Segerström says. “The ippi is based on a one-click-view concept, which means you only have to push one button to see the message on your TV screen, provided that it is turned on. All the messages are collected in one inbox, regardless of whether it’s an SMS, MMS or e-mail. We also have a one-click-reply functionality that allows you to record your message by using ippi’s integrated microphone. Once recorded, the message is to any mobile phone or PC.”

Segerström strongly believes in the success of ippi, which will be officially launched at 3GSM in Barcelona in February. “The benefit is the directness – the fact that you can send an MMS directly to a TV set and have people access that message seconds later,” he says. “Being able to blow it up on a large screen and have the voice booming out of loudspeakers really enhances the quality of the user experience.”

Segerström says ippi is a strong concept for an operator to build into its offering. “It’s a good way to increase traffic, especially in terms of MMS, which I’ve heard hasn’t created the uptake operators had hoped for,” he says.

“In my view, the TV industry is very conservative and, in many ways, the mobile industry is conservative too but, when you mix the two, you get something completely new and unique – something like ippi.”

Torunn Hansen-Tangen