Monsoon Multimedia Announces Slingbox Killer

Posted 07/27/2010 at 12:22pm | by Michael Brown

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When it comes to place-shifting—streaming live TV content from your set-top box to a PC or mobile device somewhere else in the world—most people think of Sling Media and the Slingbox. Monsoon Multimedia offered a competing product as early as 2007—but you’ve probably never heard of the Hava Wireless HD (unless you read our review).

We haven’t heard much from Monsoon over the past few years, but today they announced a new a brand-new place-shifter with an equally odd name: The Vulkano. Monsoon is making some pretty big promises for this device; if they can deliver, the Vulkano could become a breakthrough product when it ships in August.

The Vulkano Pro will come with a 1TB eSATA drive.

Unlike the Slingbox and Hava Wireless HD, the Vulkano will be outfitted with local storage , enabling users to record TV programs via the analog connections on a set-top cable or satellite box. Recorded videos—as well as live TV—can be played back on any networked PC, Mac, or mobile device—including the iPad, iPhone, or phones running the Android, Blackberry, or Symbian operating systems. An electronic program guide will enable users to schedule recordings with these same devices. The $280 entry-level model will be equipped with 16GB of Flash memory, a memory-card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, and eSATA; the $380 Vulkano Pro doesn't have built-in flash memory, but it has all the same ports and comes with a 1TB eSATA drive. 

The Vulkano will also be capable of playing YouTube videos on your TV as well as music, videos, and photographs stored on networked PCs or servers. Add in promised future compatibility with Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and even Google TV and you get a product that’s positioned to compete with media-streaming products such as Western Digital’s WD TV Live Plus and Logitech’s Google TV hardware. It almost sounds too good to be true. We can’t wait to get our hands on one.