CES13: Slingbox expands functionality for newer ‘boxes

The Slingbox 500 and 350 have some new options for your viewing pleasure as of this CES.

Through an offering called SlingSync, the new My Media feature (which will be exclusive to the 500 model) will allow users to sync their photos and videos to the unit through a USB drive for viewing on the television.

Also new for 500 owners (and on the way for 350 owners later this year) is the Slingbox Companion. This is basically a second screen for TV watching that’ll have a more ‘social media’ slant than anything I can recall seeing from Sling in the past.

Slingbox Companion is a free 2^nd screen application that will be available to all Slingbox 500 and Slingbox 350 customers who also own an iPad 2 or higher model. Slingbox Companion will feature content discovery tools that help customers find shows based on their interests. They can then navigate to the selected show to watch on the TV using the tablet app as a remote.

Slingbox 500 customers who have connected a USB drive to their Slingbox 500 can use Slingbox Companion to navigate to photos and videos from My Media and play them on their TV. In addition, Slingbox Companion will feature supplemental TV program content like live stats during a sporting event, enhancing the TV-viewing experience. Finally, customers can share what they are viewing with friends on Facebook and Twitter and see what’s trending on TV.

Both updates will be free of charge and will be delivered in a firmware update for your Slingbox. The 500 and 350 will see the download with Slingbox Companion become available in the Spring. The addition of My Media will be along a little sooner than that with a download for both ‘boxes and iOS/Android smartphones becoming available “in the coming weeks”.

Check out Slingbox.com for more.