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As the name suggests, the SlingCatcher is a hardware version of the SlingPlayer software that’s available for various devices. Connect the SlingCatcher to your bedroom TV, for instance, and you can access the live TV and recorded programs from your living room DVR (which, in turn, is connected to a Slingbox).

During Sling’s demo, we accessed both a SlingPlayer Pro-HD setup on our internal network, as well as a live satellite box feed from across the country. The HD source (a football game playing back on a TiVo HD) looked stunning, since it was able to use the full bandwidth of a wired network connection without traveling over the outside Internet. The remote feed, a daytime talk show, was traveling thousands of miles and compressed almost 10 times as much. As a result, it exhibited considerably more jaggies and looked like a YouTube video maximized to full screen–but it was certainly watchable. The included SlingCatcher remote was mapped to the source box, so we could change channels, access the DVR listing, play/pause and rewind–albeit all with a delay, as the signals were transmitted across the long distance.

Bandwidth constraints apply (streaming within a home network generally looks great, but remote Slingbox resolution will be limited by upstream bandwidth at the source location). And the Slingbox monopolizes the AV source to which its connected (if you log in to your DVR and start playing Desperate Housewives while somebody’s in the living room watching football, they’ll suddenly see Eva Longoria instead of Eli Manning.

So, instead of being limited to the small-ish screens of a laptop (or even a mobile phone), you’re back to watching TV on…a TV.

The SlingCatcher can access any Slingbox that you’ve added to your Sling.com account, but the same caveats apply to it as with the software SlingPlayers. Most notably, only one client can access a given Slingbox at a time.

All in all, the SlingCatcher was looking smoother and more polished than the early build we’d seen at CES in January. The “compass” interface was gone, but the new menu system was straightforward and easy to navigate. It looks to be most useful for in-house access to other SlingPlayers, and as a makeshift universal media player. It may still be a bit too niche-y for mass market appeal, but–after spending less than an hour with it–we’d much rather be watching Hulu on a $300 SlingCatcher than, say, a $500 ZvBox.

We’ll have a full review (with additional photos and video) later this fall, once we get a production version of the SlingCatcher. In the meantime: do you have any interest in the SlingCatcher? If not, is there a missing “killer app” that you’d like to see added? Share your thoughts below.

Last week, the folks from Sling Media stopped by to give us a hands-on look at the SlingCatcher. Originally due in 2007, the long-delayed product looks to be finally ready to ship this fall. (The video below is Molly Wood’s preview of the SlingCatcher when it was reintroduced in January 2008.)

What about those DRM files or Flash videos available on Web sites like Hulu, ABC.com, and YouTube? That’s where the SlingProjector software comes in. Run the SlingProjector software (currently Windows only), and your PC screen–or whatever portion of the screen you specify–is immediately mirrored on your TV through the SlingCatcher. On the surface, it’s a somewhat kludgy solution–you’ll pretty much need to keep a laptop on the coffee table for quick and easy access–but in practice, it worked surprisingly well.

Editors’ note: Sling Media and CBS (the parent company of CNET) are working together on Sling’s Clip-n-Sling project and CBS’ Interactive Audience Network.

We noted a lip-sync issue with a Hulu video, but this was, after all, a beta version of the software. On the bright side, it’s very straightforward: if you can see it on your screen, you can Sling it to your TV. That includes video from any source (including iTunes, Netflix, or anything else), photos, PowerPoint presentations–the works.

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Erica Ogg/CNET)

The SlingCatcher’s ability to be a Sling viewer is certainly cool, but that’s a niche feature, to be sure. Thankfully, the box offers two other features: playback of all sorts of digital media (via the USB input) and the ability to mirror anything on a PC screen. On the media playback front, the box offers compatibility with a laundry list of non-DRM’d codecs and file formats–WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, Xvid, MP2, MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, avi, .vob, .ifo, .ps, .ts, .mpg, .wmv, .asf, .mov, .mp4,.m4v, .mp3, .wma, .mp4a, .m4a, and .wav. Drag and drop your files onto a USB storage device (hard drive, flash drive, what have you), plug it in to the Catcher, and you can use the remote to navigate to whatever file name you’d like and play it at the click of a button. (Files can also be automatically synced across the network to the attached storage device, using a method called SlingSync.)

Final Cut Server pricing starts at $999 for one server and 10 licenses, and $1,999 for one server and unlimited licenses.

The software application is meant for managing the production of large-scale video projects. Final Cut Server enables automatic cataloging, viewing, and annotating of video, and is available for both the
Mac and PC. It is integrated with Apple’s video-editing software, Final Cut Studio.

The product was announced a year ago, was originally supposed to ship last summer, but was delayed.

Apple’s tool for media management, Final Cut Server, is now available, the company announced Tuesday.

While Keynote’s assessment of site performance may have been overly bleak, many news sites were slow to deliver pages and in some cases were inaccessible at times.

(Credit:
Akamai)

It turns out many of the Internet’s top news sites fared better at handling the glut of traffic following the death of singer Michael Jackson than previously thought.

Click for full screenshot

CNN.com appeared to be sluggish delivering Jackson stories at times. In its defense, the news organization said that the site saw 20 million page views and a fivefold increase in traffic (from where it was prior to when news about Jackson’s death began widely circulating) in one hour.

When news of the iconic performer’s death began trickling out, scores of people turned to the Web for information. TMZ broke the news that Jackson, 50, known for producing some of the world’s best selling records, including “Thriller” and “Bad,” had died Thursday afternoon, but the gossip hub cited only unnamed sources and offered few details. As other news services turned their attention to the story and as the public took to the Web to learn more about the performer’s condition, some Web sites began slowing down.

Dan Berkowitz, Keynote’s spokesman, said the most important thing was to correct the record about ABCNews.com, which he said delivered pages to visitors close to normally during the hour-long traffic spike following Jackson’s death. He added that the company is still studying the causes of the error. A representative for Disney, which owns ABC, said the company saw “no dips in performance” as a result of the traffic glut.

Keynote Systems, a company that tracks site performance, said Friday that it erred in measuring performance for news sites and issued incorrect information Thursday evening.

On Friday, antivirus vendor Sophos reported on a wave of spam related to Jackson’s death that claims to have vital information about the news event. There are no malicious URLs in the spam, but recipients who reply to the message are then providing proof that the e-mail address is legitimate and will likely be targeted in future spam campaigns, the company said.

Corrected on June 26 at 4:07 p.m. PT:
Keynote Systems, the source for Web site performance supplied CNET News with incorrect data. ABCNews.com’s performance following the death of Michael Jackson was near optimal.

A Google representative confirmed that “between approximately 2:40 p.m. PDT and 3:15 p.m. PDT today, some Google News users experienced difficulty accessing search results for queries related to Michael Jackson.”

The traffic deluge came swiftly and lasted for about a half hour, according to internal data here at CNET News, which saw twice the normal amount of hourly traffic shortly after word of Jackson’s death spread. At sister site CBSNews.com, traffic numbers were five times their normal levels.

Some Google users complained that the search engine’s News area was inaccessible for a time.

This story was updated multiple times after it was originally published, including with a Keynote System statement that it erred in assessing the performance of ABCNews.com and other media news sites.

Michael Jackson's death sent U.S. Internet users to news sites and the traffic heated up network traffic. as evidence in these images.

Even before Jackson’s death, Thursday was a big day for news sites as word of actress Farrah Fawcett’s death hit the wires in the morning and continued interest in the scandal surrounding South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

(Credit:
CNET News)

If you don’t want to control the fireworks display from your laptop computer, this Firelite panel from FireOne will let you trigger up to 39 firing panels manually.

Watching this year’s Fourth of July fireworks display in Seattle, I wondered (not for the first time) how they coordinate the fireworks with the musical soundtrack–the hearts exploding right at the climax of “Unchained Melody,” or the long fizzy streamers during the theremin part of “Good Vibrations,” for instance. Not surprisingly, software’s the answer.

FireOne’s Web site gives some insight into the process of creating a display: the designer starts by creating an audio file composed of the songs that will be used in the display, then importing it into the software as a .wav file. Then, the designer selects from hundreds of shell types in FireOne’s database, matching them up to specific points in the display–FireOne claims its software is accurate up to 0.01 of a second. The software puts a timecode on the music track, coordinates it with the electrical signals necessary to fire the shells, and outputs it as a file with the extension (of course) .fir. Of course, there’s a manual option in case something goes wrong, as it did in Seattle’s New Year’s Eve celebration last year.

(Credit: FireOne)

If you’re interested in pursuing what sounds like one of the funnest jobs in the universe, you can find out more at the Pyrotechnics Guild International Web site.

The Seattle display was operated by a company called Pyro Spectaculars based out of Rialto, Calif., which reportedly uses a highly customized or home-built system to coordinate the music to the displays. But other pyrotechnicians might use combined hardware-software systems from FireOne or Infinity Vision.

CNET, Webware’s publisher, is no stranger to running big awards programs. We also run the Best of Show Awards at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Webware will have two full Expo passes to give out; details of that program will be announced shortly. Our readers can also get $100 off any educational program at the Expo, or a free exhibits-only pass, by using the priority code websf08ob3 on the Web 2.0 Expo registration page.

We will announce the Webware 100 winners on April 21, the day before the show opens, and we will celebrate the winners with a party during the Web 2.0 Expo booth crawl, on April 24 at 4:30 p.m. There will probably be other festivities as well. Watch this space.

On Monday when we launch the voting for the Webware 100 awards, we’re also going to go live with our partnership with the Web 2.0 Expo. This event, which starts on April 22, is the biggest Web 2.0 show there is, and we’re thrilled that Webware and the Webware 100 will be part of it.

Decker’s stock and stock option compensation, as valued by Yahoo, dropped from $14.6 million in 2006 to $13 million in 2007, the company said.

Yahoo President Sue Decker saw her salary, bonus, and incentive play payment increase from $1.35 million in 2006 to $1.76 million in 2007, but factoring in stock and options, her overall compensation declined, the company said in regulatory filing Tuesday.

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Yahoo)

Co-founder and Chief Executive Jerry Yang, who took over the top executive post from Terry Semel in June, got a $1 salary and no stock or new options. That figure is unchanged from the year earlier, Yahoo said.

Susan Decker

The company also said Semel exercised stock options worth $37.8 million in 2007. Semel left Yahoo’s board on January 31, the day before Microsoft offered to acquire Yahoo.

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RedHotPhones.com)

True, Gotham City Police probably won’t be dialing you up even if you get the new bright red Batman-inspired desk phone. But at least you’ll be ready if they do.

Sure, iPhone users, you can watch YouTube and find directions to a party via Google Maps. But does your phone beep and blink when Police Commissioner Gordon or Police Chief O’Hara call? Yeah, didn’t think so.

The $112 phone–which lights up when calls come in and has a blank faceplate instead of a traditional rotary dial–is the latest addition to RedHotPhone.com’s line of phones honoring the Caped Crusader. Note: this one does not double as an
iPod.

Nintendo: Cloud? Isn’t that what Lakitu rides in Super Mario Bros.?
Microsoft: Xbox 360 requires no cloud to overheat repeatedly and die
Sony: Even if everyone got OnLive free, PS3 would still be the best-selling console
Apple: you ain’t seen nothin’ yet

This week at GDC 09, we learned about OnLive, a new “cloud”-based on-demand video game and entertainment service. It promises high-quality streaming of first-run major publisher games to many Macs and PCs, and it could threaten the traditional console model for gamers that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have built their game businesses around.

View results

The companies have definitely taken notice, but what are they saying behind closed doors? Which of these responses would you most like to hear from the gaming behemoths?

CNET News Poll OnLive fallout
Which response to OnLive would you most like to hear?

(Credit:
CNET Networks, Inc.)

Lenovo’s much-anticipated competitor to the MacBook Air finally arrived in our office this morning. The skinny ultraportable laptop may look a bit square–it is a ThinkPad, after all–but its 13.3-inch screen, full-size keyboard, and built-in DVD burner earned admiring glances from multiple passersby. We’re busy at work on the review, but in between benchmark runs this afternoon, we took some photos of this, the sleekest ThinkPad yet. Take a spin through our ThinkPad X300 slide show, and keep an eye on the ThinkPad X300 product page for the complete review and CNET Editors Rating.

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Canon)

We generally recommend installing the latest firmware updates for your camera, so you can get the most out of your gear. For more information on firmware updates for a specific camera, visit the manufacturer’s Web site. Before installing any firmware upgrade, always take the time to read through all of the documentation and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.

Canon has released a new firmware update to its EOS 40D 10.1MP DSLR. The firmware update, v1.0.8, fixes a phenomenon in which Image Stabilization operation emits a sound when certain buttons are pressed, with the EF-S 55mm-250mm f/4-f/5.6 IS lens attached to the camera. It also fixes a phenomenon in which the Image Stabilization operation emits a sound from the lens when IS lenses are attached to the camera, as well as remedying another in which a part of the image looks unnatural when reviewed on the LCD. Finally, tt also corrects errors in the Spanish and Norwegian menus.