At long last, Slingbox owners can now beam their television content from one TV to another set in the home or abroad via a $35 Chromecast. As revealed a few months back, Slingbox M1, 350 and 500 (aka SlingTV) models are supported via new Android and iOS updates in conjunction with new Chromecast device code. Cleverly, iOS apps already have hidden Chromecast capabilities that will be activated on the backend, while a new Android app download is expected any moment now.
Sling kindly granted my request for early access and, in very brief testing, the experience is exactly what you expect – both the good and the annoying. Simple to use with solid video quality (via LAN, haven’t tried remotely yet) and sluggish response as using the virtual remote. Dependent upon your situation, Chromecast slinging could provide a priceless solution – that clocks in at a lower cost than similar “Slingcatcher” capabilities accessed via Apple TV and Roku. But, keep in mind, both a Slingbox hardware purchase is required along with a $15 mobile app.