Slingbox is one of the ways of streaming video over the internet i.e.
allowing you to use the web to watch programs recorded on your PVR whilst
you are on holiday, working abroad etc.

So if you really are a Coronation Street fan, but happen to be working in
Bahrain, a friend with a slingbox can allow you to watch this week's program
over the web. *Remember that although we in the UK can watch-again, such
output is normally geographically limited so you can't necessarily get it
from elsewhere in the world.

I think the idea is that you can watch your _own_ slingbox (sat in
your own UK home!) from anywhere in the world - though I suppose
"friends" can "share".

It would be quite handy for use in-home too - having full access to
(and control over) the lounge PVR from a laptop in the bedroom or PC
in the study should give far better picture quality than the analogue
SD-only RF connections some people use now.

The problem most people forget is that the "A" in ADSL stands for Asymmetric
and your upload speed (from your PC or home network to the internet is
normally far slower than your download speed. *So being able to watch hi-def
iPlayer doesn't mean you can stream it out.

The demos I've seen do 640x480, or 320x240 when the network is really
crippled. I can't see how you'd get HD out of your own house with
typical UK ISPs, but it looks like HD should work within the house
well enough - even on most WiFi connections.

Cheers,
David.