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I get to see every game these days by using a product called Slingbox, which is available here in America. Recently on a night shoot for the film State of Play, I got to watch most of a game because the local real estate agent in a suburb of Washington DC let me sit in his office in the early hours and plug in a computer.

"Sling Media is a good example. ... We met them early enough," said Marti Nyman, Best Buy's point man with venture capitalists and director of its Global Innovation Network. Best Buy became aware of Sling Media Inc. through a venture-capital contact. Founded in 2004, the Foster City, Calif.-based start-up developed a device called the Slingbox that allows users to connect a PC, laptop, or smart phone into their home televisions. Said Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian: "They took a big gamble on us." And it appears to have paid off. "The product has sold incredibly well,'' Krikorian said.

Sling Media leads the video place-shifter category in terms of installation ease and usability, and its new Slingbox Solo is no exception. The Solo's simple but elegant interface is a joy to work with.

This way I can watch any channel I desire, including my stored DVR content, when I want to without any additional subscription fee. There is an initial charge for the Slingbox and SlingPlayer for mobile devices, but after that it is all part of my data plan.

Blake Krikorian, cofounder of Sling Media and its revolutionary Slingbox, which introduced the concept of “place-shifting,” joked as he received his award, “If anybody’s going to serve me a subpoena, here’s your chance” -- a reference to earlier times when some content providers thought his invention was robbing their product. Now he has a content deal with CBS, among others.

Game gadgets: I track scores all the time on my handheld devices. I have a Samsung cellphone, a BlackBerry (RIM), and a Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500) Q. In my office the Q is hooked up to a Slingbox so I can watch games on the phone.

The Slingbox SOLO streams live or saved shows and movies from your cable box, DVR or DVD player to any Web browser in the world. Yes, like the one you use on your cell phone or computer at work. If your boss thought youTube was a productivity drain, hell, he ain't seen nothin' yet.

Q: Where do you think Sling Media falls in relation to the form-factor of mobile video and what type of content do you believe is most compelling for mobile devices? A: All these comments about ‘well I think it’s going to be snacks or exclusive content, short form, whatever,’ you know, frankly so much of that is just utter bullshit, I mean to tell you the truth. It’s people coming up with marketing spins to justify the content that they have rights to. You go down to the store, go on any street corner, talk to people and say ‘do you want to watch television on your phone?’ and the people who will say yes, then you ask them, ‘OK, like what?’ And they’re not going to say ‘Hmm, I would prefer to like watch some like short form or some exclusive content tailored for the phone.’ They’re going to say the Super Bowl is on and I want to watch the Super Bowl or ‘The Daily Show’ is on and I recorded it on my TiVo and I want to watch it. It’s the TV programming that people know and love today and are familiar with.

Waiting out a long delay can be a nightmare if you don't have a conduit to the outside world. Besides obvious diversions -- internet access and music and video entertainment -- I've supplemented my laptop with two extras: Slingbox software, so I can tap into my home television system, and The Complete New Yorker, which includes every issue in the magazine's 80-year history.

The Slingbox, a high-tech remote attached to your TV, acts as a modern-day catapult, launching the contents of a digital video recorder, or live programing, to any desktop or laptop. Sling Media is not just stopping at the laptop. The new generation of Slingboxes make it possible to view taped or live events on any Web-enabled, Windows Mobile-powered handheld or mobile phone.

An efficient option is a small device called a SlingBox (www.slingmedia.com, $129 to $229). Plug one end into your Internet connection and the other into your home TV’s cable box or DVR or both, and you can watch television and your recorded video library on a computer, cellphone or laptop. "The basic premise is that with a SlingBox, you have access to your living-room television no matter where you happen to be,” said Brian Jaquet, a Sling Media spokesman.

In the world of off-deck mobile video, Sling Media Inc. has pushed the envelope quite successfully. Indeed, the fact the television is no longer anchored to the living room is partly due to the company’s innovation. By place-shifting the content of users’ set-top boxes and other television gadgetry to PC and mobile devices, Sling Media has squarely taken on industries that froth at the mouth over any opportunity to nickel and dime customers.

What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set? Mac, 360, iPhone, Sidekick, BlackBerry, Slingbox, chuuch

Three years ago, the idea of cutting up movies like The Godfather into short scenes that could be shared on the Web seemed preposterous. Tom Freston, the former chief executive of Viacom, “looked at me like I was nuts” when I suggested it, recalls Jason Hirschhorn, then chief digital officer of Viacom’s MTV Networks. Times change. Later this year, Mr. Hirschhorn expects to launch a similar service for Sling Media Entertainment Group, manufacturer of the Slingbox, a device that allows consumers to watch television on multiple devices at any time and place.

Since the first Slingbox hit the market a few years ago, the device has developed a passionate following among frequent travelers. The box, developed by Sling Media of Foster City, California, lets users send television signals from their homes to their laptops, virtually anywhere in the world.

Sling Media’s Brian Jaquet says the Slingbox Pro HD will arrive this summer… You can actually stream around your home in full HD to another laptop computer or desktop computer, for example. And if you have a high enough speed broadband connection you can actually stream HD out of the home as well.

I have seen the light; or rather thousands of teeny, tiny lights on a small screen. SlingPlayer Mobile is what I’ve always imagined mobile TV could be — an extension of the programming I already pay way too much for at home. And that’s exactly the point. Why pay for the same entertainment twice?

Wonderfully simple to use, fabulous software and interface, great technical support, very high "coolness" factor, HD streaming is great

The highlight? The product presentation, performed with the ultimate in kitsch by a spokesman done up in late ’60s garb including bell-bottoms, long hair and a big peace-sign necklace. [...] the message was clear: Hey man, don’t be tied down. Freedom is yours when you watch TV with the Sling.

The Slingbox Solo rebroadcasts a TV feed to any Mac on a home network, freeing you from your living room couch. Using a Mac notebook, you can watch a cooking show in the kitchen, a gardening show in the backyard, or you can go to bed with Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The video quality looks good on a home network, and the Slingbox Solo even sends shows through the Internet if you’re traveling.