If you’re a Slingbox owner, how many times has this happened to you?  You’re away from home and watching video content being streamed by your Slingbox, when it occurs to you that you need to record the current stream.  No?  Well, me either, but I can see how some people might find the ability to record from a Slingbox a useful thing.  Considering how litigious today’s society is, it comes as no surprise that SlingMedia neglected to include any kind of recording capabilities in their SlingPlayer software. 

To fix this shortcoming, Applian Technologies introduces their Replay SlingCorder software.  Not only can you record content currently being viewed, but a scheduling feature provides even more versatility.  To operate simply provide a name for your recording, enter the duration you want to record, provide the channel number if necessary, and specify whether to start now or at a future time.  The software records at 320x240 resolution and saves the files as Windows Media (ASF) files which should be playable on a variety of devices.

A resolution limit of 320x240, the inability to schedule more than a few hours into the future, and the record start/stop sequences are the only downsides I’ve been able to find so far.  The Slingbox itself is capable of 640x480 and it would be nice to have the SlingCorder match the resolution that is currently being streamed.  Also, when SlingCorder starts a recording it has to close and re-launch the SlingPlayer software.  Given the method Applian uses to capture the stream that’s only slightly annoying and really of no consequence, but when a recording stops, the SlingPlayer is disconnected and does not reconnect.  It would be handy if an option was provided to keep the SlingPlayer connected when recording stops.  On the upside, the SlingCorder is a lightweight application that does one thing, and does it well, the aforementioned quibbles aside.  For a piece of software I didn’t even realize I was missing, the Replay SlingCorder fits the bill.

A feature-limited (5 minute recording limit) demo version is available for free, and the full version sells for $29.95 USD.

UPDATE: Bill Dettering, CEO of Applian Technologies, was kind enough to point out that the SlingCorder will indeed record whatever resolution is being streamed.  That bit of info easily negates my biggest complaint about the software.  Also, for clarification purposes it should be noted that the scheduling limitation of “a few hours into the future” really equates to “no more than 24 hours into the future”.

Read More | Applian Technologies via Zatz Not Funny