One of the earliest ways to stream your channels from anywhere is going away.
Slingbox, the hardware device, along with the associated Slingplayer app, enabled streamers could watch live TV on their phones, tablets, Mac, and PC. Sling Media, which was acquired by Dish in 2007, released Slingplayer for Roku in 2013, which allowed streaming on the connected TV device.
According to the shut down notice as first spotted by Slashdot, “Slingbox servers will be permanently taken offline 24 months after the discontinued announcement date (November 9, 2020), at which point ALL Slingbox devices and services will become inoperable.”
However, according to Sling, “Until then, most Slingbox models will continue to work normally, but the number of supported devices for viewing will steadily decrease as versions of the SlingPlayer apps become outdated and/or lose compatibility.”
This also has no impact on Sling TV, which will continue to work across devices — which just shares a name with its predecessor.
One of the biggest advantages to the Slingbox is that it allowed you to bring your cable or satellite subscription with you. With addition of Live TV Streaming Services and TV Everywhere apps, it has more or less lost its purpose over time, but served as a pioneer in streaming live TV.