(18 January 2006 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI:The California-based digital lifestyle products company Sling Media, Inc. has announced that it closed a $46.6 million round of financing. Goldman, Sachs & Co., Liberty Media Corporation and EchoStar Communications led the financing round.

Allen & Co. LLC, DCM - Doll Capital Management, Mobius Venture Capital, The Hearst Corporation and other undisclosed investors also participated in the financing.

"We are delighted to receive financial backing from some of the true pioneers in the industry. Over the past several decades these leaders have played an integral role in building and shaping the media world we live in today," said Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian. "It is refreshing to work with such established players who continue to push for new ways to delight and empower the consumer. In summary, we are stoked," Krikorian said in a media release.

Sling Media's first product, the Slingbox, is a consumer electronics device that enables consumers to watch their living room TV programming from wherever they are by turning virtually any Internet-connected Windows-based laptop or desktop and any Windows Mobile-based PDA or smartphone into a personal TV.

The Slingbox redirects, or "placeshifts," a single live TV stream from a basic cable connection, cable box, satellite receiver or digital video recorder (DVR) to the viewer's PC - located anywhere in the home or anywhere in the world, via the Internet.