First off, some of you are probably wondering what SlingBox is. Well here is the definition from their site:

Founded in 2004, Sling Media, Inc. is a different kind of consumer electronics company - one that's working to demystify convergence technologies and to create empowering experiences for the digital media consumer. The focus of Sling Media is to embrace - not replace - existing products and standards by enhancing them with hardware and software that make divergent technologies compatible and greatly improve the consumer experience. Because, after all, can't we all just get along?!

Sling Media's first product, the Slingbox™, has literally transformed the way we are able watch TV. The Slingbox turns any Internet-connected PC, Mac, or mobile device into your home television. That means you can watch TV virtually anywhere in the world.

Sling Media's innovative software, SlingPlayer™, is a software application that connects users to their Slingbox and allows remote control of the video source device. This is available for additional computers and devices, including Macintosh-based systems. The SlingPlayer applications are fully compatible with Slingboxes sold today.

So many of us were wondering if SlingBox would ever make it's way to BlackBerry devices.

First and foremost, if you try and run this thing on anything OTHER than a broadband mobile connection, it won't be worth it. GPRS/EDGE aren't even close to supporting the speeds that would be necessary to support this program.

However, as many know with rumors and news that have been released, Cingular is already equipping themselves with 3G service and TMobile is in the first steps of equipping their service with 3G. Verizon and sprint already have the necessary speeds for programs such as SlingBox (proven by the ability to use it on a Motorola Q).

So I was browsing around SlingMedia's website and came across this posting for employment opportunities:

Senior Quality Assurance Engineer

Job Title: Senior Quality Assurance Engineer
Location: North America - Foster City, CA
Department: Engineering Group
Reports To: Director of QA
Date: 12 January 2007

General Summary

This position is responsible for:

• Working as part of our testing team, searching for, investigating, reporting, and tracking defects. Your duties will include assistance in the maintenance of a state of the art audio/visual, networking laboratory, black box testing following existing test plans and test plans that you write, designing new test cases, operating automated test suites, and analyzing defect reports. If you love working with the latest technologies, are a quick learner, a great team player, and able to work independently, this is your chance to join us in our continued quest to provide excellence.

Essential Responsibilities

• Testing Sling Media software and hardware on a variety of operating systems, networks and devices.
• Manage and maintain a testing lab and equipment inventory with multiple third-party routers, video and audio devices (HDTV, DirecTV, TiVo, Media Center, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, etc.).
• Develop automatic test scripts using commercial test tools (WinRunner / LoadRunner)
• Experience with researching third-party products (for reselling/bundling/compatibility) and experience with generating both detailed and executive summary reports.
• Work closely with Customer Service by assisting them with customer escalations and the reproduction of issues in the lab.
• Track & analyze test results and work closely with the developers to isolate and reproduce defects.
• Interact closely with members of the cross-functional team for project success.
• Work with other Sling Media QA team members to source domain expertise and apply to architecture testing
• Communicate status & issues in a timely fashion and manage escalations appropriately.

Job Specifications/Requirements

• 8+ years QA experience testing various products
• Background in testing both software and hardware (home networking and audio/visual devices).
• Developing test plan / test cases, generating test reports and bug tracking management.
• Testing software products on multiple platforms (Windows OS, Macintosh OS and SQL-based databases).
• Experience with automated testing tools at both the API and UI level.
• Experience in the shrink-wrap software industry is highly desirable.
• Experience gathering and analyzing software quality metrics throughout the software development life cycle.
• Experience with researching third-party products (for reselling/bundling/compatibility) and experience with generating both detailed and executive summary reports.
• Familiarity with audio / video streaming, including HDTV fundamentals.
• Familiarity with home video/audio products.
• Basic understanding of Networking (Setting up routers / port forwarding / UPnP is a plus).
• Ability to work on multiple projects under tight deadlines and changing priorities.
• Testing and managing Mobile devices lab (Windows Mobile, S60, Palm OS, JavaME (J2ME), RIM, BREW) is a plus.
• BS in Computer Science or equivalent.

So whaddya think?

Will we be seeing SlingBox available for BlackBerry devices once the 3G equipped devices are launched in the United States? Hmmm....