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Dish shuts down Slingbox, to brick all devices by 2022

And it's not planning any new Slingbox products, either.

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Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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SlingBox_500_35484603_04.jpg

Slingbox no more.

 Sarah Tew/CNET

Dish Network announced on Monday it's immediately discontinuing Sling Media's Slingbox devices and will shut down its servers in two years, effectively bricking owners' devices.

"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but the number of supported devices for viewing will steadily decrease as versions of the SlingPlayer apps become outdated and/or lose compatibility," the company said in a message posted on its website.

Dish said Slingbox has been discontinued "to make room for new innovative products so that we can continue to serve our customers in the best way possible," but added that it wouldn't be releasing any new products.

The company's Slingbox, first released in 2005, was the among the initial handful of products to offer video "placeshifting" technology -- the ability to digitize the signal from your cable box and stream it to a PC or mobile device elsewhere in the home, or around the world.

Dish Network's parent company bought Sling Media in 2007 for $380 million, and the brand went on to form the basis of the company's streaming video service, Sling TV.

See also: How to improve internet speeds for Netflix, Hulu and more

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