Two new Slingbox hardware launches - the Slingbox 350 and Slingbox 500 - have recently been announced by EchoStar's Sling Media division, which has revealed that the new Slingboxes will allow users to access live as well as recorded programs on their home digital video recorder (DVR) from anywhere they may be on a computer, smartphone or tablet.

While the two new Slingboxes were inadvertently previewed on the store shelves of Buy store, Sling Media has now officially disclosed that the new hardware will be available in the US stores and from online retailers on Sunday, October 14; and will hit the Canadian markets next month.

The Slingbox 350 will be priced at $180; while the Slingbox 500 will cost $300. While the former hardware will require wired Internet or an independent wireless bridge with an Ethernet connector; the latter features Wi-Fi connectivity.

In addition, another advantage that Slingbox 500 will have over its 350 counterpart is that it will also be capable of enabling the display of personal media - like photos or video - from the users' smartphone to their TVs.

Both Slingbox 350 and Slingbox 500 will boast the capability of up to 1080p HD streaming, conditional on factors like bandwidth at both ends; the viewing device's screen resolution; and, obviously, the resolution of the program being streamed. Both the devices can connect to the users' home network for Internet access and to their tuner or DVR for accessing their programs.