Time Warner Cable offers free Slingbox with top broadband

Time Warner Cable is offering customers who subscriber to its top-end broadband plan a free Slingbox. The US cable operator said it would give subscribers to its USD 99-a-month Wideband Internet service a rebate for the total cost of the USD 300 device, the New York Times reports. The Slingbox allows customers to 'sling' their cable TV to any internet-enabled device, anywhere in the world. The offer follows a number of lawsuits with programming providers, which have disputed whether Time Warner Cable has the right to distribute their channels to other devices such as an iPad. The rebate will be available sometime in September. Jeffrey A. Hirsch, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Time Warner Cable, said the rebate was a promotion for Wideband. The cable operator has been promoting its standalone products more, as TV becomes less the main reason for customers to add its services.