MacRumors may just — finally — have the scoop on the long anticipated, almost as long delayed SlingPlayer for iPhone:
In addition to full support of current Slingboxes (PRO-HD and SOLO), legacy Slingboxes, which include the Classic, AV, and TUNER, will work with the application but will not be officially supported. However, the application will supposedly be limited to streaming only over Wi-Fi connections. Previous demonstrations of the application by Sling Media had promised EDGE and 3G support, however it appears as though this will not be the case.
Maybe those rumors about AT&T not being keen on all that streaming video traffic hitting their network were true? Price is rumored to be $29.99.
So, SlingBox owners, is this the SlingPlayer for iPhone you wanted? Good, great, wait?
No, SlingPlayer Mobile is still not available in the App Store. Are any of our readers getting sick of hearing about SlingPlayer for iPhone and the numerous reasons/rumors on the applications delays in making it’s debut in the App Store?
Well maybe, just maybe we have a bit of good news for you today. Sling has recently updated their web page to give the iPhone world a little more insight on the status of their SlingPlayer Mobile.
“The team has been working hard to bring the SlingPlayer Mobile experience to the iPhone and iPod Touch. We’ve submitted the first release of our application to the iPhone App Store. We are in close contact with our partners at Apple and are optimistic that it will be approved soon. We hope the wait won’t be much longer.”
They “hope” [emphasis ours]? That’s not a very confident word. We don’t know about you, but TiPb will believe it when we see it.
We know SlingPlayer for iPhone was built (we saw it in action at Macworld and shot the video above). We know SlingPlayer for iPhone was submitted to the App Store (SlingMedia disclosed that). But its current status is anyone’s guess. Users got upset they’d need to upgrade to the latest SlingBox. AT&T futzed with their Terms of Service but then backpedaled. BGR reported that it might or might not have been denied at AT&T’s request. SlingMedia responded that they hadn’t heard anything yet. So what’s changed?
Nothing. TUAW checked in with the folks at SlingMedia and the official word is that there’s still no word, and with an app as complex as SlingPlayer for iPhone, there could be no word for quite a while still.
So why post on it? Two reasons. 1) We get asked about it a lot. SlingPlayer is popular with the tech enthusiasts. 2) We hope that the minute blogs start posting that there’s no word, Apple will release it just to make the blogs look silly. Hey, it happens!
Maybe we should start a little informal drop pool. Pick the day you think SlingPlayer will finally be released in the iTunes App Store and post it in the comments. Let’s see if anyone can nail it!
Rumor is that Hulu is working on a application that will be available in the App Store sometime in the near future. Silicon Alley Insider has learned about it from a “plugged-in industry executive” and it is said that the application itself will be as slick as Hulu’s website and it will work on 3G as well as WiFi. Judging from the popularity of Hulu and their really cool commercials, this app could be a huge hit.
This app coming to the App Store may seem a bit hard to believe at the moment based on the whole ordeal with SlingPlayer. Although, there are other apps within the App Store, such as i.TV, that actually stream video, granted the quality is poor. But full length TV shows and movies? Unfortunately, whatever is holding up SlingPlayer from becoming available still remains a mystery. Whatever the case may be, what are the chances of this Hulu app seeing the light of day? And what are the chances AT&T will really let it stream over 3G?
Could the next iPhone be headed in the direction of some other smartphones by having AT&T bloatware thrust upon it? Would Apple even allow AT&T to restrict or replace 3rd party apps with their own carrier branded, white-label built-in options that perform similar functions at premium service prices?
Skype and Ustream are already not allowed on 3G, only WiFi. We’ve also heard rumors that AT&T was working on a U-Verse application for the iPhone. Features such as programming shows to record, using the iPhone as a wireless remote, ability to allow iPhone voicemails to be managed and controlled through the U-verse interface, etc… On top of all of those features it may be possible they want to add some sort of SlingPlayer-like capabilities such as streaming channels directly to your iPhone. Granted, you would have to be a subscriber of their U-Verse service but never-the-less, could it be a sign of things to come as carriers desperately try to avoid becoming “dumb pipes“?
AT&T’s Chief Technology Officer John Donovan had the following to say:
“We’re looking at the whole landscape, of what people use, and what’s out there in the home”
So what do you, our readers, think about all of this ? Is it possible that AT&T is trying to steal some control back from Apple? Trying to get their same-old bloatware onto our iPhones?
We don’t know. BGR originally posted that it had, but has updated with a comment from Sling PR saying they haven’t heard from Apple one way or another yet.
While SlingPlayer was submitted quite a while ago, all we have right now are questions. Bandwidth is likely a concern for AT&T. Sure, they’ve had other devices running Sling Player for years, but suddenly dropping 10 million odd iPhones streaming video into the mix is a non-trivial concern from their perspective — remember their quickly rescinded “new terms of service“.
However, we’re still keeping our fingers crossed. YouTube app runs off 3G, after all, and while Ustream was forced to be WiFi only for now, Sling Player should at least have that option over flat out rejection.
Or do we the people demand our Sling over 3G now? (Even if we have to still get a new SlingBox to enjoy it…)
When it rains it pours. Just the other day we reported that if you wanted to use the soon to be released(?!) SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhones you may have to upgrade your home SlingBox first. Not a wise move if you ask us, especially since it seems to be no reason but greed. Well now PublicKnowledge.org is reporting that AT&T last week went in and changed their TOS (Terms of Service).
This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services, customer initiated redirection of television or other video or audio signals via any technology from a fixed location to a mobile device, web broadcasting, and/or for the operation of servers, telemetry devices and/or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition devices is prohibited.
So what does this all mean now for SlingPlayer Mobile? Is AT&T the the reason for what seems to be a delay of this application hitting the App Store? Maybe, maybe not…
As it stands, many of you have been craving some Slingplayer action on your iPhones. Well the good news is you are about to get it, the bad news is you may be paying more than you originally thought.
Engadget has posted that folks with older Slingboxes must upgrade to newer hardware in order to be able to stream content to your iPhone. And to make matters worse, this upgrade is technically not needed! Yup, the good people at Sling have decided that for everyone who wants to use Slingplayer Mobile on their iPhone, you can dish out some extra cash on some fresh hardware at home as well.
the company just posted up a page saying that owners of every older SlingBox save the Slingbox PRO will have to upgrade to a Slingbox SOLO or Slingbox PRO-HD in order to stream to iPhones. Yes, this is totally ridiculous: we’ve been told that the limitation is purely money-driven and that previous builds of the iPhone client worked just fine with older Sling hardware
Ouch, there you go, the only reason you may have to upgrade is pure corporate greed. This is surely a shot below the belt to current owners of older Slingboxes. So what do you say, will this prevent you from using Slingplayer Mobile on your iPhones or is it time for you to upgrade? We are curious…
TiPb scored the above eyes-on way back at Macworld 2009, and now TUAW brings word that SlingMedia’s Player for the iPhone has finally been submitted to the App Store. Of course, no one but the magic 8-ball knows how long it will take for — or even if — Apple to approve it, but this is SlingPlayer, folks, so we’re taking even the tiny little steps as they come.
Any super-keeners revving up their SlingBox’s in anticipation? Or do you doubt Apple (or the carriers?) will actually let it into the App Store and onto the iPhone?
The fine folks at Sling were kind enough to give TiPb a demo of their soon-to-be submitted to the Apple iTunes App Store SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone client and it looked all shades of sweet. In addition to great H.264 quality and video overlays, they went all the way and implemented “swipe to change channels”. We. Want. This. Now.
Watch the video for the full on demo, and let us (and Sling, and Apple) know what you think.
