SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone. What's the deal?
Rarely has an iPhone/iPod touch app seen so many ups and downs. People have expected Sling Media to provide a version of their streaming video player for Apple since the iPhone first launched, but it has yet to materialize. In January, Sling demonstrated a beta of SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone at Macworld and created a flurry of excitement.
Three weeks ago Sling announced with a great deal of fanfare that the app had been submitted to the App Store, but so far, all we're hearing are crickets...
Earlier this month AT&T changed its published Terms of Service to directly prohibit apps like SlingPlayer Mobile from operating on the AT&T network. After a major meltdown from AT&T customers, all the carrier could say was "whoops, we didn't mean it -- that was a mistake".
Last week, an anonymous tipster with a dubious domain told TUAW that he worked for Apple and stated that the company was going to reject the app because AT&T couldn't support the bandwidth demands. Of course, carriers do support the SlingPlayer on other phones, including the BlackBerry and several Windows Mobile phones.
So, here we are, more than three weeks after SlingPlayer Mobile was submitted to the app store, and there's still nothing. Nada. Bupkis. Zlich. In the meantime, Sling Media has alienated many Slingbox owners by intimating that a lot of their older gear won't work with the iPhone app when (or if) it is released.
Disappointed with the slow rate of progress and the constant stream of rumors, I checked with Sling Media today to get the official word on what was up. Cathy Cook, a spokesperson for the company, says the app was submitted, and that Sling Media and Apple are in regular touch with each other. She says anything else people hear is rumor and conjecture. She added that Sling Media thinks the app is 'solid and a great experience' and they'd like nothing better than to have it in the App Store.
I dashed off another quick email to Ms. Cook asking if Apple had communicated any concerns about the app in the three weeks that it has been in limbo, but I haven't receive a response to that question so far. She did mention in the first email that "We've been told that a two-to-three week wait is common. Some apps may take less time, but it's important to remember that SlingPlayer is far more complex than a typical iPhone app. It makes sense it would take a little extra time to go through this process."
I think it is pretty clear that the 'inside' source at Apple who claimed that the app was rejected was a hoaxer, but it's also clear that Apple is taking a while to evaluate SlingPlayer Mobile before it either passes or fails the App Store testing. With AT&T begging Apple to renew the iPhone partnership for another year, and Apple about to launch new iPhone software (and maybe hardware) in the next few months, all eyes are on AT&T, Apple and Sling. It's a guess as to what will happen next in this little drama, so all you can do is wait for the Sling Media announcement and keep your fingers crossed. If you'd like to hear directly from Sling Media when the app becomes available or is finally turned down, there is now a web page where you can submit your email address to a contact list.
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Source: http://www.slingmedia.com/
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Rarely has an iPhone/iPod touch app seen so many ups and downs. People have expected Sling Media to provide a version of their streaming...
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Slingplayer Mobile for iPhone 3G First Review by me on youtube...check it out at below link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-la1aWk2vM
i am personally happy you posted this blog post. there has been very little said since it has been submitted and the anticipation is killing me. and yes im just as angry at sling for not supporting older boxes.
April 27 2009 at 10:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySling who? Get Orb.com. I've been watching HD cable (plus my home web cams) on iPhone via Orb's iPhone application over 3G or WiFi for months; works super and the box only costs $80. Duh!
April 23 2009 at 11:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOne of the big things with the iPhone, unlike other phones, is people actually use it. So saying another phone supports Sling doesn't really matter because the actual number of people installing and using third party software on other platforms is fairly low compared to the iPhone. It's entirely possible AT&T is right that their network would buckle under the load in which case you can be pissed at them for having a crappy network but I think everyone can agree they shouldn't do it if it's going to cause problems for everyone. Wifi streaming would of course be the logical solution and Sling should definitely resubmit the app as wifi only until they can work something out with AT&T.
April 21 2009 at 6:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe holdup can be explained in 2 words, "evil carriers"!
April 21 2009 at 5:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAV Box does not work with the proposed app - only Solo or Pro.
April 21 2009 at 2:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyyah its bogus that sling has been so public quite for soooo long - clearly they dont feel the market base is users who already own a slingbox (which I feel is truly wrong)
I hate it even more there isnt more transparency in the app approval process - as I've been waiting for a woot.com app for a few weeks as well...
I feel like Sling Media handles every product release and public announcement with such a lack of professionalism and with no attempt to appease or embrace the rather large group of users (the way that Apple usually does) who have slapped down a cold $250-$300 for a technology that was once the talk of the technology world. Now, not only has it lost that hype from four or five years ago, but Sling has done nothing to try to help its cause. Its Mac/PC software rarely (if that) gets updated, it takes, literally, years for it to successfully attempt to port each mobile platform, all the while assuring its customers that it will be out soon when it never is, and, to top it all off, I just get this feeling as a customer of theirs that they just "dont give a s*it." I mean, have you ever been on their "website?" You couldn't find a MENTION of the iPhone software until a couple of weeks ago, and it doesn't even have basic forum participation where Slingbox users could gather and share ideas (or listen to me bitch). I realize I am just fuming from how slowly the iPhone software has taken to be developed (and will be the first one to excitedly plunk the $30 down when it's finally released), but, through the years, my experience with my Slingbox has been average at best, and I blame the people behind Sling Media.
B
I don't know why OrbLive is hardly mentioned in these discussions about the status of Slingplayer for iPhone. OrbLive is a comparable application that streams live TV over both 3g and Wifi, and was approved for the App Store last fall. As I recall, while Orb was awaiting approval, the same speculation was going on about bandwidth usage, how apple/att would never approve this app, etc. It took about 6 weeks, I believe, for Orb to get the first version of OrbLive approved. The first version only supported Wifi and they had to tweak their bandwidth usage to add support for 3g in the following version.
I don't know how they can approve OrbLive and not approve SlingPlayer. This is crazy. I'd bet that SlingPlayer follows the same path as OrbLive - the first version will only support Wifi and they'll have to tweak the bandwidth usage to get 3g approved.
"I don't know why OrbLive is hardly mentioned in these discussions..."
Maybe because OrbLive STILL doesn't have a Mac client - and you're reading the most prominent Apple blog around?
That's my best guess.
Why is it that every blogger that seems to be able to get the ear of a $ling rep, always fails to ask them why they decided not to support the app on legacy hardware? At Macworld, $ling confirmed that the app works on ALL $lingboxes. Then they changed their mind, screwed over all of the early adopters, and have blown off any explanation as to why. I've got an "unsupported" box and won't be upgrading. Instead, I'll throw my money to Hava when they get their app out.
I thought it was pretty clear that the old Slingboxes encode using WMV which the iPhone cannot play. The one ones encode in H.264 which the iPhone does.
Correct me if I am wrong, but that has nothing to do with Slingboxes trying to gouge their customers, but rather the iPhone's limitations.
the original slingbox pro only uses WMV. it cannot do h.264, yet it is supported by the iphone app. codecs are NOT the issue.
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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