Sling Media finally comes to the iPhone, but brings restrictions with it
By Sean P. Aune
What ranks as one of the most anticipated applications has finally come to the iPhone, but AT&T isn’t too happy about it.
Pretty much from the first day the iPhone was unveiled, people have been wondering when the darling of the television placeshifting community, Sling Media, would be making its debut. It was a long road, but the SlingPlayer Mobile (iTunes link) application has finally hit the store today. However, it may not be the one everyone dreamed of.
One thing iPhone users were looking forward to was the ability to watch their home televisions via their phones over AT&T’s 3G network. This would have meant that they could literally watch their home TVs while driving down the highway (as a passenger, of course) or anywhere their hearts desired. Sadly, AT&T has said that won’t be happening, and has issued a statement to Engadget Mobile on the matter.
Slingbox, which would use large amounts of wireless network capacity, could create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network. The application does not run on our 3G wireless network. Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service. We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.
That said, we don’t restrict users from going to a Web site that lets them view videos. But what our terms and conditions prohibit is the transferring, or slinging, of a TV signal to their personal computer or smartphone.
The Slingbox application for the iPhone runs on WiFi. That’s good news for AT&T’s iPhone 3G customers, who get free WiFi access at our 20,000 owned and operated hot spots in the U.S., including Starbucks, McDonalds, Barnes & Noble, hotels, and airports. AT&T is the industry leader in WiFi
In short, AT&T simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to handle the potential traffic. They aren’t alone in this as other companies require you use WiFi only with the Sling Media products on their devices. It is just a disappointment to those who waited so long for this application, and considering it will set you back $29.99, plus won’t work with older model Slings, a lot of dreams just got dashed today of a world where you could watch TV anywhere, any time.
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May 14th, 2009
I don’t have AT&T service, so I don’t know for sure, but is this another case of a provider limiting unlimited usage?
Regardless, it’s just another poor excuse for not maintaining their network as far as I’m concerned.