Sling Media’s upcoming smartphone plans have been tipped courtesy of a new job listing from the company. The role – Senior Mobile User Interface Designer – calls for someone with experience of (or interest in gaining knowledge in) UI designs for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android and Palm webOS.
Sling Media’s new version of SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone and iPod touch, version 1.1, has been approved by Apple. That means users of the place-shifting TV streamers can now watch footage in true widescreen, as well having native DISH Network control with a new on-device navigation app. The new version also improves response times, so the whole experience should be snappier.
Unfortunately there’s still no 3G support, so you’re limited to using a WiFi connection to get your remote viewing fix. Sling did submit a version of the SlingPlayer Mobile app to Apple which supports 3G connections, albeit intended only for international markets rather than in the US, but there’s no word on whether that too has been approved or is still mired in the bowels of Cupertino.
Whether or not there’s PR leverage to be had in prematurely announcing your submission to Apple’s App Store approval process remains to be seen, but it does give us a sneak-peak as to what’s (hopefully) coming down the pipe. Sling Media have tipped us on their latest iPhone and iPod touch app, SlingPlayer Mobile 1.1, which now includes full 16:9 widescreen support (i.e. that takes up the whole width of the display) and improved DISH Network integration.
We kicked off the week with a review of Sony’s OLED Walkman X, coming away mighty impressed by its iPod-besting audio quality. Equally impressive was Flip Video’s Ultra HD pocket camcorder; if only we could say the same for SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone. While on paper this media-shifting app should be a 100-percent winner, AT&T’s decision to bar streaming over their 3G network has left us and many would-be users upset.
We loved SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone but hated AT&T’s 3G network-access limitations when we reviewed the app earlier this week. At the time, we suggested that AT&T were discretely uncertain that their 3G network could hold up to thousands of iPhone users streaming video from their Slingboxes; now, according to a Gizmodo tipster, there’s another reason on the table. AT&T is said to be working on its own, rival system, called i-Verse.
Sling Media’s much awaited SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone is finally here and available for purchase in the iTunes App Store. The price is $29.99, which is on par with SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows, Blackberry and Symbian. The only two differences between SlingPlayer for iPhone and the other platforms are all-touch navigation and the crippling of streaming over 3G and EDGE data connection. Streaming shows from a SlingBox to the iPhone anywhere and anytime is the primary reason to shell out $30 for an app. With AT&T playing the Terms and Condition card against Sling Media (see below), forcing their hands to disable 3G in order to pass through the App Store, it renders the app completely useless when you’re not in a WiFi zone.
AT&T just updated their terms of service and it has quite a few surprises in it that are sure to upset some of their more dedicated users. You see, they’ve imposed limits on the types of video applications that can be used on AT&T Wireless.
Today at Macworld Sling Media has announced the SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone, an application. They also showed a prototype of the new SlingPlayer for Mac HD, which as the name states will allow you to use the Slingbox PRO HD to stream HD to their Mac desktop or laptop.
Review of the week was ASUS’ Eee Top ET1602 touchscreen nettop, which proved itself quite capable of taking on any doubts over an Atom-based PC and throwing them out. It’s certainly left us excited about next-year’s models, which are meant to have bigger displays and improved media capabilities. Meanwhile we’re still playing with Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic Tube; check out our first impressions.
Dave Zatz over at Sling Media said they were definitely one of the first 100k people to download the recent iPhone SDK and that they have been looking at it in an effort to bring SlingPlayer to the iPhone. Sling Media has been looking for a way to get their coveted software on the iPhone for quite sometime, ever since last April in fact, and it looks like they might finally be able to pull it off.
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