SlingPlayer For iPhone Is Wi-Fi-Only
While the SlingPlayer for iPhone app will cost $30, the price isn't the only major hang-up.
AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive carrier in the U.S., won't allow the iPhone version of the SlingBox Mobile application to operate on its 3G network. Instead, iPhone users must use Wi-Fi networks to watch the tube on their device.
In a statement AT&T released to Engadget, AT&T said it won't allow the iPhone version of SlingPlayer to use its cellular 3G network because it would gobble up too much data and could "create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network."
In addition, AT&T said its terms of service prevent users from rerouting a TV signal through a 3G connection to a personal computer. While the iPhone is a smartphone, AT&T claims it is not. According to AT&T, the Apple iPhone is too powerful to be just a smartphone.
"Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service," AT&T said in the statement. "We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs."
AT&T said iPhone users can go to one of its many free public Wi-Fi locations, like Starbucks, McDonald's, Barnes & Noble and other areas.
AT&T limiting the use of SlingPlayer for the iPhone to just Wi-Fi networks is a serious blow for both the iPhone and the SlingPlayer Mobile application. A host of other smartphones, from the likes of BlackBerry and Nokia, run their versions of SlingPlayer Mobile on 3G networks. Even AT&T's 3G network is used to run SlingPlayer applications on devices like the BlackBerry Bold.
The SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone application also will only be supported on the SlingBox Pro, Solo and Pro HD lines, SlingMedia said. While the application will connect to what SlingMedia "legacy SlingBoxes," including the SlingBox Classic, AV and Tuner models, SlingMedia will not support it.