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Slingplayer coming to iPhone AppStore without 3G streaming

By: , IntoMobile
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 11:29 AM

Fans of the SlingBox and its ability to stream live TV broadcasts to many mobile phones are about to wet themselves. Why? Because the iPhone is about to get up close and personal with SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone! We’re hearing that SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone will go live on the AppStore by the end of tomorrow.

The SlingPlayer Mobile iPhone application has been held up by Apple’s inane applications approval process. There’s also some speculation that AT&T asked Apple to keep SlingPlayer out of the AppStore for fear that hoards of iPhone 3G users streaming place-shifted TV over the carrier’s 3G network would overload the system. Whatever the case, we now have confirmation that Apple will be pushing the SlingPlayer Mobile app to the AppStore with a $29.99 price tag and without 3G support.

It’s a little bittersweet, hearing that SlingPlayer Mobile will finally be available for the iPhone but won’t stream over a cellular connection. SlingPlayer will apparently only work over WiFi connections. The move to nix 3G from SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone may be an acknowledgement from AT&T that iPhone customers are more likely to consumer media than other smartphone users. SlingPlayer Mobile has been available for many other smartphones on AT&T’s network and features streaming over cellular networks. WiFi-only streaming for iPhone seems like a weak proposal to us.

Still, with a little jailbreak magic, we’re sure the dedicated among you SlingPlayer fans will find a way to stream your SlingBox over 3G. Or, you know, save the $30 and wait for that badass Hulu iPhone app to go live.

This is what SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone should look like when it launches:

[Via: AppleInsider]

About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

  • Slung out

    I waited 2 years for this? No 3G? ATT is a joke. Who do we need to contact?

    iPhone on a new carrier can’t happen soon enough.

  • Tom

    I can’t wait for the day that 3G+ networks no longer need to limit applications from using them to stream data.

  • Elfatih A. Salih

    Just to ensure wethere its sufficiant info or not.
    Looking for Twitters

  • Kareem

    You have to remember that Sling is a hugely bandwidth intensive app, capable of taking a network down if as few as 10 people in a cell are using it. By contrast, lots of other apps known for parsimonious bandwidth use (say, Pocket Express) are available on 3g. No doubt Sling will be available on the 3g network over time.