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]