SlingPlayer

Sling improves video quality in iPhone app

Sling Media has updated its SlingPlayer iPhone app to feature "high-quality streaming," the company said, though it didn't provide exact resolution for the new offering.

There are some limitations with the addition of high-quality streaming in SlingPlayer Mobile version 2.0 for the iPhone. Sling said that to take advantage of high-quality streaming, users will need an 800 kilobits per second download speed over Wi-Fi and a 500Kbps speed on 3G. The company also said that "users with the Slingbox Classic, Tuner, AV, and Pro can stream with this update, but they can't use the … Read more

SlingPlayer Mobile comes to Windows Phone 7

Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile app is available to Windows Phone 7 owners, the company announced yesterday.

The company latest app retails for $29.99 in the Windows Marketplace. Once downloaded, users can connect the program to their Slingbox Solo or Slingbox Pro-HD and watch television programming from home on their handset. Users can change channels and watch recorded shows within the app. The service works on both 3G and Wi-Fi, Sling Media said.

The Windows Phone 7 app joins the company's iPhone and Android apps, which provide the same functionality as its latest release. Those two versions also … Read more

SlingPlayer Mobile launches on Android phones

SlingPlayer Mobile has hit the Android market.

Sling Media's $29.99 app, released Tuesday, lets Android users with Slingbox devices control their home TVs and DVRs to watch live or recorded content on their smartphones.

Users must have a Slingbox Solo, Pro, or Pro-HD device and can connect through a 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi network.

The new Android version of SlingPlayer Mobile joins the company's other SlingPlayer apps for the iPhone, Palm OS, Symbian, and BlackBerry.

SlingPlayer Mobile offers faster start-up and response times than its other mobile versions, according to Sling Media, and sports a new interface … Read more

Sling prepping SlingPlayer for iPad

Back in February, Sling Media, now owned by Echostar, finally got permission to allow users of its SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone app to stream video over AT&T's 3G network instead of just Wi-Fi. We've been playing around with the updated app for a little while and are happy to report that it works as well as it does on other cell phones and cell networks. However, as we were watching some March Madness on the iPhone's smallish screen, we couldn't help but wonder what a great a platform the iPad would be for Sling, … Read more

AT&T green-lights SlingPlayer on iPhone

It has taken almost a year, but on Thursday AT&T said it will start allowing Sling Media's SlingPlayer to work over its 3G network on the iPhone.

SlingPlayer, which redirects TV signals from a home TV over the Internet so it can be viewed on a portable device, like cell phones or laptops, is the latest application that AT&T is making available to iPhone users on its 3G network. In October, it said that it would allow voice over IP services, such as Skype, to operate on the iPhone using the 3G network. Previously, these … Read more

How to make SlingPlayer Mobile work over 3G

It's bad enough that Sling Media charges $29.99 for its SlingPlayer Mobile app (which you can see demonstrated in the video at right), but limiting it to Wi-Fi connections? That's downright criminal.

Fortunately, the gadget gurus over at Gizmodo have documented a way to stream SlingPlayer video across 3G connections, thereby overcoming one of the app's major annoyances. (Now if they could just talk Sling Media into a reasonable price tag. Like, say, $5.99.)

As you might expect, there's a catch: You have to jailbreak your iPhone. It's not hard to do, particularly … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Limits imposed on SlingPlayer app for iPhone

The SlingPlayer app has finally made its way to the iPhone App Store. But it has some limitations, namely that it will only work using the phone's Wi-Fi connection, and not AT&T's 3G wireless network. This, despite the fact that similar apps do work on AT&T's wireless network and are available in the App Store, and the SlingPlayer app itself is allowed for some other AT&T smartphones. Reporter Erica Ogg tells us what's up with this discrepancy.

Also in this podcast: Craigslist closes down its Erotic Services section; Microsoft takes … Read more

Crippled by Apple

After some hiccups in the development process, Sling Media has finally released SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone. The software works with your Slingbox at home, and lets you control and watch your satellite or cable box and DVR from your iPhone or iPod Touch. As with SlingPlayer Mobile on other platforms, you'll have access to a menu bar that'll let you use a remote-like interface to control your Slingbox, as well as switch among Sling devices and manage your favorite channels. What's new are a few gestures that allow you to scroll through your favorite channels.

SlingPlayer … Read more

Apple and AT&T playing favorites with the App Store?

Correction at 7:20 a.m. PDT: Mark Siegel is a spokesman for AT&T mobility.

Just under a year since first announced, the SlingPlayer Mobile application is finally available for the iPhone. But compared with the capabilities of the same application available on other smartphone platforms, the iPhone version of SlingPlayer is curiously handicapped.

The version set to arrive Wednesday costs $30, and can stream a TV signal from a set connected to a Slingbox to the iPhone. But this version is available using Wi-Fi only. It's notable because the beta version of the application was demonstrated at CES using the iPhone's 3G connection. So why is it turned off in the official release? Recent changes in the terms of service that comes with AT&T's iPhone wireless service may offer some clues.

Apple rejected the original version of the application Sling submitted to the App Store that required use of the phone's 3G service, according to Sling. It was subsequently approved when it was modified so that it will just use local Wi-Fi hot spots. Apple's exact reason for rejecting it isn't clear. There are plenty of video- and audio-streaming applications available today in Apple's App Store, from smaller streaming services like Orb and Last.fm (owned by CNET News publisher CBS Interactive), and heavyweights like MLB.com's At Bat, CBS' TV.com, and YouTube.

While Apple has certainly not been shy about exercising its veto power over App Store applications--just ask Trent Reznor, for example--it's unclear why Sling's streaming video service is being treated differently from, say, the YouTube app (owned by Apple-friendly Google), which has been available on the iPhone since the device's launch.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment about why only the Wi-Fi version of SlingPlayer was approved. But it appears the rejection also could have been at AT&T's behest. Early in April, AT&T changed its terms of service for wireless customers, saying that redirecting TV video or audio signals--as the SlingPlayer does--was no longer allowed on its network. After a public outcry, AT&T quickly reversed its decision, citing "a mistake." But then last week the company reinstated the ban in its TOS.… Read more