Sling, Apple: Streaming music to iPhone?
Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian says he has spoken to Apple about his company's ambition to stream iTunes music and video to the upcoming iPhone. It's unclear, however, what Apple thinks of the plan.
Krikorian made the comments after participating in a panel discussion at the National Association of Broadcasters conference yesterday but declined to offer details about the talks or say whether Apple welcomed such a plan. He did say Sling Media "would love to support" the iPhone.
"I think the question for them is going to be how are they going to phase the (iPhone) out?" Krikorian said of Apple. "There's been some talk about whether it's going to be a closed device or is it open or whether they'll phase it, so I think it's going to be up to them to see when (streaming) might be available. But I can not comment any more than that."
An Apple representative could not be reached.
Last week, CNET News.com reported that San Mateo, Calif.-based Sling Media is working on making the Slingbox, which transmits digital media from set-top boxes to Web-enabled devices, compatible with the Apple TV. Should Sling succeed, the potential is there to enable iTunes users to access their music libraries on a mobile device.
Naturally, with Apple's iPhone due to arrive in June, Apple fans have speculated whether the cell phone might offer such a feature.
To make it work, content must be streamed from a PC to an Apple TV and then to a Slingbox before finally landing on an iPhone. The system, besides being complex would also require consumers to shell out for a Slingbox, an Apple TV and an iPhone.
Analysts and Apple fans are confident, however, that Apple has the technology chops to come up with a less expensive and more elegant solution. Could Sling Media be enlisted to help in such endeavor? Few companies have as much experience with "place shifting."
"Our whole goal is turning every single display into your living room TV," Krikorian said. "I don't really care what network it is or device it is."
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
Mac, and Apple TV and a Slingbox. I am going to get an iPhone, one of the main
features of the iPhone is an iPod. Why would you want to stream your music
from an Apple TV on your iPhone. It would be lower quality music and video
than if you were just to sync the videos and music to yyour iPhone. However, I
do see reason to stream TV... though the iPhone runs off edge, so i dont know
how this would work... you need at least 250 kbps to stream your Slingbox at
decent quality. EDGE is more like 230 at the most, (i think, i dont have cingular
yet)
That would be a good thing.
Lower quality? Yes, and so this is probably a better down-the-road option for
when iPhone has 3G and beyond, but I still think it's a great idea.
Acutally, I stand by the though I had last year that Apple should buy Sling Media.
- But no 3G......
- by crevans99 April 19, 2007 10:04 AM PDT
- Maybe this would be nice IF the phone had 3G. Video on EDGE is choppy, frustrating, and not worth watching...
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