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Apple Approves SlingPlayer Mobile App with 3G; Milestone for Long-Form Mobile Streaming


Friday, February 19, 2010, 08:57 AM ET
posted by: Will Richmond

One other noteworthy tidbit to come out of Mobile World Congress earlier this week was that Sling Media announced it got final approval from Apple to offer its SlingPlayer Mobile App in the App Store. SlingPlayer had been held up due to network concerns, but 2 weeks ago AT&T announced that it would let the SlingPlayer app stream live over its 3G network.

Though there aren't that many Sling users, and only a subset of them will pay the hefty $29.99 price for the SlingPlayer app, its clearance is a milestone because it truly enables high-quality place-shifting of long-form programming to a mobile device. It also steals some thunder from the FLO TV value proposition and offers a meaningful precedent to others who might like to stream long-form programs to iPhones and other mobile devices down the road (Netflix? Hulu? Amazon?). It's somewhat of a mystery to me how AT&T's overtaxed 3G network can now support long-form video streaming when complaints are still rampant about call quality. I don't have an iPhone or a Sling box, but if a VideoNuze reader does, and downloads the SlingPlayer app, I would be very interested in hearing about your viewing experience.

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Categories: Devices, Mobile Video

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1 Comment posted


Reputation Management
http://www.glenwoodfin.com/blog
Sunday, February 21, 2010, 12:47 ET
This is great news as I've been one of those that loves my iPhone, but loathes the AT&T service. I haven't been able to even get one bar inside my house. Rrrr!

They came out with a new product this week that eased my frustrations. It's called the 3G MicroCell. It's a little box that plugs into your wi-fi appliance, then broadcasts the signal to the tune of 5 bars throughout your house and even outside your house. The backbone of the call goes through the Internet. It really works.

The 3G MicroCell and the new Slingbox app are going a long way to appease my grief with AT&T.

Glen Woodfin : )



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