Death of Sling?

[UKmacman]

So it seems like us Slingbox users who have an older system are now not going to be supported when the new iphone app comes out. Great PR guys!

I am a massive sling fan and like most other people in here (who have a slingbox) and have been waiting impatiently for the iphone app for ages now. However this news is the worst piece of corporate greed I have ever heard of (well, apart from the banks etc).

So what, I now have to buy a new box plus pay for the app to do what? Exactly the same thing I already have. I almost hope now that Apple reject the app and bring out their own. Heck I'd pay 3 times as much to buy AppleTV if it worked in the same way just so as not to have to pay Sling the extra money.

As you can see this has greatly annoyed me! Anyone else agree?

 

[fishkorp]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/7A259g Safari/525.20)

There may be legitimate limitations.

You going to boycott Apple too for not letting PPC Macs have Snow Leopard?

 

[UKmacman]

Maybe you are right and maybe it was and Aprils fools day joke but either way it has annoyed me. I only bought the sling for the iphone app (6 months ago) and have been waiting ever since!

 

[TheBearman]

Was just about to post this as well. I'm just glad that I went with the pro model from the start.

 

[fishkorp]

If you check the other Sling thread it's been confirmed (?) that it's a hardware limitation of the older models. They sling in WMV format, the newer ones sling in h.264.

 

[nutsnbolts]

So it seems like us Slingbox users who have an older system are now not going to be supported when the new iphone app comes out. Great PR guys!

I am a massive sling fan and like most other people in here (who have a slingbox) and have been waiting impatiently for the iphone app for ages now. However this news is the worst piece of corporate greed I have ever heard of (well, apart from the banks etc).

So what, I now have to buy a new box plus pay for the app to do what? Exactly the same thing I already have. I almost hope now that Apple reject the app and bring out their own. Heck I'd pay 3 times as much to buy AppleTV if it worked in the same way just so as not to have to pay Sling the extra money.

As you can see this has greatly annoyed me! Anyone else agree?

Can you elaborate specifically which are the "older slings" you are referring to? Model number?

I will be extremely pissed!

 

[outz]

http://www.slingcommunity.com/blog/...-Only-for-Slingbox-PRO-SOLO-and-PRO-HD-Users/


Sling Media has just put up a new page on their website announcing an $50 upgrade incentive for Slingbox Classic, Slingbox AV, and Slingbox Tuner customers.

What's interesting is at the bottom of the page, it reads:

Sling Media is encouraging customers who own these earlier versions of Slingbox to upgrade to Slingbox SOLO or Slingbox PRO-HD to take advantage of next generation software and services that will only be supported when using the most current Slingbox and SlingLoaded products. Future software includes the highly anticipated SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone software launching soon.

UPDATE: We've made some well placed e-mails, and it looks like Slingbox PRO owners will get the best of both worlds. For starters, the Slingbox PRO will work with SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone, and if you call Sling to inquire about an upgrade, it seems you'll also get to take advantage of the sweet $50 rebate. Omission of the PRO from the page apparently wasn't intentional, and will be corrected soon.


Yeah, I guess my slingbox av won't work. im not about to upgrade it.

 

[nutsnbolts]

Ok, I found the sneaky slingplayer/box content regarding this...

I have the Sling Pro so I'm good to go! Woohohooooohohohohoho

GET MAD NOW, READ HERE!

 

[Randman]

Bad PR move to piss off people.

 

[fishkorp]

Bad PR move to piss off people.

It's a hardware limitation, not a PR move. It's like playing HD-DVDs in a Blu-Ray player.

 

[stujmac26]

It's a hardware limitation, not a PR move. It's like playing HD-DVDs in a Blu-Ray player.

Quite right

 

[nutsnbolts]

Oh just to note and respond to the OP's title.

"Death of Sling"

Not even close. Nothing is going to stop Sling at this point in time. With 3g becoming better and 4g HSPDA (7+ meg speeds) expected to come, everyone and their mother will want this.

Look at this way, everyone who currently has a sling (old or new) love their slingbox. I haven't really heard anyone who doesn't like it and if they didn't it's because of the speed or device issue. Not SlingMedia's device.

This "new" technology of the iPhone Slingplayer is a perfect case of where a company is advancing and improving to support future technology.

You don't hear much of people having a rotary phone now do you? My point is, this little setback is what technology is about. Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed, although I made the cut (I have the slingbox pro). Even if I didn't I was about to Buy.com the device for prices.

 

[outz]

It's a hardware limitation, not a PR move. It's like playing HD-DVDs in a Blu-Ray player.

some beta testers of the sling iphone app said it worked fine on their older models... but i guess i would take that with a grain of salt.

 

[fishkorp]

some beta testers of the sling iphone app said it worked fine on their older models... but i guess i would take that with a grain of salt.

App Store beta or Jailbroken beta? There's a big difference in what kind of code Sling could have been using.

 

[Glert]

App Store beta or Jailbroken beta? There's a big difference in what kind of code Sling could have been using.

Legit beta testers were using it with older Slingboxes, I know a couple.

 

[psywzrd]

The thing that really bothers me about this is that the early adopters are really getting the shaft. I've been a Sling owner since the beginning (still use my original Slingbox Classic) when nobody even knew if the company was going to make it. Now if I want to sling on my iphone (you know I do) I have to buy a new Slingbox and pay for the SlingMobile software that I have already been using for years on my WM phones. And the measly $50 discount they're offering isn't much of a discount when you consider that you have to buy the unit directly from them. If I want to upgrade to the Pro-HD it's going to cost me $250 ($300 on their site minus the $50 discount). I can get it cheaper on ebay or elsewhere. There should be a better way for them to take care of us.

 

[rolex54]

The thing that really bothers me about this is that the early adopters are really getting the shaft. I've been a Sling owner since the beginning (still use my original Slingbox Classic) when nobody even knew if the company was going to make it. Now if I want to sling on my iphone (you know I do) I have to buy a new Slingbox and pay for the SlingMobile software that I have already been using for years on my WM phones. And the measly $50 discount they're offering isn't much of a discount when you consider that you have to buy the unit directly from them. If I want to upgrade to the Pro-HD it's going to cost me $250 ($300 on their site minus the $50 discount). I can get it cheaper on ebay or elsewhere. There should be a better way for them to take care of us.

I completely agree, its so ridiculous, unless they come up with some amazing technical reason as to why older models won't work. Sling will take the price down to 250... but too bad its $240 on amazon, so no real point in buying from them. I was looking forward to slinging from my classic slingbox, but i guess I am gonna have to buy a new one

 

[Drumjim85]

I completely agree, its so ridiculous, unless they come up with some amazing technical reason as to why older models won't work. Sling will take the price down to 250... but too bad its $240 on amazon, so no real point in buying from them. I was looking forward to slinging from my classic slingbox, but i guess I am gonna have to buy a new one

Link (from another thread)

Older Slingboxes encode their outbound streams as WMV, while the newer Slingboxes (PRO-HD and SOLO) encode to h.264. (The original Pro probably has a programmable DSP that will allow it to encode h.264 with a software update.)

h.264 playback on iPhone is trivial, whereas reliable WMV playback would be a significant effort, not to mention a huge strain on the battery.

So the new boxes are the only supported devices because they encode the video in a format that the iphone can use.

 

[natallica]

Couldn't they have warned us about this a little in advance? Now, I feel like I'm being strong-armed by a crack dealer after having a bag of crack waved in front of my face!!!

-- N

 

[UKmacman]

And what about all of us outside the USA (UK for example) we have not even been offered the $50!

 

[outz]

And what about all of us outside the USA (UK for example) we have not even been offered the $50!

That does suck... but the $50 is really nothing... it's only if you buy it through their overpriced website. amazon.com already sells the solo unit $50 cheaper than slings website.

 

[xcel360]

Hope?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/03/atandt-retracts-new-terms-of-service-apologizes/

 

[TheBearman]

And what about all of us outside the USA (UK for example) we have not even been offered the $50!

Is that really true? Did you try entering the SN in the site to see if the system you have entitled you to the rebate?

$50 really isn't that much of a rebate considering how much these things cost but it is better than nothing.