Does Slingbox work on the iPhone? (With Slingbox, do you just go to a website and login and you watch TV?)
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Slingbox on iPhone?
- Thread starter legaleye3000
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Slingbox requires a client, the Slingplayer. It is not website based and is a physical app that must be installed on the device.
Sling showed off a proof of concept a few months ago, but no app has yet to be officially announced. From what I recall, the stream is encrypted so only Sling themselves will be able to release and app that works with the Slingbox.
Fingers crossed we see something in the next few months.
There is a long running thread about this over at the Sling Community Forums;
http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/thread/28842/Why-no-approval-for-iPhone-SDK-It-s-about-the/
After reading through this thread I am not convinced that we will be seeing a client anytime soon, which is a major disappointment. As far as Windows Mobile goes, this and the ease of tethering are the only things I miss (well I actually still have my Windows Mobile phone).
My opinion is that this app alone would sell thousands of iPhones and of course Slingboxes too. The issue probably has to do with either AT&T and bandwidth concerns or Apple and its AppleTV. Let's be realistic, could a superior quality company like Slingmedia realistically still be waiting for SDK acceptance when other ludicrous developers have long been accepted? What are there 8, 10 tip calculators? Light saber app? I am rich?@? Come on, there is politics going on here that we are not privy too.
For those of you unfamiliar, Slingbox is an absolutely brilliant device. It has totally replaced TV tuners on my Macs and PCs (I was shocked at how good the image was, much better than TV tuners I had been using) and I also use it mobile on my Sprint phone.
http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/thread/28842/Why-no-approval-for-iPhone-SDK-It-s-about-the/
After reading through this thread I am not convinced that we will be seeing a client anytime soon, which is a major disappointment. As far as Windows Mobile goes, this and the ease of tethering are the only things I miss (well I actually still have my Windows Mobile phone).
My opinion is that this app alone would sell thousands of iPhones and of course Slingboxes too. The issue probably has to do with either AT&T and bandwidth concerns or Apple and its AppleTV. Let's be realistic, could a superior quality company like Slingmedia realistically still be waiting for SDK acceptance when other ludicrous developers have long been accepted? What are there 8, 10 tip calculators? Light saber app? I am rich?@? Come on, there is politics going on here that we are not privy too.
For those of you unfamiliar, Slingbox is an absolutely brilliant device. It has totally replaced TV tuners on my Macs and PCs (I was shocked at how good the image was, much better than TV tuners I had been using) and I also use it mobile on my Sprint phone.
Other phones support this app... on AT&T's network so I don't buy AT&T or Apple is stopping Slingbox from developing the app.
You are absolutely correct, very good point you have made. That leaves Apple as the stumbling block. Some have speculated that this will somehow cannibalize AppleTV sales. Being that Apple calls it a hobby anyway, it's hard to understand the concern.
I have the slingbox on my treo and it is just awesome. But it would be better on the iphone b/c of the bigger screen. I am hoping for the software but i agree with the comments above that I just don't get the sense that it is coming anytime soon.
I absolutely 100% agree with you on this post. Something is up here. I know there are people who will defend ATT by saying the windows mobile devices with slingbox software is available. But lets look at the volume of sales of iphone and iphone 3g compared to the windows smartphone. At the end of the day, the iphone and iphone 3g will have sold more than all the windows smartphones combined on the ATT network. Plus ATT has their mobile TV network that just recently launch for $15 a month (LG Vu and Samsung Access).
Also could be Apple does not want sling interfering Apple TV.
Also, let not overlook the fact that Slingmedia just sold themselves out to Echostar for 380 million last September. I believe sling will stop being a "cool, hip" company now that they are owned by a big corporation like Echostar. You know Echostar is trying to figure out how to generate more money out of slingbox. Maybe charge for software on the desktop like Sony does with their streaming TV box.
It looks like Sling wants to make the Slingplayer for the iPhone. They have a job listing for it.
http://www.slingmedia.com/get/job-sr-engr-spm-iphone.html
http://www.slingmedia.com/get/job-sr-engr-spm-iphone.html
They already have a pre-alpha version of SlingPlayer running on the iPhone:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/08/sling-announces-proof-of-concept-slingplayer-mobile-for-iphone/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/08/sling-announces-proof-of-concept-slingplayer-mobile-for-iphone/
I said this in another topic but i'm convinced it's SLING that isn't capable of executing properly here. They showed a VERY rough Proof of concept in a jailbroken iPhone at the WWDC to buy themselves some time as they knew their users were going to be demanding an iPhone client.
Sling was acquired by Echostar last year and i'm guessing they have devoted most of their engineering talent to integrating sling into the next-gen Dish boxes, not SlingMobile. The Slingcatcher has suffered embarrassing delays and the Blackberry client is still not even close (though to be fair, they are waiting for new BBerry upgrades from RIM). I hope I am wrong but i'm guessing we won't see a Sling iPhone app anytime this year.
Sling was acquired by Echostar last year and i'm guessing they have devoted most of their engineering talent to integrating sling into the next-gen Dish boxes, not SlingMobile. The Slingcatcher has suffered embarrassing delays and the Blackberry client is still not even close (though to be fair, they are waiting for new BBerry upgrades from RIM). I hope I am wrong but i'm guessing we won't see a Sling iPhone app anytime this year.
This is such an intriguing story. On the one hand Sling is clearly intending to release this software for the iPhone/iPod Touch. On the other hand I have heard that Apple intends to write a similar piece of software to work with its Apple TV. It is not too hard to imagine that Apple would prevent this software from happening if they perceive their "hobby', the Apple TV to be affected.
apple will never allow sling player in the app store. As someone above stated it probably has to do that it would be competing with sales of other apple products. Just think, if you had sling player on your iPhone you wouldn't be too worried about buying content on iTunes to watch on the road since with sling player you would have a vast array of free content. I mean apple won't even allow Bluetooth contact, email, and calendar syncing...the only way to do this is to pay for mobile me. Think about it, if we could do this some people would not pay for mobile me.
Even if Apple releases software to stream video from Apple TV, what would be the harm for another piece of software to be allowed for those of us who do not have Apple TV? I'm sure they want everyone to have an Apple TV, but the reality is that everyone doesn't/won't have one. And Apple does realize that they cannot have 100% of the market place in this area. If they would purposely exclude a competitor from releasing software in the App store, it would speak very badly of the company, in my opinion. What about other Apps for the future? The store would become very restrictive for developers, and I'm not sure if that's what Apple really wants.
Remember, Apple is making a very nice cut of all sales in the App store, so it really is a win-win for them. If they can't have u get an Apple TV and the appropriate APP, then they're still making big cash.
I think that we will be seeing a Slingbox app in the near future, but I'm surprised that we haven't gotten one yet. I personally do not think that Apple is rejecting it, as I cannot see any reason why AT&T or Apple would disagree with it. I guess we will have to wait and see.
I'm not saying that you're wrong, but can u site some examples? Early in the process of opening the store, I do understand how Apple would be restrictive with regards to which developers could post Apps to the store. This makes sense, b/c they were trying to launch a service that never existed. And there is of course going to glitches/problems early on due to this, as we have obviously seen with Mobile Me.
But I would be surprised if Apple excluded certain developers, providing that they complied with the rules that Apple has set for developing APPS. This would be bad business, and would alienate a developer community that Apple is trying to court for a new platform.
Honestly, I would say it is more an issue of Sling getting and acceptable player up and running with consistent results than anything. Sling & AppleTV are very different devices that do different things. Sling takes a single coming in from either a satellite, cable, ant, or Tivo and streams it to another location. AppleTV takes media stored locally or on a local iTunes server and streams it to itself. For the AppleTV to do what the Slingbox does would require a major overhaul of both software and hardware, and would put it in a very different category of device.
Beyond this rather large difference in fundamental application I believe there would be a multitude of legal issues if Apple simply didn't want to carry the product because it would be 'competition'.
Beyond this rather large difference in fundamental application I believe there would be a multitude of legal issues if Apple simply didn't want to carry the product because it would be 'competition'.
Just like to add one more thing to the discussion.
When Sling originally announced a Mac client was coming, it was nearly a year later before they actually released a beta of the software. They even released a new set of products with a Mac Supported label on the packaging, yet it was months later until the Mac client was released.
In short, I don't trust sling to get anything out expeditiously.
When Sling originally announced a Mac client was coming, it was nearly a year later before they actually released a beta of the software. They even released a new set of products with a Mac Supported label on the packaging, yet it was months later until the Mac client was released.
In short, I don't trust sling to get anything out expeditiously.
I totally agree, I don't believe anything is coming from SlingMedia for the Iphone this year by a long shot.
To answer your original question, Slingbox is a device that you set up in your home. Depending on the model, you plug in one or more video inputs, set up the IR remote control heads, and connect it to your broadband router.
At that point, on a PC you can access the Slingbox using a special player, and change cable channels remotely, or turn on a DVD player, and watch TV / recordings from anywhere in the world with sufficient bandwidth. All using your home equipment. In other words, it's an encoder to stream video over the net from your house, just for you.
For handheld use, you must buy the Slingbox player software (about $30) for each phone you wish to use. Then it can also access the Slingbox at home and change channels, rewind videos, or whatever else your model and home video gear allow.
Personally, I don't use it over the Internet so much. I do use it around the house and yard to remotely watch TV over my home Intranet (aka WiFi) using older unactivated WinMo handsets. I would love to be able to do the same with my iTouch.
Echostar tends to hire the cheapest labor they can find, both here and overseas. Hopefully Sling will be able to do otherwise and knock out a player.
Apple's already alienated developers, by only including a few in the full dev program for months, allowing a chosen few to get first chance at being in the store with some apps. As someone else said, "We don't mind competing, but at least give us the chance."
The choice of developers was odd, perhaps even first-come. Somehow they managed to not let in Slingbox, TomTom, Adobe, Sun, and a bunch of other major developers. Who knows why.
yes they are different devices, with sling media on the iPhone i would have access to fee media instead of buying off iTunes. Apple won't even let you Bluetooth sync your phone with your computer and you think they will let you watch live tv?
I wish slingbox would come soon, I absoutely love it. I can watch all my Phillies basbeall games 1000 miles away. It would be even greater if i could watch them in class on my iPhone 
....
....Let me add this: Sling is absolutely terrific. I have the Solo model which connects via component input to my HD DVR. The image quality I get over my local network is really beyond my expectations. It is so good that I disconnected my TV tuner from my Mac and exclusively Sling now. You cannot believe how convenient it is to have ALL of your channels available on ANY of your computers, Mac or PC. When mobile my Sprint Windows Mobile phone allows for the same convenience, this is what the iPhone currently is sorely lacking.
Unfortunately my gut feeling is that this will never happen for the iPhone/iPod Touch.
Unfortunately my gut feeling is that this will never happen for the iPhone/iPod Touch.