Sling Media, the company behind the popular (and very cool) settop boxes that allow you to stream cable from your house to your computer, looks like it has outdone itself. At this week’s Macworld the company will be showing off its upcoming iPhone application, which effectively gives iPhone owners instant access to their Cable TVs and Tivos from anywhere they have a network connection. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a little longer (the company says that the app will be submitted to Apple some time in Q1), but it looks like it will be well worth the wait.
From the announcement:
SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via your iPhone using a standard network connection. In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while away from home.
The company will also be announcing SlingPlayer for Mac HD, which gives Mac users the ability to watch high definition content streaming from their HD SlingBoxes using a web-based player on the company’s recently launched video hub Sling.com.
Would be ridiculously laggy I would imagine. Hopefully they can figure out a good tech way to buffer. 4g will be nice.
It’s getting to the point that I dread visiting the homepage.
Make a resolution for 2009 to lose some of the page weight and the excess clutter.
http://www.jugargame.com/
How is this legal?
They align their products around time shifting, kind of like DVR with added connectivity features. They have been around for a while, without too many problems, and with a lot of happy customers.
I also didn’t mean that they replace/copy DVRs, I was just comparing them because you can use the feed you pay for, and deliver it to you in a more convenient way.
This is awesome!
This is really cool. I know the kids will love it when it comes out.
They already have a windows mobile version
Sweet mother of mystery.. Wondering if I can set up to record something on DVR if I forget while away from home?
The article/press release isn’t clear…do you need a SlingBox to use the iPhone app?
Yes
Is there going to be a hang up with AT&T approving this on their network?
The article clearly states “you can now watch via your iPhone using a standard network connection.”
That, to me, means it’s Wifi-only, and the marketing/PR doofs aren’t smart enough to know how much the word ‘network connection’ will mess with your heads.
Still, pretty awesome! I’ll finally be returning to my Japanese Slingbox in Q1, so this would be a good time to get it updated and have iPhone access (I forgot the admin password so I can’t do it remotely).
Yeah no AT&T 3G connection. That would just be silly. Like the Joost.com App. It’ll be Wi-fi only.
here come the bandwidth caps!
Orb Live iPhone app already is allow you to stream live TV from your tuner to your iPhone. Works great on my HDTV Tuner + Media Center PC on Vista. Slingbox player is not that much different than the Orb Live app.
Agree, Orb Live already is there, and works well. It also gives you access to photos, and music (and works over 3G and wifi)
Have a sling player as well, so look forward to seeing the app, its been awhile coming …
But how will react with the idea that apple and its policies?
Its exclusivity will effect the business model of Apple??
This will be interesting to try out. I think the reason we “don’t want TV on our phones here in the US” is because no one has really done it well yet. If this actually works, maybe we can finally catch up with Japan.
Now if only a cable service company would allow their customers to just get their cable TV via internet service, skipping the need for a slingbox, and ISP to relay the tv to your mobile devices.
They’re still working out how much to charge for that. ;]
Does this mean I should return the plasma TV I got for Christmas?
Good post!
gt asd wae
I have been using orb for the iPhone and it was been working pretty well. Even on 3G the video quality is pretty decent.
remember when you posted about the blackberry slingplayer that is already out?
oh right, it wasn’t iphone or twitter so it doesn’t matter on TC.
I second ORB which is FOC. The only cost you have is £6 for the app and it is available now.
who wants to see TV in your phone??
I’d give it a shot, but it would have to be pretty good to compete with Twitterific and Google Reader for my primary timekilling apps.
And that’s just a beginning!
Imagine in 5 years….what we will do with our mobile
This is one iPhone application I’ve been waiting for. I wonder if AT&T will actually let it run over the 3G network?
Would it also work with an ipod touch?
Orb have been doing this for months on the iPhone and with Orb this is practically free. The Orb Pro App on the iPhone store is $9.99 and that is all you have to pay as the software to get cable TV is free.
Go with Orb – I find it better quality and much less expensive.
I’ve had the slingbox for a few years now and the windows mobile player actually does quite well over my EVDO connection. 3G should provide a better experience.
Yet one more reason marketing and promotion is everything. Orb has been doing this for a few years, for free. And if you set up a Windows media center pc to your cable, you can control a DVR on top of streaming it back.
I watched the superbowl from disneyland in Feb. 2007 using this, and it worked great.
Way to be a step behind people
This is just the beginning. A mobile phone without wi-fi is dead.
Hi Guys..
What do you say about this application…will you vote for it?
http://www.idea...-Blood-Receiver
thanks
yeh
Orb is more versatile than Slingbox. With Orb, you can access any content on your PC, including the TV tuner, video files, recordings, audio, pictures, files, etc.
The Orb PC software is free. You can stream from any internet browser on any desktop, laptop, or netbookfor free. On Windows Mobile you can stream via the Orb site for free. On the iPhone you can download the iPhone Orb App for $9.99.
At most, Orb costs you 10-bucks. Which is a hefty gold-plated price tag compared to other iPhone apps, but a mere pittance compared to buying a slingbox.
Probably going to lag a lot. Might also heat up your iPhone fast.
Will they stick to iPhone only? I heard today about some mobile tv app for Blackberry and Symbian phones: http://www.tele...aspx?cid=654997
This is really great, the best thing that could happen with my iPhone second to it being a barcode reader haha…a nice app btw.
but you know the cool cats will be on it as soon as it’s out, and acting like they know what’s good =)
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