Though you may not ever see them, there are apps in the App Store that sell for over $9.99. Mostly they’re for doctors or stupid gimmicks, but they exist. Now the first one relevant on a larger scale to consumers is about to become available with the SlingPlayer Mobile app launching tonight for $29.99 in the App Store.
How this app sells will be really interesting. While other consumer electronic companies have made apps, most have given them away for free like DirectTV and the Remote app from Apple. But SlingPlayer will be a bit different from those since it’s streaming content from a piece of hardware you own to your iPhone — so it’s basically an extension of that device to use on the road. Of course, there’s also a big caveat: It will only work over WiFi.
Talk circulated last month that Apple blocked the SlingPlayer app from the App Store because AT&T didn’t want it clogging up its bandwidth with streaming video. This is the same reason that it would block other bandwidth-intensive apps like a Hulu app, if that actually arrives. But what’s odd, as AppleInsider notes, is that SlingPlayer has an app for other phones like some BlackBerrys that lets it stream video over 3G — yes, on AT&T’s network. So it would appear that AT&T is showing bias against the iPhone, which has users that tend to use up more bandwidth.
Still, how the SlingPlayer app fairs could be an indicator of the types of apps we see with the release of the iPhone 3.0 software (and likely new hardware) this summer. We know that apps will now be able to take advantage of the iPhone connector port, so there should be some very interesting apps that come out of that — ones that could potentially be more expensive than the $9.99 app price wall that has seemed to exist in recent months.
And it’s in Apple’s interest for such a high-priced app to do well also. Remember, it takes a 30% cut of all sales, and seeing as it costs them no more to list a $29.99 app than a free one, that’d be a nice chunk of change for Apple. Of course, I still think the new in-app purchases also coming in 3.0 will be more important to the bottom line.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Twitter!
but twitter is abuzz with talk about this app
http://twendz.w...player%20iphone
Wow, while I have a Sling, I did not expect this app to be so pricey. I have ORB running and it works (sometimes) even over 3G so…. I won’t be jumping at this.
this comment does.
follow me! @PRyck
Might be worth noting that SlingPlayer for Blackberry and Windows Mobile was also $29.99.
worth the price $29.99 IF AND ONLY IF it works on 3G!!!
Yeah. It is surprising that Sling people haven’t tried to cut a deal with AT&T or something. They will sell this app a whole lot more (and maybe sell a few slingplayers too) if they can get AT&T to allow the 3G access.
I’m not sipping this kool-aide.
OOHHHH YAAAHHH!!
Please . . only post Twitter stories. I ONLY LIKE TWITTER.
Jason Calacornus
Founder
http://www.twittercrunch.com
dude, you should totally use that as a twitter-related aggregator.
TC would be all over that!
The fact that its wifi only makes this worth way less at the moment. However…they should update it, so if this is THE sling app (which it seems to be), then its worth getting now and growing with it.
They are crazy to put this amount of money on such ’simple’ app….
I like any company that tries to charge a little more. This beats the race to the bottom where everyone’s charging 99 cents just to get into the top 25 lists. It’s been awhile since developers could actually make real money on software.
poopCrunch.
Every iPhone App is important and cool. Just because Apple pays for the articles at poopCrunch
poopCrunch.
Every iPhone App is important and cool. Just because Apple pays for the articles at poopCrunch
I heard this app will only work with a newer generation of Slingbox, forcing some current owners (myself included) to buy that too. Any word on that?
It’ll work with older slingboxes, but is “unsupported” that way.
So, about £20 for the app, £120 or so for a new SlingBox if you have an old one as your old one may not work (mine won’t, apparently) and it’s WiFi only.
Not exactly cheap, is it?
I have been waiting for this app for a long time. And I would’ve gladly paid the asking price the day it became available in the app store if they supported 3G. Lack of 3G streaming and being tied down to Wi-Fi make this app useless.
This is borderline “I am rich” iPhone app since I have to pay $30 to watch the video in a tiny screen when I can do so for free on my laptop using the same connection.
Having said that, I would still pay $30 (or maybe even more) if it was 3G capable and a true mobile app.
@Frank Cioffi – As a consolation for getting screwed on the 3G, they are allowing us to use older Slingboxes through the app. No support though.
“How this app sells will be really interesting.”
Riveting sentence.
When I first got my iPhone I couldn’t wait for this app. Now that it’s here, I don’t really care anymore and don’t plan on buying it. I can’t really think of many situations where I’d want to watch live TV on the go and have access to WIFI too. This will be cool for sure, but I’m more interested in streaming my video/audio content already on my computer, which can already be done.
Review of it over on gizmodo:
http://gizmodo....w-wi+fi-only-30
I have an hd slingbox, shame they don’t sell an hd slingplayer. The result, I bought the cheapest computer i could find, installed an hdmi video card and connect it to my tv. 1080i streaming from a slingbox to a hd tv outside of the local network. You can’t even tell I was watching tv over the internet unless connection problems on the 42 inch.
Slingplayer Mobile for my Curve 8320 killed the phone (it was the beta version). They said it only worked on wifi but it worked on EDGE too, surprisingly pretty well. Before it killed the phone that is. Left me weary of putting it on my 8900.
I could definitely see how it could consume 3g bandwidth over at&t if a large number of iphone members also have slingboxes, but if the percentage is considerably low, it shouldn’t make that much of a dent. The iPhone does seem like the ideal phone to watch a slingplayer on. That, the storm, and the g1. Sucks that unlike the download for other phones, you have to pay for the iPhone/iPod Touch version before you load it. At least for other devices they give you a 30 day trial period (60 day for the blackberry version when it was still in beta)
But considering the boxes are relatively cheap for the capabilities they provide longterm, mobile phones is where they try to really cash in. I hate it. It’s the reason I never intended to pay for a license on the slingplayer on my blackberry, and why my ipod touch will unlikely get this app.
And at 30 bucks for the software that you say will only work on WiFi, might as well download the free player on a laptop and stream to a much larger screen.
$30 for App.
+
79.99 for Sling Link (Because not everyone has their receiver right next to their router!)
+
179.99 For SLing Box player
= $290 for a Wifi Only Feature? Get Real. Apple,SLing, AT&T You All Suck for this.
Absolutely agree. Good luck Apple and AT&T. $290 is so steep for something like this.
Bravo to the apps developper if it sells well.
What’s the Jewish/Israeli angle on this? Or is this, at last, a purely technical piece?
The only thing a high price ensures is that it will be widely pirated
If it streamed over the 3G network – it would be worth $29.99… just as I imagine people would pay $29.99 for the MLB At Bat App if it streamed video as well (over 3G).
Only over wifi though? Far less compelling. Perhaps if Apple ever releases a tablet it would make more sense.
I think it’ll bomb simply because the mentality of iPhone users is that an application should be around the $0.99-$4.99 price point.
This is not their fault but rather the mindset has been reinforced by the vast majority of the pricing within the App Store.
It’s the same with trying to sell an application to a Linux user who has historically expected them to be free.