Think there’s no heat under the AT&T smokescreen knocking down SlingMedia’s iPhone app on the 3G network? There’s enough heat that it prompted a statement later today from AT&T. Unfortunately it proved the folks who write their press statements are as ineffective as those who manage AT&T’s network. The only thing I’ve heard lately that is more feckless is Dick Cheney’s supposed defense of torture.
Here’s the statement.
"Slingbox, which would use large amounts of wireless network capacity, could create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network. The application does not run on our 3G wireless network. Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service. We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.
That said, we don't restrict users from going to a Web site that lets them view videos. But what our terms and conditions prohibit is the transferring, or slinging, of a TV signal to their personal computer or smartphone.
The Slingbox application for the iPhone runs on WiFi. That's good news for AT&T's iPhone 3G customers, who get free WiFi access at our 20,000 owned and operated hot spots in the U.S., including Starbucks, McDonalds, Barnes & Noble, hotels, and airports. AT&T is the industry leader in WiFi."
As I’ve said before, AT&T is covering up that its network does not live up to its promotion of it. They are terrified that the seams in the network will come apart. C’mon AT&T most folks now know that you allow the Slingplayer on your network on other platforms, so you can’t trot this out as a supposed rationale. And there are already other apps UStream that do the same thing.
Feckless.
Via Engadget
