The much anticipated and much ballyhooed SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone is scheduled for sometime after midnight tonight. At one point you could have counted on Slingbox users going crazy and downloading the app eagerly, even at the $29.95 price tag. That’s the same price the Windows Mobile app has always been. But at least on that platform, you get a 30 day free-trial. Not with the iPhone version.
The real issue here though is that AT&T has forced Apple (who would have thunk that) into crippling the app and cutting off use on the 3G Network, and thus discriminating against iPhone users. How’s that? Well, you can use the app on the AT&T network on other platforms using 3G. Just not the iPhone.
Look, for some time now AT&T has skated by with a network that doesn’t live up to its advertising claims. Far from it. Urban and rural dwellers alike scoff openly at the claims in the advertising and fume at the inefficiency. Word is AT&T is busy trying to upgrade it before the next version of the iPhone is released. Hopefully they will.
But this latest episode proves that AT&T think we’re all just dummies to be marketed to. Here’s the thing, if they are so afraid of their network collapsing under the weight of media streaming, pull it for all platforms. Stop other apps that do video streaming (I really don’t want to see this BTW) and just admit that you’re selling more seats on the plane than you’ve got available.
AT&T gets to laugh at this, because for at least another year they’ve got a lock on the money train that is the iPhone. They stand to rake in even more dollars here in just a few weeks. Time for AT&T to quit treating its customers like idiots.
This idiot will let this one pass. Sorry, SlingMedia.
