As most of you already know, SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone has now launched in the App Store “ but it ‘s been hamstrung severely by a forced change in order to get approved “ it will not work over 3G, only over a WiFi connection.
AT&T has claimed that they were behind this decision, and offered up some very interesting reasons for doing so. Apple Insider has a good report up on this subject and I have some quick thoughts on what makes AT&T ‘s stance interesting and slightly comical in places
Here ‘s just a slice of Apple Insider ‘s overview of the reasons put forward by AT&T for blocking SlingPlayer (on the iPhone) on their 3G network
Applications like this, which redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service," AT&T claims. "We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs."
Instead, the carrier says, iPhone owners should be content to stream Slingbox video when away from home through the free Wi-Fi access they have at certain public locations, such as Starbucks coffee shops. Web video streams are also allowed.
The stance has already come under fire as evidence of a double standard at AT&T. Where the iPhone app is restricted to Wi-Fi, the BlackBerry Bold and several Windows Mobile phones are explicitly allowed to run their respective versions of SlingPlayer on the same 3G network in a compatibility list Sling maintains on its own. Some phones offered by AT&T outside of this list also run SlingPlayer and, again, aren’t given the same restrictions.
Wow.
A couple of things jump off the page for me there. Firstly, the iPhone is completely different class of smartphone to Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices then, in AT&T ‘s view. Or the others are now ‘dumb phones ‘ in the carrier ‘s opinion? Because the iPhone is the only one that is classed as a personal computer.
And “ the very fact that they ‘re seeing it as necessary to block this iPhone app on their 3G network, while allowing it for the others, says to me that they ‘re acknowledging how much more iPhone owners use their apps. I don ‘t know the numbers for how many WinMo / Blackberry devices are out there in AT&T users ‘ hands, but this action by AT&T says to me that either those numbers must be significantly less (combined) than iPhone devices, or (more likely) they just know that usage patterns are hugely different across the platforms.
I also find it pretty ironic that right alongside this decision that their mighty network cannot handle SlingPlayer + iPhone, AT&T were spamming their users (at least those of us in Austin) with the text message shown at the top of this post “ which basically trumpets significant upgrades to, and millions of dollars invested in, their 3G network. I guess I should reply saying ‘Yeah, but it ‘s not enough guys “ get out the checkbook and get back to work! ‘
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: AT&T, SlingPlayer Mobile
