- An AT&T Announcement, Not Apple’s
The iPhone and perhaps the iPad just got a major boost to their mobile TV-like capabilities, thanks to an announcement from AT&T.
The mobile carrier has announced that its 3G network will now support the SlingPlayer Mobile TV application, allowing users to watch live and digitally recorded TV via the Net.
Until this announcement, the app wouldn’t work over 3G, due to a decision by AT&T. The move to 3G-compatibility means that AT&T wasn’t just blowing smoke when it announced recent network upgrades.
The reaction to the announcement so far has been a resounding: "Finally!"
Sling Media
created its app to work efficiently on 3G networks with a big focus on conserving spectrum usage. AT&T has been retesting the app since December 2009 and finally approved the app for 3G use.
The real test will come soon as users try out the service and see if 3G can now truly deliver. Wi-Fi and locally stored video have been great on the iPhone, but almost every 3G experience so far has been mediocre at best.
Perhaps the most exciting news about this is the fact that the iPad uses AT&T’s 3G network, and it will likely support the SlingPlayer app. Hopefully, Apple can get the app to work on the iPad and live up to the promise that almost all of iPhone apps will work on the new device.
This means that an iPad user who is also a SlingPlayer user suddenly has a 3G TV that’s a true version of TV everywhere. With the screen size, the iPad looks to be a fantastic device to watch video on. Now the device can serve as an additional TV for both the kitchen and the bedroom.
The iPad’s biggest hurdle will be convincing people to buy something that, at first glance, can look like a big iPod Touch. Introducing support for these kinds of services will make the device instantly appealing for Sling Media’s user base. |
