SlingPlayer for iPhone gets AT&T 3G connectivity

When SlingPlayer for the iPhone was announced many Slingbox owners rejoiced. Slingbox is a device which you connect to a video source to allow cable and satellite television to be accessed through a computer or mobile phone with a client called the SlingPlayer. Many iPhone subscribers who owned a Slingbox were clammering for the ability to connect to their Slingbox and were excited when Sling Media announced that it was working on a SlingPlayer for the iPhone. Then AT&T was like an adult chaperone at a high school prom and took all the fun out of the announcement.  AT&T stated that SlingPlayer for iPhone would be made available, but subscribers would be unable to access their Slingbox through a 3G connection. The client was limited to Wi-Fi connections. The reason AT&T gave was the fear that the client would cause performance problems with the AT&T network. There was also some cockamamie excuse about AT&T’s terms of service limiting redirection of a television feed.  Now, while facing increasing subscriber dissatisfaction and a loss of iPhone exclusivity, AT&T has seen the light. Sling Media and AT&T sent out a joint press release which stated that SlingPlayer for the iPhone was going to get access to a 3G connection after all. The press release portrayed the move as a joint effort in which AT&T worked with Sling Media to ensure the app was optimized for AT&T’s 3G network. Um, that’s not how Sling Media saw it according to an Ars Technica article.  In the article, John Santoro from Sling Media stated that in actuality no fundamental changes to the SlingPlayer for iPhone were required. It seems the code already existed within the application to ensure optimized use of a 3G connection. Nevertheless, Slingbox owners who own an iPhone can now use SlingPlayer on a 3G connection and at the end of the day, to quote a Metallica song, nothing else matters.  SlingPlayer for iPhone is available for $29.99 through the iTunes App Store.  Read more at the joint press release