No Sling for the iPhone?
[Update: Shortly after posting this article AT&T issued the following statement. “The language added on March 30 to AT&T’s wireless data service Terms and Conditions was done in error. It was brought to our attention and we have since removed it. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.” Have a great weekend everyone!]
The folks at Sling may have upset their dedicated fan base by reporting that older Slingbox technology such as the Slingbox Classic, Slingbox AV and Slingbox Tuner would not be compatible with its upcoming Slingplayer Mobile application for the iPhone, but now it all may be a moot point as AT&T does not want the Sling application on its network.
Today AT&T issued a new Terms of Service and in the new TOS it clearly specifies “customer initiated redirection of television or other video or audio signals via any technology from a fixed location to a mobile device,”
In other words what it appears that AT&T is trying to say is “sorry Sling no soup for you!”
What makes this more interesting is that this morning I received word from a trusted contact that Apple approved the Slingplayer software for release. If this rumor is true it explains why Sling was trying to get the word out about the new hardware being required. But again if AT&T will not let you run this application on their network it makes everything a moot point and chances are that the application may never see the light of day.
So what does this new TOS mean for AT&T customers? Will we see the YOUTUBE application removed from the iPhone? After all it takes Audio and Video from a fixed location and lets you view it on your mobile device.
What will this mean for other long awaited applications such at the Sirius XM application? Is that one going to get denied as well?
There are already lots of applications in the iTunes store that could now be considered prohibited under AT&T’s new Terms of Service. Applications like ORB, Pandora, SLACKER, and even the new MLB At Bat application could all be ruled as prohibited applications on the AT&T network.
Why is AT&T doing this? Honest answer is probably because their network sucks and can’t handle the load if people actually used the data services they were paying for.
Isn’t it great that they sell you unlimited internet on your iPhone but then you can’t use it?
Have a good weekend everyone!
Jack Bayne commented:
Sling doesn\’t need the 3G AT&T network, it works with WIFI and the iPod Touch can play the Sling Player too.
xkg52 commented:
Wow, and I though that I had complaints about AT&T not being able to fix a landline for over 2 weeks. *lol*
Ma-Bell commented:
Funny, it\’s not Microsoft that builds their operating system so it will only work on PC\’s manufactured by themselves, and it\’s not Microsoft who at one point back in the day barred you from installing any phone in your house except ones they manufactured and sold.
formerATTcustomer commented:
I\’m disgruntle in general at there poor behavior, lack of customer service and they abuse customers (such as myself).I owed a late bill of about 300+, made payments more than what was initially promised and got hosed with fees for services I was not getting. Then shut off my phone and handed me a breaking of contract bill spiraling my total bill to about 3 times as much.. that\’s right about 950+ bucks.
I spent alone over $3000 grand a year in total services for 3.5 years. Plus sent other clients their way (business level) for about 1500+ worth or more a month and get re-payed by no way to get commissions/kick backs or thank yous of any kind.
So what\’s a person like me do. tell them to keep there service, and star pulling $2200 a month accounts away from them to 3rd party providers who give commissions and thank yous.
They best remember that size never matters once the ship starts to spring a leak! all goes down sooner or later…
Darren commented:
My favorite rediculous AT&T story involves the Blackberry maps application. It is free GPS mapping program and comes with any blackberry. AT&T disables this app in favor of their own. They want to charge 8 bucks a month to use it! Anyways, I can still download google maps and it works better than their program.
matrix29 commented:
So AT&T is basically stating, \”Don\’t use our service\”, \”Don\’t buy our phones\”, and \”We here at AT&T want to go bankrupt from our appalling INCOMPETENCE in gauging what our customers want.\”
Spencer Schoeben commented:
What about all the other phones slingplayer works on???????
TechNut commented:
Reading the actual language, it seems even placing or receiving a telephone call from a land line would be a technical violation of the agreement. What an outrageous P.O.S.
Thisguy159 commented:
Engadget just posted that AT&T new TOS were done in error according to AT&T themselves.
www.engadget.com/2009/04/03/atandt-retracts-new-terms-of-service-apologizes/
Jeff commented:
I had a feeling this would happen...and the worst part of the matter is that Apple just released new TOS to basically blacklist anyone who releases content on Cydia. Therefore, sling will likely not go in that direction either...
Thanks Apple and ATT&T for becoming MICROSOFT.