Your iPhone is Not a Phone?

Last week while I Denver, I decided to take in a Colorado Rockies baseball game and the beautiful Coors Field. For only $35 I was able to sit 12 rows behind home plate. Since I did not know much about the Rockies I decided that I wanted to listen to the game as I watched it and pulled out my trusty iPhone to use the amazing MLB At Bat application that lets you listen live to any MLB game being played. But for some reason even though my phone was getting a full 3G signal I was unable to listen to the game, in fact I was unable to do anything Internet related on my iPhone including check mail or surf the web.

Someone was sitting next to me and was using his Blackberry, which was marked with the Verizon logo. He leaned over to me and said that the AT&T data network dies whenever there is a game and that’s why he was with Verizon. I was disappointed I couldn’t do anything on my iPhone but enjoyed the game and got to see the home team win.

Yesterday word leaked out that the Slingplayer Application from Sling Media for the iPhone was about to be released, however the application would only work when an iPhone user is on a WIFI network. The application was not permitted to run on AT&T’s 3G data network at all. Many people were upset by the news and popular gadget sites such as Engadget and Gizmodo filled up with unhappy Sling fans who were looking forward to watching their home Slingboxes on their iPhones.

AT&T issued a statement explaining why they would not permit the Slingplayer application to run on their 3G network. Below is that very statement from AT&T.

“Slingbox, which would use large amounts of wireless network capacity, could create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network. The application does not run on our 3G wireless network. Applications like this, which redirects a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service. We consider smart phones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.

That said, we don’t restrict users from going to a Web site that lets them view videos. But what our terms and conditions prohibit is the transferring, or slinging, of a TV signal to their personal computer or smart phone.

The Slingbox application for the iPhone runs on WiFi. That’s good news for AT&T’s iPhone 3G customers, who get free WiFi access at our 20,000 owned and operated hot spots in the U.S., including Starbucks, McDonalds, Barnes & Noble, hotels, and airports. AT&T is the industry leader in WiFi.”

Reading this had me shaking my head. AT&T does not consider the iPhone to be a phone, they consider it to be a personal computer. I guess Apple should change the name of the device to “iMac” since its not considered a phone anymore.

In addition other applications that are now available via the Apple iTunes store also stream television with these restrictions. Such applications include ORB which lets you stream television from your home PC, TV.COM which airs full shows from the CBS Television Network and even YOUTUBE (which is BUILT IN to the iPhone) that now offers full length shows and movies.

To make AT&T’s argument even stranger is that the Slingplayer application is available to Windows Mobile Phones as well as on Blackberry’s, yet only the iPhone is prohibited from running this application on their network. If the iPhone is considered a personal computer wouldn’t these other PDA phones also be considered personal computers?

What is the difference between watching vides from YouTube or TV.COM or even ORB then watching you Slingbox? (Answer… there isn’t one)

The only thing AT&T’s statement tells me is that AT&T admits that their 3G Network sucks and that they have oversold it. (My opinion of course)

Now depending on whom you talked to the internet data on the iPhone from AT&T is unlimited, but others say that AT&T limits you to 5 gigabytes a month of data transfer. I personally look at it as if I am limited to 5 gigabytes a month, since owning an iPhone I have never even come close to that amount. Since I am paying for my bandwidth I should be able to use it how I want.

I have no plans of sitting and watching full shows on my phone, but I do plan to access my DirecTV and Dish Network services to do things like watch breaking news and check sports scores. On the iPhone you couldn’t watch television too long anyways since the battery life is so bad on the iPhone.

If all of these other applications have been approved for sale and use on the iPhone using AT&T’s 3G Network then there is no reason AT ALL that the Slingplayer application should not also work on the AT&T Network.

Now I am not one who likes it when the government gets involved, but perhaps they should take a look at AT&T who is clearly overselling their network and is not giving their customers the ability to use the internet services they pay for.

There is however good news if you’re a Sling fan and if your willing to Jailbreak your iPhone. With a Jailbroken iPhone you can load an application called VOIPover3G which will trick your iPhone into thinking its on a WIFI Network so you can enjoy your Slingbox anywhere including on the AT&T 3G Network.

But seeing how AT&T’s 3G Network has been running the past few weeks the 3G data network might not be there when you really want to use it. Perhaps AT&T should consider stopping sales of new iPhones until they can get their network up to speed. But I don’t see this happening instead I see AT&T to continue trying to stuff more people into their already overcrowded network.

The new Slingplayer Application from Echostar’s SlingMedia company is now available for purchase from the iTunes store for $29.99.