The Sling Player for IPhone Demo

[skottey]

I wouldn't call them "fads". It is pretty hard to say an iPod is a fad when they have 70+% (taking a guess as they were over 75% a couple of years ago) of the market share in MP3 players. I for one have tried many different MP3 players and IMO the iPod is one of the best ones out there. It all comes down to a personal preference and nothing more.

You are right, it does come down to personal preference. If you think the Ipod is the best MP3 player and you have tried different ones, that is certainly good enough reason for you to buy one. But when a seven year old kid says he or she wants an Ipod it is because of the fad factor, not because they have looked at or tried several different MP3 players and made a logical decision to go with the Ipod based on functionality. Know what I am saying?

 

[JAG72]

I hear what you are saying and I only partially agree with you on it.

 

[GaryPen]

stupid iphone... what garbage..

I have been using both my slingboxes to view TV and my security cameras on my Windows Mobile phones for a few years. I have touched and played around with the iphone and it feels like a toy compared to my ATT Tilt. The Tilt and its predecessors have made me happy and cost less than the iphone and make more sense for a business user.


iphone, ipod.... just fads. There are better phones and better MP3 players on the market, yet everyone has to have their iphone or ipod because they want to be "cool."

I have had both WinMobile phones and an iPhone. I could not disagree with you more. The iPhone is everything not only a PDA should be, but everything that every device and/or appliance should be. It is the antithesis of everything that has gone wrong with the consumer electronics industry in the last decade or so.

My advice to everybody here: If viewing Sling streams on your cell phone is that important to you, and you have an iPhone, simply upgrade your SlingBox. Giving up your iPhone would be like cutting off your very functional, well-made, and easy-to-use nose to spite your face.

 

[skottey]

I hear what you are saying and I only partially agree with you on it.

Well that is fine. We can agree to partially agree

ha

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Glad I have the HD-Pro.

 

[Widescreen]

I upgraded from a Windows Mobile phone to an iPhone about 2 months ago. The only thing I found painful in the switch was losing my slingplayer mobile. I've been patiently waiting for the iPhone version to be released and what do they do? Tell me my current Slingbox AV won't work with it. Irritated is an understatement. I have no intention of punting a perfectly good slingbox and investing even more in the technology when it shouldn't be necessary. I guess I'll just have to do without.

 

[digiblur]

Looks like there is an upgrade program....

Sling Media Announces Upgrade Program for Slingbox Owners

Doesn't look like you have to send it in... hope they don't disable it somehow

I like my Classic since it was cheap and has analog cable tuning and S-Video in.

 

[JAG72]

I bet they just record the serial number that way you cant get a discount a second time. I have been thinking about upgrading mine to the HD so I can stream HD through the house but they don't support that with a Mac yet.

 

[skottey]

I have had both WinMobile phones and an iPhone. I could not disagree with you more. The iPhone is everything not only a PDA should be, but everything that every device and/or appliance should be. It is the antithesis of everything that has gone wrong with the consumer electronics industry in the last decade or so.

My advice to everybody here: If viewing Sling streams on your cell phone is that important to you, and you have an iPhone, simply upgrade your SlingBox. Giving up your iPhone would be like cutting off your very functional, well-made, and easy-to-use nose to spite your face.

It really boils down to what you use your device for. I am of the opinion that the iphone is not a good business tool. Business usage is my number one reason for having a PDA in the first place. I primarily use my Windows mobile PDA for email, server administrative functionality, and of course business related phone calls. I do have Internet on the phone so the closest thing I get to using it as an "entertainment" device is watching Slingbox streams of my security cameras and TV over the 3G network. I do not use my cellphone to play music, take pictures, or take video. I have an MP3 player, 10MP camera, and video camera for each of these functions, although the Windows Mobile device can do those functions. I also carry a seperate cell phone for personal use and do nothing but make and receive phonecalls on it, even though it has a camera and all that other crap.

Some people like having one device to do all these entertainment and business functions. Not me. You may have a TV/VCR/DVD combo in your house. Not I. You may have an imac. Not I. I prefer seperate devices. Just a personal preference. When the VCR went the way of the dinosaur I got rid of the VCR, not the TV/VCR/DVD combo. Or, what if one part of a multifunction shats the bed after warranty is up? You live with a partially broken product or replace the whole thing?

As far as my personal cell phone (not the PDA), if I had a choice I would have a phone with no camera, music capabilities, video capabilities, or Internet. It would make and receive phone calls and have a really long battery. There isn't such a thing anymore. Just ask your cell provider for such a device and you'll be told there isn't one.

I can understand why a person might want to simplifiy things and have one device do all things, but I don't want that. I am not wired that way as a person. You'll also find that a device that has all those functions never has been as good as or will never be as good as seperate devices. What are they up to now on the consumer level, 15 megapixels for a digital camera? What about storage capacity for music? Event the stand alone ipods have larger storage capacity than iphones, not to mention other brands. And the built in video camera in a phone doesn't even come close to a stand alone HD video camera. Note that even a video camera that can take pictures is not as good a a stand alone digital camera for picture taking.

Anyway, regarding the iphone apps. There is also a lot of complaining in the industry about Apples tight control over the apps and the app approval process. At least the Google phone (which isn't there yet as a product but I would say has more potential in the long run than iphone for such an everything device) is open source and the Windows mobile phones have tons of third party applications.

Aside from myself as a consumer and user of PDA phones, I know a lot of people that are either business owners or professional business employees and the iphone is not exactly their preferred device for connectivity with such things as a corportate Exchange server.

But again, it depends on personal choice and your needs. If the Apple iphone makes you happy, fine. The only other thing I can say is that I have been using my slingboxes, both a first gen and a second generation highest model for a few years on my Windows Mobile PDA phones. This is all old to me. I'm sure part of the reason the Slingbox app for the iphone won't work on the older slingboxes has something to do with Apples tight control over the apps. If that is acceptable to you, fine.

 

[JAG72]

I'm sure part of the reason the Slingbox app for the iphone won't work on the older slingboxes has something to do with Apples tight control over the apps. If that is acceptable to you, fine.

I'm not to sure about that. Here is my 2 cents on the subject.

I bet a big part of it is that they can get a better picture using the same amount of bandwidth as the older boxes. The iPhone has a larger screen on it compared to most other devices that were used with the sling player. I used my sling with a windows mobile device prior to the switch to an iPhone and the video was not the best even on the smaller screen. This is most likely the first phase of trying to get these older devices out of circulation. Just wait for the next big release for other devices and I bet they will also not support the older devices anymore either.

 

[digiblur]

I'm not to sure about that. Here is my 2 cents on the subject.

I bet a big part of it is that they can get a better picture using the same amount of bandwidth as the older boxes. The iPhone has a larger screen on it compared to most other devices that were used with the sling player. I used my sling with a windows mobile device prior to the switch to an iPhone and the video was not the best even on the smaller screen. This is most likely the first phase of trying to get these older devices out of circulation. Just wait for the next big release for other devices and I bet they will also not support the older devices anymore either.

Actually the iphone screen resolution is lower than new devices. The iphone is only 320x480. The Touch Pro/Fuze has a 480x640 resolution. The TouchPro 2 will be 480x800.

That was the first thing I noticed on the TouchPro was the high resolution screen compared to my older device that only did 320x480.

 

[JAG72]

Actually the iphone screen resolution is lower than new devices. The iphone is only 320x480. The Touch Pro/Fuze has a 480x640 resolution. The TouchPro 2 will be 480x800.

That was the first thing I noticed on the TouchPro was the high resolution screen compared to my older device that only did 320x480.

Were did I say anything about resolution? I said screen size not resolution.

 

[JAG72]

Actually the iphone screen resolution is lower than new devices. The iphone is only 320x480. The Touch Pro/Fuze has a 480x640 resolution. The TouchPro 2 will be 480x800.

That was the first thing I noticed on the TouchPro was the high resolution screen compared to my older device that only did 320x480.

What good is 480x800 on a typical 2 to 3" screen? Can the human eye even detect a difference going from 320x480 to 480x800 on such a small screen? I can see the difference on larger screens but when you are talking this small I am not 100% sold that there is really much of a difference to the naked eye.

 

[skottey]

I'm not to sure about that. Here is my 2 cents on the subject.

I bet a big part of it is that they can get a better picture using the same amount of bandwidth as the older boxes. The iPhone has a larger screen on it compared to most other devices that were used with the sling player. I used my sling with a windows mobile device prior to the switch to an iPhone and the video was not the best even on the smaller screen. This is most likely the first phase of trying to get these older devices out of circulation. Just wait for the next big release for other devices and I bet they will also not support the older devices anymore either.

Assuming your old Windows Mobile device is 3G like your iphone (which it may not be), you should be getting at least 1.5Mbps download on the 3G device in the city on the 3G network (not when it is hitting the Edge network). That is plenty of bandwidth for even the Slingbox Classic to look pretty good. The bottleneck is most likely a limitation of your home broadband connection. Many broadband upload speeds are only 512, which is only a third of the download you are getting to your actual phone. I personally have a 2Mbps upload at home, so unless I throttle the slingbox down, I am getting the 1.5 on my phone around town in the 3G network where the average consumer broadband at home would only be getting 512 up at home, which would be 512 down on the Slingbox stream outside the home to the phone or computer.

You could be right that the newest Slingbox will make better use of the bandwidth under the assumption most people get 512. But just like watching Slingbox within your home at higher than 512, the Slingbox looks a lot better at 1.5 on a phone. It makes a difference.

I have tethered my laptop to my PDA and watched Slingbox from my laptop and it looks pretty good on the larger screen. At 1.5 on the 3G network it looks almost as good as latching onto a wireless network and getting close to my limit of 2Mbps upload at home. There is a lot of difference between 512 and 1.5, and not so much difference between 1.5 and 2.

Either way, I understand what you are saying about making better use of the bandwidth on a newer Slingbox. In a way it will be sort of an optical illusion too. Somebody with a Slingbox Classic connected to their Windows Mobile phone over ATT's 3G won't look as good as a brand new Slingbox connected to a iphone. But the brand new Slingbox would look just as good connected to a ATT 3G Windows Mobile phone. But of course Apple will not compare apples to apples, they will compare apples to oranges. They will demonstrate and say, "see, ours looks better" with their newer Slingbox with better compression connected to the iphone while they are demonstrating a Slingbox Classic connected to a 2.5G Windows Mobile phone. Of course it will look better. I understand the game. You may be right.

 

[tfultz]

I have had both WinMobile phones and an iPhone. I could not disagree with you more. The iPhone is everything not only a PDA should be, but everything that every device and/or appliance should be. It is the antithesis of everything that has gone wrong with the consumer electronics industry in the last decade or so.

My advice to everybody here: If viewing Sling streams on your cell phone is that important to you, and you have an iPhone, simply upgrade your SlingBox. Giving up your iPhone would be like cutting off your very functional, well-made, and easy-to-use nose to spite your face.

I agree 100%. I have had WinMo phones for 5 years now and I just changed my personal phone from a HTC Fuze to a IPhone. What a difference. The thing actually works. No reboots, it answers when someone calls and most of the software is under $5 and actually functions.

 

[digiblur]

Were did I say anything about resolution? I said screen size not resolution.

They aren't going to change a stream type just because a screen is a larger physical size...is what I was getting at.

What good is 480x800 on a typical 2 to 3" screen? Can the human eye even detect a difference going from 320x480 to 480x800 on such a small screen? I can see the difference on larger screens but when you are talking this small I am not 100% sold that there is really much of a difference to the naked eye.

There's a huge difference that anyone can see. I put the my new 480x640 device next to my 320x480 device on the same screen in Windows Mobile and there is a big difference. Especially in pictures and high quality YouTube videos. To be honest it was like going from SD to HD when watching YouTube videos on the 480x640 device.

 

[JAG72]

They aren't going to change a stream type just because a screen is a larger physical size...is what I was getting at.

Why not? If an SD television signal looks fine with its compression on a 13" TV and looks like crap on a 27 to 36" TV wouldn't you want them to change the way they are sending you the signal? Compress the stream with a more efficient method and make all of your customers happy from the smallest of screens to the largest ones.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

As far as Windows Mobile, it isn't sexy, it is functional. It isn't supposed to be sexy for god sakes, it is a phone OS!

Windows Mobile has fallen shockingly behind every mobile OS out there except for maybe the original Palm OS. Microsoft, again, thought it could rest on its laurels and got out-innovated by Apple, Google, and even Palm. Now they're scrambling to catch up, but the mobile world has moved on.

Microsoft's grand idea of cloning a desktop OS in a mobile form factor was also a complete failure in terms of usability. Having to switch between a stylus and a touchscreen and a scroll mouse and hard-wired keys is both schizophrenic and annoying. It's amusing how some vendors, locked into WinMo, have tried to copy Apple and Google by offering partial touchscreen interfaces. Changing the orientation of the phone makes it look and act like a completely different device (yeah, HTC Fuze, I'm writing about you). It's just bizarre.

 

[skottey]

Windows Mobile has fallen shockingly behind every mobile OS out there except for maybe the original Palm OS. Microsoft, again, thought it could rest on its laurels and got out-innovated by Apple, Google, and even Palm. Now they're scrambling to catch up, but the mobile world has moved on.

Microsoft's grand idea of cloning a desktop OS in a mobile form factor was also a complete failure in terms of usability. Having to switch between a stylus and a touchscreen and a scroll mouse and hard-wired keys is both schizophrenic and annoying. It's amusing how some vendors, locked into WinMo, have tried to copy Apple and Google by offering partial touchscreen interfaces. Changing the orientation of the phone makes it look and act like a completely different device (yeah, HTC Fuze, I'm writing about you). It's just bizarre.

Isn't it great that we are all entitled to our own opinion? Gotta love that we have a choice in so many phone OS's.

 

[GaryPen]

It really boils down to what you use your device for. I am of the opinion that the iphone is not a good business tool. <yadda yadda>

But again, it depends on personal choice and your needs. If the Apple iphone makes you happy, fine. The only other thing I can say is that I have been using my slingboxes, both a first gen and a second generation highest model for a few years on my Windows Mobile PDA phones. This is all old to me. I'm sure part of the reason the Slingbox app for the iphone won't work on the older slingboxes has something to do with Apples tight control over the apps. If that is acceptable to you, fine.

I've been Slinging for years, as well. So, this crap ain't new to me either. And, I've been doing it on WinMo phones, as well. (Odd that you Sling on your "I use my phone for business and not as an entertainment device" PDA, though.)

I too prefer to use my cell phone primarily for simple calling, texting, email, and web. And, the iPhone simply blows away WinMo phones in all those categories. Hands down. No contest. Visual voicemail is just gravy on the cake.

I'm not sure what iPhone you played with. But, the one that exists on this planet is simply better than any WinMo phone out there. And, I'm not one of those crazy Mac idiots, either. I don't fall for trends or fads. That's why I didn't jump on the 1st Gen iPhone, and didn't get an iPod until the 5th Gen or so.

I simply recognize a good product when I see it. I am neither attracted nor repelled by hype. I simply see through it, and judge things on their own merits. And, the iPhone has merits out the kazoo.