Mickey Papillon

SlingPlayer for iPhone Review

Since 2005, Sling Media has been offering the Slingbox as a way to watch your television content on the go, through an Internet enabled device such as a laptop or mobile phone.  The process is simple, you connect the Slingbox to some sort of video device such as aDVR or cable connection, and to a broadband router.  Then launch the SlingPlayer software on your computer, and it walks you through the steps to start “slinging”, or streaming your TV content to you, where ever you are.  The SlingPlayer software has been expanded over the past few years to include phones running Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and Blackberry.  However, the media king, the iPhone, has been conspicuously missing.  There arguably hasn’t been a more anticipated and hyped application for the iPhone than the SlingPlayer, so keep reading to see how it stacks up in real world testing.  The application is available for purchase through theiTunes application store for $29.99.  More information about SlingMedia, the Slingbox and SlingPlayer at www.slingmedia.com

About the Application
The SlingPlayer has been out for various mobile operating systems for the past 4 years, and has always allowed the consumer to use the service with either theWi-Fi connection, or the cellular data connection of the handset.  With the advent of the iTunes distribution model for the iPhone, all applications are now certified and approved by Apple before they ever reach the iPhone.  Because of this, Apple has taken direction from AT&T on what is deemed “approved” for use on their network, and unfortunately, SlingPlayer for the iPhone is only available for use onWi-Fi networks.  More on that later.

How to use the Application
As the Slingbox is essentially a controller for whatever media device it is connected to, there are multiple functions to control the various aspects of the box.  The SlingPlayer for iPhone gives you multiple options upon launch, including the ability to configure the application to connect to your Sling account, and automatically pull the information about your Slingbox(es) into the device for immediate use.  I find this feature very handy as I have multipleSlingboxes in different states that are viewed using many different devices.  The ability to automatically load these without entering the extremely lengthy Sling ID is invaluable.  You are also presented with various settings to choose how you want to interact with the application, such as toggling whether you want to automatically connect to the Slingbox upon launch.

Once logged in to your account, you can then choose to go back in to edit your settings, connect to the last connected Slingbox, go into the directory of Slingboxes you have configured, or visit the Help menu.

The Slingbox Directory shows all available configured Slinboxes.

A decent Help menu, giving you tutorials and assistance with the various features and functions.

After a Slingbox has been chosen, depending on the speed of your connection, the application will Locate, Optimize, and then connect.  This process takes a bit longer on the iPhone than other devices I have tried in the past, and there is more buffering or optimizing done due to what appears to be a more optimized display of the content.

Once viewing the stream, the quality is actually quite good.  Compared to larger devices (such as laptops) viewing the stream while in a remote location, thepixelation is much less, and the stream is very smooth and easy on the eyes.  The audio quality is good as well.

Tapping the screen brings up some options while in the stream, including the ability to set favorites, pull up an onscreen remote, or selecting other options for that particular Slingbox.  Volume is controlled by the hardware volume controls of the iPhone, and changing channels is done by simply swiping up or down on the screen.  However, the time it takes to change the channel is about 5-10 seconds, so channel surfing is not as fluid as one would hope.

Use of the Application when away from Wi-Fi
While I can not officially condone what I am about to describe, it should be noted that the following method does allow the use of the SlingPlayer while away fromWi-Fi coverage.  A process known as Jailbreaking the iPhone allows for non-approved third party software to be installed, along with applications that change the way the iPhone interacts with it’s programs.  One of these programs is calledVOIPOver3G, and it will trick the iPhone into thinking that it is still on Wi-Fi , and allow the SlingPlayer application to connect to the host Slingbox even over a 3G connection.  It should be noted though that the speed of use, as well as the quality of stream is degraded due to the limited bandwidth.  However, if using the app outside of aWi-Fi hotspot is desired, this method has been proven.

Real world use Statistics
Once you have your iPhone connected and slinging your television content, you’ll want to know how long you can watch it.  In my testing, I found that over aWi-Fi connection, every 30 minutes of streaming used approximately 15-20% of the battery.  A full hour of slinging dropped my battery’s charge 35%.  In a test over the 3G network, 20% usage every 30 minutes seems to be the average.  So look for approximately 2 hours of continuous streaming on a fully charged battery before you need to start looking for a charger.  One other point to note is that while AT&T has restricted the use of the SlingPlayer on it’s 3G network, the real issue for theJailbroken user will come when they exceed the 5GB monthly data cap.  During the tests done over 3G, each minute of streaming from a Slingbox with a 3Mb/sec upstream cable connection used approximately 3MB of data per minute.  Subsequently, almost 100MB of data were pushed over the AT&T 3G network every 30 minutes, meaning that a user would easily hit their monthly data cap with only 1 hour per day of usage over the AT&T network.  You’ve been warned.

Overall
This is the first version of the SlingPlayer software for the iPhone, and while it has its bugs, it certainly works as advertised.  Using the service over aWi-Fi connection yields a good experience for constant viewing of one channel.  My only hope is that future versions of the application will reduce some of the “Optimization” that occurs while changing channels, to cut down on the delay.