AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

ATT is now saying that after working through things with Sling Media, the next update for the iPhone app will support 3G streaming. Let me repeat: once the update is available, you can stream video over ATT's 3G network using the iPhone app Slingplayer. You pay $30 for an app, you kind of expect to be able to use it when you want to, where you want to, and how you want to, right? Well, if you're like me and you play $30 for the Slingplayer, you had to be tethered to a Wi-Fi access point or hotspot. Well enough since just about everywhere these days have a wireless hotspot.  Starbucks, MacDonalds, Borders, and Barnes And Noble. What if you're not frequenting these social places or anywhere else where Wi-Fi access is unavailable? Well, you're out of luck. What changed? Techno-magic. It's as simple as that. I'm not kidding. This is what ATT said in their press release: AT&T been been working collaboratively with Sling Media since December to tes...

It's done.  Slingplayer is now working with T-Mobile's T-Zone. But as you probably guessed, it didn't work right out of the box...ah...download.  It took some tweaking, frantic calls to Dave the mobile warrior, and persistence to get it finally working. It simply irks me that in this day and age we are limited by terms dedicated by self-professed wireless overlords who are fine with milking what they can from us with public spectrum.  But that's another issue.  The main issue is that I refuse to abide by those terms.  And I whole-heartedly encourage my fellow mobile warriors to put ATT on notice.  In your own manners. Now, back to Slingplayer.  I'm putting together a video that I'll have on youtube tonight or tomorrow showing Slingplayer for the iPhone working on the wireless network.  You'll notice it's on T-Mobile and not ATT.  Well, others have gotten Slingplayer to work on ATT's 3G network. Quality.  How is it?  Well, it...

I am not an attorney and I know no more about the law than the average mobile warrior. However, can ATT's crippling of iPhone's Sling app end up being in the courts? I think that is a possible scenario given that Sling's attorneys or iPhone users can make a case out of this. We all know that Slingplayers on other networks and devices work well enough over 3G networks. ATT's argument against the 3G use with Slingplayer on the iPhone is just utterly nonsense. It's one of those things you say and you struggle to take it back. We'll likely hear more about this in the coming days. And we've yet to mention net neutrality as a critical issue in all this as more and more people rely on their smartphones and mobile devices like the iPhone. Links: Wired , Appleinsider Note: It may be that ATT's argument that the iPhone isn't a smartphone for legal reasons. We doubt they really believe that but we've argued all along that the iPhone is a mobile de...

Hulu's developing an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is according to Business Insider. This is more concrete than rumors because of what we're seeing being approved by Apple for the app store. Granted, the Sling Player has seen the light of day (word in the street, ah, blog world is ATT is rejecting on Apple’s behalf), but this Hulu app should be even better than the Sling Player. CBS’s TV.com app debuted a few weeks ago. Short review: better than nothing. It’s got a way to go but I’ll wager that Hulu app should be better. There are a few more apps like TVU and Joost but programming on Hulu is second to none. This is a great end of the week. Now, my fellow mobile Apple users, keep in mind. Just because they build it doesn’t meant we’ll get it. To this day, no one understands Apple’s app approval process. Sling submitted their app around the same time Skype did theirs and Skype was approved within days. I’m betting Sling will get their app r...