SlingPlayer for iPhone demoed

By Jessica Dolcourt on 06 January 2009, 2:29pm

Six months after announcing its intention to bring SlingPlayer to the iPhone 3G, Sling Media has been demoing the software at Macworld and hopes to release the final version to the public in the next three months.

Like SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian, UIQ and BlackBerry platforms, this iPhone version will let you access one or more Slingboxes from your mobile device, and watch your TV stations on the go.

You'll also be able to manage your PVR from the iPhone, plus add and remove favourite channels directly from the phone's interface -- a first for the SlingPlayer Mobile line of software.

In our demo, the client streamed live, high-quality video of stations such as MTV on both Wi-Fi and the iPhone's 3G network. Swiping the screen horizontally advances you through favourite stations, and flicking up and down rotates through all your home channels.

Sling Media says it will submit the file to the iTunes AppStore by the end of the March. While Sling Media shared no firm price tag, we would expect it to mirror the $30 (£20) lifetime fee of SlingPlayer Mobile on other platforms.

Before getting too excited, just remember that Apple has been known to kill promising apps, ostensibly for the crime of large data transfers. SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone could suffer the same fate. Assuming it doesn't, the client still faces competition from Orb, whose full version, OrbLive, delivers live TV and media stored on your PC for $10.

For more, you can watch our hands-on video below.