Yours truly has frequently accused people warning about mobile network capacity overloading of peddling snake oil. Unfortunately, I have to apologize – the s#it just hit the fan at AT&T’s.
Mobility Today reports the following:
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This is one of the best mobile players we have ever developed and we’re offering it for just $29.99. It sports a super slick interface, great video quality, plus lots of new features. SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone is Wi-Fi only at Apple’s request.
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AT&T confirmed that capacity eekers are the reason for the ban:
“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 redirect a TV signal to a personal computer, are specifically prohibited under our terms of service. We consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.
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Obviously, the situation is different from carrier to carrier (read: some carriers have more problems than others)…but it could get sticky in the long run. Apple developers are advised to refrain from developing bandwidth-intensive apps for the iPhone…
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