Audio Only and Slideshow Modes

To provide additional flexibility to view and listen to content on the go, Sling has provided two new modes in which to stream. The first is called Slideshow mode, which will stream the video at one frame per second to help when streaming over very low bit-rate networks. The rest of the bandwidth is preserved for audio. While I can't say it's an enjoyable experience to watch video this way, it will work in a pinch. I'd love to see a few adjustments, like a setting for one, five, or ten frames per second.







Your other option is an audio only mode. If you just want to listen to something like a news program, or simply stream a music channel from your cable or satellite box, this mode will cut off the video stream, and devote every bit available to audio quality. It's actually very useful.

Performance

Here's where SlingPlayer Mobile truly shines. With available bandwidth of 200Kbps or more, the video quality will sail along at a smooth 29 or 30 frames per second the entire time. Occasionally the video will hiccup, even when slinging from my LAN, and when it did, it was brief. It is still a BETA version of the software, so I can only imagine that the streaming quality will improve as it gets closer to the final release. Slinging over the web also proved to be a pleasant experience. Even on my LAN, the Streaming rate tended to float between 190 and 225 Kbps. Performance using 1xRTT will be questionable, but EDGE speeds actually gave decent results. If you're tethered via EVDO or UMTS, you'll have no problems whatsoever.

Audio consistency and quality is equally important, since it's more irritating when the audio is interrupted than the video. Through my many hours of testing, I only had one or two occasions where the audio was interrupted, but like the video, it quickly resumed to normal. I'd expect to see a little extra work go into the overall audio quality. Even at the high setting, it always seemed like there was a small amount of echo present when listening through headphones, but it won't be noticeable if you're using the built-in speaker on your device.

Battery life will highly vary on the device, but with the HP iPaq I was testing with, I got nearly four hours of full screen playback with the sound cranked on the internal speaker. I honestly didn't expect to get more than two and a half; either I underestimated the iPaq's battery, or how much of a power hog the SlingPlayer Mobile application would be.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that this is currently the best mobile viewing solution in the market. The video playback is excellent, and the ability to fully control over five thousand devices is currently unmatched by any other mobile television solution. It's also amazing that Sling was able to almost duplicate the same quality experience you get using their PC software on a mobile device, and if we know Sling, it'll just get better over time.

The rumored fee for the mobile software has been debated in the SlingCommunity forums for months now, and it's no surprise that it will upset many prospective Sling owners. Luckily, an asking price of $29.99 is not unreasonable, and shouldn't be enough to sway future customers as long as the fee is known in advance. However, one has to applaud Sling for decision to grandfather the existing customer base, and provide a free copy of the client to anyone that has registered his or her Slingbox prior to April 26th (if you've ever needed motivation to buy, here it is). It looks like the new precedent going forward is that future platform developments will have a price tag associated with them. It'll be interesting to see if this new pricing strategy holds true for desktop clients (like Mac and Linux) as well as future mobile platforms like J2ME and PSP (here's hoping!).

Speaking as an early adopter of the Slingbox, I can say that it has thusfar been quite a journey. I can't think of any product I've ever owned that has been anywhere near as exciting, or involving, as the Slingbox. I know many have been pained by the long wait, but rest assured, SlingPlayer Mobile is here... and it doesn't disappoint.

Page « Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6