It is one of the most anticipated and debated SlingPlayer applications ever.  Many have questioned if it would ever see the light of day - Would Apple approve it?  Would Sling develop it or support it? 

Well, SlingPlayer for the iPhone is finally here with an all new touch screen interfaceand automatic configurations via SlingAccounts.  Unfortunately, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone will only work over WiFi.  I'll cover the basics of this cool new app and give you a sneak preview of what you'll find.

SlingPlayer for iPhone Basics

Upon starting SlingPlayer for iPhone / iPod Touch, you'll be asked to log into your SlingAccount (or once you are set up, you will automatically log in and start streaming).  You don't have to use Sling Accounts, though it does make things a lot easier.  To set up your Slingbox manually just hit cancel and you'll be taken to a screen where you can enter your Slingbox information either via Finder ID or IP address and port.  One thing to note though is that you can only save one manually configured Slingbox at this time.

SlingPlayer for iPhone heavily relies on SlingAccounts.  If you are a Mac only user, it would be best to somehow get a Windows machine and configure all your Slingboxes in SlingPlayer 2.0 before using the iPhone App.  You can add Slingboxes via the website (http://slingaccounts.slingmedia.com/), but you can't add any settings like favorites or passwords.  Anything you set up in SlingAccounts will automatically show up on your iPhone, and that's a nice feature when it comes to a small mobile device.

Once logged in to your account you'll be able to bring up a directory of your Slingboxes.  You will then simply be able to select which box you want to use (they are indicated by graphics showing which box you are selecting) and next thing you know, you're streaming TV to your iPhone or iPod Touch.  The display will only show 3 boxes at a time, but if you have more just wipe up or down with your finger and the directory will scroll.

Sling has done a nice job of integrating the iPhone's touch screen into the software.  If you swipe up, the channel will change upward.  Swipe down and you go down a channel.  Swiping left or right take you through your favorites that you have set up.  Tapping the screen while streaming brings up the SlingPlayer menu. The menu selections even change depending upon which device you use. 

On top of that, Sling has developed a new On Screen Display (OSD) control pad that allows you to easily control your DVR and go through menus while still being able to see the video.  It's a very nice feature.  All the menus are semi-translucent meaning you can see through them for the most part.

One thing you won't see in SlingPlayer Mobile iPhone is any sort of ability to control the stream settings, image size, bit rate, etc.  The only option is standard or high quality, and you can also change the quality of the audio in the same manner.  That's it.  Simplicity is the mindset here. 

Also, you won't see any statistics displays showing stream rate or frames per second.  For those of us used to seeing this information it can be somewhat disconcerting, but you get used to it after a while.

Quality and Other Features

The image quality in SlingPlayer iPhone is excellent.  The program only supports 320 x 240 video but it does a good job with it.  One thing to note is that the software does limit the WiFi streaming bandwidth to 500 kbps.  The reason for this is that the iPhone, while a great device, has limited resources, and with speeds over 500 kpbs, problems with stability may start to arise.  The image quality does not improve all that much as you go above 500 Kbps, and so the risk to the stability and user experience was determined to not be worth the tiny improvement in PQ.   

One other thing to note is that all video on the iPhone runs at a frame rate of 15 frames per second.  I forget if the Windows Mobile version can run higher, but I've seen the iPhone try to do 30 frames per second with SlingPlayer Mobile and it ain't pretty.  The iPhone just can't handle it.  The 15 frames per second cap is not really noticeable and won't be an issue for most people.

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone always operates in "landscape" mode on the phone, and the screen will rotate if you flip the orientation 180 degrees.  Unlike the Windows Mobile client, there is no orientation for the display when holding the phone upright.  If you do that, you'll have to tilt your head right or left to see the video!

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