May 14 - 9:00am EDT   AT&T's decision to disallow 3G for the iPhone edition of SlingPlayer may have been motivated as much by desires to quash a competitor as it is to avoid congestion, a claim suggests. Although AT&T's official explanation is that streaming TV consumes too much bandwidth, a tip from Gizmodo purports that the carrier has the ulterior motive of crippling SlingPlayer to protect a future U-verse app. Supposedly called i-Verse, it would let subscribers to AT&T's IPTV service either stream live TV over the 3G network or else play shows already recorded on the DVR. [full story]

April 16 - 11:40am EDT   Sling Media’s SlingPlayer app for the iPhone has been denied approval into Apple’s App Store, according to an unconfirmed tip from a source close to Apple’s approval processes. Although the program was described as an "impressive" application, the tip said that the media application was not approved due to pressure from AT&T executives concerned about effect of the app on the already-strained AT&T cellular network. According to the tip, which could not be confirmed Wednesday night, Apple executives went around the normal approval process to deny approval for the SlingPlayer app to appease AT&T. [full story]

March 27 - 3:55pm EDT   BlackBerry users in the US can now download the full build of the SlingPlayer Mobile application for their handsets, Sling Media announced recently. The full version follows on the heels of the beta build, which was first released back in December. As expected, there are some new features in the full build, including the ability to add or edit paired Slingboxes and Channel Favorites via the program instead of just SlingPlayer 2.0 for Windows. [full story]

January 6 - 1:35am EST   EchoStar's Sling Media on Tuesday announced it will demo a version of SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone at the Expo and will deliver a version of SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone to Apple for certification in Q1. Sling Media also unveiled a prototype of a new SlingPlayer for Mac HD which allows Slingbox PRO-HD users to stream HD to their Mac desktop or laptop computer. The new SlingPlayer for Mac HD is a web-based version of the SlingPlayer software that will be accessible from Sling.com, Sling Media's recently launched video entertainment web site. [full story]

December 18 - 7:50am EST   Sling on Thursday revealed the imminent launch of a public beta for SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry. The app lets BlackBerries with 3G or Wi-Fi stream the video from a Slingbox at home and lets the user remote control any source that supports input from the streaming hub. The feature is meant to help commuters catch TV shows they might miss but also lets users access on-demand content from devices like the Apple TV or TiVos. [full story]

September 10 - 12:45pm EDT   Amazon.com has posted pre-orders for two upcoming pieces of hardware, the SlingCatcher and the Slingbox PRO-HD. The former, priced at $300, is designed to bring media to a TV without a computer or extended cable, and sources from a USB drive, a monitor, or a Slingbox feed. No release date has been set, but the timing of the pre-order suggests a release later this fall. [full story]

August 7 - 3:20pm EDT   Sling Media on Thursday released its long-awaited SlingPlayer 2.0, albeit under the guise of a Public Beta. The new software for Sling Media's Slingbox – a device that brings TV viewing capabilities to users' computers across a network – adds three new features, including a program guide, live video buffer and more comprehensive access to one's account via the Sling Accounts function. The beta program does not include the promised Clip+Sling function, which would let users capture and share TV clips online via Sling.com. [full story]