I waited so long for this that I have actually liquidated my Slingbox Pro on eBay a few months ago. This would have been the perfect opportunity to use the EVO 4's silly kickstand!
Slingplayer Mobile on my PalmOS Treo 700P was a huge feature that I wanted in my next smartphone.
I would use the player to watch shows in bed as I was drifting off to sleep, or watch breaking news events. I was driving home the day the bridge fell in Minneapolis and was able to see live video while stuck in LA traffic on my commute.
iPhone, Palm OS, Blackberry and Windows Mobile have supported SlingPlayer Mobile for some time. Each of these solutions is flawed in a serious way:
iPhone- WiFi only. Like so many other apps in the ATT / Apple walled garden, this is LAME.
Sling announced this week at CES it will support Adobe Flash 10.1. Devices with Flash 10 support will be able to view Sling Player content on their desktop or mobile devices. Word is this will only work with Slingbox® Pro-HD and Slingbox SOLO. I believe Sling tried restricting which devices would work with the iPhone when the app was released and eventually supported all Sling Devices.
I have sold my SlingPlayer Pro on eBay anticipating Sling wold never get around to supporting Android. I may be shopping for a new Sling in the near future when Android 2.1 comes to the Samsung Moment in the first half of 2010.
I imagine you were as shocked as I was that Google didn't take the bull by the horns and come out swinging with its Android App Market. What better way to arrive on the scene than offer something Apple has put the kibosh on? Apple likely sees Slingbox as a threat to Apple TV or their rumored DVR efforts.
Sling has already shown a "Proof of Concept" at the WWDC (well actually in a back alley next to a Starbucks).
The question is, Why wouldn't Google "encourage" Sling to come to the Android platform?
Enough with the speculation, Tell Sling yourselves! Vote on their feedback forum. There are currently only 12 votes for Android versus 228 for iPhone. Make a difference! ROCK THE VOTE! 11/19/08 Update: There are now 255 votes for SlingPlayer on the Android platform! It is the 3rd ranked idea! Sling has yet to review the idea, but I did have a visit today from an IP inside Google Corp! Hopefully they will push Sling into action!
11/3/08 Update: You have moved the needle! There are currently 84 votes on the Sling feedback forum for Android support. They have not started to review the idea, but it is the #6 idea and has been the top "hot" idea for the past couple days. Sling.com is still in beta and will launch soon. Please keep voting for Android Slingbox support. If you have a beta account, please login when you vote.