Finally, Slingbox has added a mobile option; SlingPlayer Mobile beta rolled out today as a trial. The first version is for network-enabled mobile phones or PDAs powered by Windows Mobile. Owners who purchase and register the Slingbox before April 30 will get Slingbox Mobile without additional cost. Not so for those who come after, unless Slingbox rethinks the idea of charging people who just bought a $200-250 device another $30 to use it on a mobile instead of a laptop. Done right, this should add to the Slingbox’s attraction—and the disruption factor as carriers join TV execs concerned about the location-shifting technology. Press release.
—Om Malik is irked because it’s Windows only and calls the plan to charge for the mobile player “just a bad idea.”
—David Pogue tested Slingbox and the new mobile.
I’ll report back after my own tests with a new Cingular 8125 Pocket PC/phone.