SlingPlayer coming to Pre "at or near launch"?

webOS' web technology-based app architecture seems to become less and less of an issue by the day; most of our fears were allayed the moment we saw Classic break cover, and this is another strong sign that the Pre's going to be able to handle just about any multimedia-rich stuff we throw at it. A Sprint-sourced page out of a Pre slide deck entitled "The Pre Application Story" lists a series of "showcase apps" that the carrier thinks (or, at the very least, optimistically hopes) will be available around the time of the phone's launch, and the most interesting thing on here has to be a listing for Sling Media -- you know, those cats making Slingboxes and SlingPlayer builds. Beyond that, we don't have anything -- it could be 3G or WiFi-only (though the fact that this is on a Sprint slide gives us hope that they'll leave EV-DO enabled), it could launch next month or next year, and for all we know, it only works with boxes that aren't even out yet. It'll be kind of cool to see this app running as a card on the Pre's interface, won't it?

[Thanks, sdafdsfasdf]

[Gi @ May 22nd 2009 4:02PM]

hmm intuit as in QB?

[Justin Williams @ May 22nd 2009 5:18PM]

My guess is that it will be similar to the iphone app where it is only usable with their online service.

[Freakin Ijit @ May 22nd 2009 4:02PM]

The important little app there is "Loopt", the one that McNamee didn't mention by name but referenced with:

>>> It knows where you are, where you're going, it'll send an
>>> email if you're going to be late to all your collegues" etc etc etc

Now we know HOW the Pre is going to be doing that.

[Level 5 @ May 23rd 2009 5:27PM]

The only thing that irritates me about Loopt is that they only support a few smartphone platforms. No Symbian, no WinMo; but all the crappy LG/Samsung/Moto non-smartphones have it. I dunno.. at that point, give me Google Latitude. It'll catch up to Loopt's features before the Loopt team adds platform support.

[james rose @ May 22nd 2009 4:04PM]

nice...bring it on!

yes ONE MORE reason to get a Pre!

[Windzilla @ May 22nd 2009 7:24PM]

I thought one of the advantages of the pre was its palm emulator with (supposed) compatibility for tens of thousands of palmOS apps, which would include slingplayer, epocrates yadda yadda.

I mean if you can kind-of get those difficult to run programs working on a Nokia tablet with the Garnet emulator I would assume that the pre would handle slingplayer without issue.

[Phoenix @ May 23rd 2009 6:53AM]

those are applications with old interfaces that might be a little hard to control. Rather than buying the emulator and the old version, it makes more sense (for a new user) to get the NEW version, with the UI enhancements and support for webOS's features.

[liam devlin @ May 22nd 2009 4:03PM]

And a big thanks for the information from me too, sdafdsfasdf. Whoever you are. :)

[Guru @ May 22nd 2009 4:04PM]

Overated!

[lxuke @ May 22nd 2009 4:05PM]

idk my bff jill?

[Jonathan @ May 22nd 2009 4:07PM]

Craigslist as two words makes me chuckle.

[Dragonfly @ May 22nd 2009 4:07PM]

Interesting to see Electronic Arts on the list. Hmmm, interesting, maybe the Pre can handle games after all.

[Ruben @ May 22nd 2009 4:08PM]

If it can, im switching from my Touch Pro.

I'm going to let the dust settle (and Bell to actually get them) before I make the final decision.

[UniBroW @ May 22nd 2009 4:11PM]

gah I want to replace my Centro with one of these in the worst way....I'll probably be getting a gen 2 next year as I have 1 more year on my contract essentially. (9months)

[neodorian @ May 22nd 2009 4:45PM]

I'm not out of contract until October but I will gladly pay the less-subsidized price for this phone. Been looking for something this capable for a while.

[Elusive @ May 22nd 2009 4:13PM]

Please please stop talking about the Pre! I hate the Pre already.

[Johnny @ May 22nd 2009 4:24PM]

Maybe they'll make a Pre-Free link like they did with the iPhone. Really, though, just don't read it.

[hitsthings @ May 22nd 2009 8:44PM]

Amen, Johnny.

[p3t3b2 @ May 22nd 2009 4:19PM]

Mark/Space, they developed The Missing Sync which allows devices to sync with a MAC. http://www.markspace.com/

Also, of course the Pre can play games, read up on the CPU.

[Nathan @ May 22nd 2009 11:42PM]

It was never a question of whether the hardware could support gaming, rather the question is whether the SDK allows access to all of the hardware. It sounded as if the SDK basically was just for making glorified web apps.

[dkotoric1 @ May 22nd 2009 4:21PM]

yes this is what I've been waiting for, can't wait for the pre

[Jonathan @ May 22nd 2009 4:22PM]

Only a few of those apps get me excited, which is a shame. But I know more will come so it's ok.

What is Electronic Arts doing there...

[p3t3b2 @ May 22nd 2009 4:31PM]

Electronic Arts is there because they are Partners with Palm, as some have suspected a fews months ago, EA will be developing games for the Pre.

[Mike @ May 22nd 2009 4:35PM]

nice

[paezbak @ May 22nd 2009 4:43PM]

i dont get it how these people scrutinize every single document out there....

[onurkillinc @ May 22nd 2009 4:49PM]

when is the GSM versionnnnnnnnnn?

[wrabbit @ May 22nd 2009 5:05PM]

I've been saying it from the start - people seriously underestimate the capabilities of javascript today. It's no longer just a way to make mouseover effects, it's a flexible and robust language. Sure, it's not C, but for 99% of the apps it doesn't have to be.

[krische @ May 22nd 2009 5:44PM]

What I would really love to see is a Netflix app so I can stream movies right onto my phone.

[FreeRange @ May 22nd 2009 5:59PM]

Might sound silly but I've got my xbox 360 connected to my slingbox so I can watch the netflix movies through that on my blackberry.

[bulls96 @ May 22nd 2009 5:55PM]

Mark/Space! i smell Mac syncing somewhere!

[bulls96 @ May 22nd 2009 5:56PM]

epocrates and webMD are definitely pluses for doctors!!

[hey @ May 22nd 2009 6:16PM]

Anyone else notice DataViz on there? Does this really mean that the beloved Documents to Go on my Centro will be on there? Awesome if it is...

[Bear @ May 22nd 2009 8:08PM]

It would be interesting if Sprint and the Pre support Sling on 3G... Since AT&T and Apple have disabled Sling on AT&T's network.

[Tom G @ May 23rd 2009 6:06AM]

If they do support sing 'over the air' this could be a big decider for some people. Wifi just isn't enough freedom. In the UK our 3G network is perfectly capible of supporting video streaming, I hate the way that just because ATT can't get it right, they punish (literally) the rest of the world with limited capabilities...

[chefgon_ign @ May 22nd 2009 10:30PM]

I still totally disagree with Palm's assertion that using web technologies makes apps on Pre easier to write. I'm a professional developer and trying to write a worthwhile app in HTML and Javascript is a hundred times harder than with C++ or Java.

[bighap @ May 22nd 2009 11:28PM]

This is BS. The Blackberry Storm has been out since November and Sling still isn't supported.

[Dirtdawg1990 @ May 23rd 2009 11:59AM]

Forget Sling.

Orb is free and works with pretty much any phone. All you need is a cable card in your PC.

http://www.orb.com/

[Gadget Guy @ May 23rd 2009 2:43PM]

That's the understatement of the year. "All you need is a cable card in your PC." Really? Those are not available, Orb is a hack, Sling works with any video equipment - from cameras to STB's, to TiVo's with cable cards.

I've tried Orb with ATSC boards, clear QAM HD Homerun, etc. It's no more than a file transcoder that hogs CPU cycles on a "tower PC" that you've gotten rid of 5 years ago when you got your notebook. You're not going to get encrypted cable content via Orb.

This is good news to see Sling on a new platform, but we've all moved onto Boxee now haven't we.

[Justin @ May 23rd 2009 4:33PM]

Interesting to see portions of docs I've seen posted here on Engadget. A bit surreal, actually.