Sprint Embracing, Not Fighting, Place Shifting

from the does-somebody-understand? dept

Thu, May 25th 2006 10:21am — Carlo Longino

While some mobile operators are convinced that companies need to get their permission before releasing services that can be used on their networks, it sounds like Sprint recognizes the value that place-shifting media services like Sling and Orb can add to its network. It's in talks with Sling about how to use and enhance the service for its customers, realizing that encouraging such services will make its network more attractive to consumers than those of its rivals who look to limit what people can do to services they've approved and from which they can profit. It's not wholly unprecedented from Sprint, which said a year ago it would give its DSL customers similar services from Orb Networks. At a time when so many telecommunications providers want to cut off content providers and make their networks less valuable, it's nice to see one recognizing that supporting the use of innovative services is a better way.

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14 Comments

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Ajax 4Hire, 25 May 2006 @ 10:33am

Place-Shift? sounds shifty, to me, neenee, I'm fir
What is place-shifting?
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Scott, 25 May 2006 @ 10:36am

Re: Place-Shift? sounds shifty, to me, neenee, I'm
Place shifting is akin to time-shifting, but rather than watch a program at a later time, you get it to follow you where you are. Google SlingBox for more info.
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Jon, 25 May 2006 @ 11:11am

Given my experience with Sprint, I have to ask.. What's the catch? Is this a new leaf or do they have something synister lurking beneath the surface of this friendly facade?
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GDog, 25 May 2006 @ 11:33am

Sprint=sinister Just because they're giving us what we want, doesn't mean they'll do it how we want them to. I know the PR guys at Sprint can read blogs just like anyone else, because they can't think up these ideas. Their technology always has a great price attached.

I'm guessing you can upload a show to your phone, but you have to pay $250 / or it'll be free if you watch it for 2 years with a commitment.
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Scott, 25 May 2006 @ 11:41am

Sprint doesn't get it.
Sprint charges monthly fees to use aim
monthly fees to use msn
monthly fees to use yahoo
monthly fees for each ringtone you download (you dont just pay once like everyone else)
monthly fees to have wallpapers
monthly fees for games
monthly fees for any other apps
monthly fee for internet access
monthly fee to send or recieve picture mail
etc etc etc...

If i were to use all the features that I would like to use on my phone.. it would probably cost me $500 a month
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greg, 25 May 2006 @ 12:11pm

i have no problem getting all of that for free fro
my sero plan is, base, $30/mo for 500min, free roaming, free aim/msn/yahoo msging, unlimited PCS Vision (including internet access and picture mail). i've put plenty of ringtones directly onto my phone for free. could do the same with wallpapers and apps. i'm not stupid enough to only buy the ones that sprint sells directly. there are plenty of places to download them for free and then load onto my phone.

i use orb on my a900 reguarly. it doesn't cost me a damn thing extra. i just log into my orb account and stream to the phone via EVDO. plenty of people do (lots of thread on it at sprintusers.com).

i'm not a sprint apologist, but if you're not savvy enough to look around and find out how to take advantage of what you can have from sprint for free (or inexpensively), that's on *you,* not on sprint.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 May 2006 @ 12:47pm

Ringtones...
Make your own ring tones for free!!! (no, this is not a gimmick)

I don't believe it either. I think that Sprint has something up their sleeve. They always have fees for everything. So, here's one link I love to spread, no matter what network you are using.

http://msn-cnet.com.com/Make-your-own-ring-tones/1200-12358_4-5160596.html?part=msn-cnet&a mp;subj=dl&tag=dl
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anonymous coward, 25 May 2006 @ 12:50pm

they'll give you free wireless network apps until they become popular and the traffic volume requires infrastructure investment. then your all-you-can-eat plan will quickly become a pay-per-byte plan.
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Ace, 25 May 2006 @ 1:21pm

Bollocks
My opinion is that Sprint is 100% BS. This is just another thing they're going to stick it to you when the bill comes out. When I wised up and realized being a Sprint customer is a bad idea, my monthly mobile bill dropped $60 a month -- and I got twice the minutes. Anything that comes from Sprint has a very very long string attached. I bet this ends up costing folks at least another $5 a month.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2006 @ 6:13am

another consideration
Missing from this article is the legality of place shifting relative to your TOU/TOS with your broadband provider. In most cases running a 'server' is against the acceptable use policy of most broadband providers so overlooking for now the content owner and other issues place shifting will never be allowed to catch on since the bb provders will most likely kill it before it kills their network.

From a technical perspective these networks, even the most advanced, where never designed to have massive upstream content and if everyone place shifts it will cripple the capacity.

You may not like the above but if you read your broadband contracts I think you will see my point.
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flan4u, 26 May 2006 @ 10:26am

Re: another consideration
Although these services work in a similar way to a server, they are considered to be no more than a remote access portal for personal use. I haven't seen a TOS that disallows these kinds of services.

I have used both products mentioned and I think that Orb is better suited for use on a phone than Slingbox is.

However, why would anyone want to watch TV on their phones 2in. screen? Sure it's cool, but what's the purpose?
Listening to your music collection might be an advantage if your phone sounds decent, but I'm sure that if there isn't a monthly fee for this service, you will still have to pay extra for data transfer.
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flan4u, 26 May 2006 @ 10:27am

Re: another consideration
Although these services work in a similar way to a server, they are considered to be no more than a remote access portal for personal use. I haven't seen a TOS that disallows these kinds of services.

I have used both products mentioned and I think that Orb is better suited for use on a phone than Slingbox is.

However, why would anyone want to watch TV on their phones 2in. screen? Sure it's cool, but what's the purpose?
Listening to your music collection might be an advantage if your phone sounds decent, but I'm sure that if there isn't a monthly fee for this service, you will still have to pay extra for data transfer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
flan4u, 26 May 2006 @ 10:28am

Re: another consideration
Although these services work in a similar way to a server, they are considered to be no more than a remote access portal for personal use. I haven't seen a TOS that disallows these kinds of services.

I have used both products mentioned and I think that Orb is better suited for use on a phone than Slingbox is.

However, why would anyone want to watch TV on their phones 2in. screen? Sure it's cool, but what's the purpose?
Listening to your music collection might be an advantage if your phone sounds decent, but I'm sure that if there isn't a monthly fee for this service, you will still have to pay extra for data transfer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
flan4u, 26 May 2006 @ 10:32am

Re: Re: another consideration OOPS!
Sorry for the multiple submits, not sure why or how that happened?
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