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3 signs Symbian SlingPlayer exclusive

Slingbox maker Sling Media has completed the Symbian version of its SlingPlayer Mobile application, and today announced UK mobile phone network 3 will bundle the software with two 3G handsets when they ship on 1 December.

3 said it will give a copy of SlingPlayer Mobile to customers who buy either a Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman phone or a Nokia N73 and a Slingbox. The deal with Sling Media is an exclusive one, so anyone who has a Wi-Fi- or 3G-enabled Symbian handset that's not on the 3 network will have to wait for a while before they too can download the software.

Sling Media didn't say when the exclusivity of the 3 deal will come to an end.

The arrangement is initially limited to the UK, but will take in other territories in which 3 operates, including other European nations and Hong Kong, early next year.

sling media slingbox front

Slingbox is a Freeview digital TV receiver designed to beam programming across home networks and the internet to phones and computers running SlingPlayer. The box can also accept video feeds from DVD players, DVRs and other devices, controlling them via infra-red signals activated by the user through SlingPlayer.

Separately, Sling Media posted a UK version of its pre-released Mac OS X version of SlingPlayer. The software requires Mac OS X 10.4 to run and connects through to a UK-specific Slingbox. The app can be downloaded from Sling's website here. ®

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