Archives for 2012

Guest Blog: Pickmoto Players as Good as ESPN Pickers?

December 1, 2012 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Editor’s note: This blog is a series from Pickmoto, a fantasy sports mobile app.

WEEK 12

We’ve put a bullseye on the ESPN “Experts” this season. We’ve dissected who among the dozen is label worthy (Mort, Wickersham) and who is definitely not (Jackson, Ditka, Allen).

This week, instead of comparing ESPNers, let’s take a look at how they fare as a group against another tribe of opinionated NFL fans: the Pickmoto community.

The most interesting games are those with the strongest disagreement. So, we isolated games where each team received 4 to 8 of the 12 ESPNers’ picks. So far, 43 games qualified (8 in Week 12 alone).

For each of those games, we awarded a point to the group with the higher % that correctly picked the winning team. For example, for Redskins v. Cowboys, ESPN scores a point because 7/12 or 58% of ESPNers vs. 51% of Pickmotoers took the ‘Skins.

The final total is ESPN 22, PM 20, Tie 1. It was tied, but the ESPNers inched ahead with a 5 to 3 advantage in Week 12.

If you’ve read this far, then numbers and %s don’t nauseate you. So for the 4 of you left, we’ll continue.

Among the 43 games, there were 9 games with a 20+% difference. PM won 7 to 2. And among the 25 games with a 10+% difference, PM won 14 to 11… Wow you’re still with us!

Ok ok, just one more semi-interesting stat. The Falcons and Steelers had the most wins of the 43 games. Pickmotoers were 4-0-1 in the Falcons wins and 0-4 in the Steelers wins. So, the PM community is savvy to the Falcons and underestimates the Steelers.

We can go on and on slicing the numbers and trotting out slight hypotheses. Bottom line, the “Experts” and the PM community are about equal. The ESPNers have a slight edge if you include all 43 games. The Pickmotoers have an edge in games with the clearest difference of opinion.

Bottom-er line, you guys don’t call yourselves “Experts” so neither should ESPN.

ESPN Experts Leaderboard – Week 12
-Everyone starts with 300 points.

+Seth Wickersham – 743
+Chris Mortensen – 648
+Merrill Hoge – 362
+Adam Schefter – 335
+Ron Jaworski – 332
+Cris Carter – 284
Keyshawn Johnson – 247
Mark Schlereth – 238
Mike Golic – 237
+Tom Jackson – 191
+Mike Ditka – 183
Eric Allen – 71

In Week 12, the strong separated from the weak. All of the Top-6 gained ground. Wickersham and Mort keep climbing. Week after week, they net points with a savvy sprinkling of underdog picks. This week, they went against the grain with the Browns and Jags and those picks accounted for much of their point gains. Wickersham is actually inching closer to the Top 20 Overall on Pickmoto, which is really impressive because he doesn’t use gold pins … and doesn’t even know he’s playing.

Elsewhere, Tom Jackson(!) had the best pick record (12-4) and the best week in points besides Wick and Mort. Note the backhanded exclamation point.

Eric Allen dropped closer still to 0. It’ll be close, but if he keeps picking the Cardinals and Eagles to win football games, he’ll get there.

Pickmoto is fun, quick, easy competition. It recreates the fantasy sports experience on mobile. Its first game for the 2012 NFL season is free for iPhone and iPad. Its second game for the NBA season just hit the AppStore.

Pickmoto asks the most basic question in sports – which teams will win. It’s pick’em with a twist: there’s a crowdsourced scoring system that rewards correct picks based on their popularity – the less popular, the more points.

Filed Under: Apps, ESPN, NFL Tagged With: ESPN, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Pickmoto

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Happy Cyber Monday

November 26, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Apple is seeking to keep the pressure on Samsung in the legal game and this week has extended its infringement motion against Samsung to now include the Galaxy S3 Mini, the Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and the Rugby Pro according to TechRadar.

The move looks to be in retaliation for a similar push by Samsung which has added Apple’s iPad Mini and iPhone 5 to a list of devices that it claims infringe on its patents.

Tablet shipments top laptops in October
You knew that the day when tablets would pass PCs was coming, but there had been estimates that it would not occur for some time. Apparently those predictions were wrong. According to market research firm NPD Display Search, tablet sales passed laptop sales last month, based on its following of the panels used in both products. In October there was an estimated 16.9 million notebook panels shipped while there was an estimated 18.7 tablet panels shipped. However this may be a one month blip as the researchers also said that there were many notebook buyers holding back until after Windows 8 shipped.

Instagram rules on Thanksgiving
This is probably a no-brainer out there for most people but Thanksgiving was Instagram’s biggest day ever. The photo imaging service reported that it averaged 226 photos posted per second over a 24-hour period, with a total of 10 million photos shared over Thanksgiving. That is a lot of turkey. Or a lot of turkey pictures, anyway.

Microsoft planning a set-top box?
According to the Verge, Microsoft has an Xbox TV in the works that it has slated for release sometime in 2013. The device will enable streaming video as well as serve as a platform for the casual gamer, according to the article.

Most likely to be release roughly a year from now it will represent a two SKU strategy for Microsoft in the Xbox space with a dedicated Xbox that supports higher end games and the TV/Xbox combo for the everyday user.

Motorola repeats request for Apple Source Code
As part of one of its lawsuits against Apple, Motorola Mobility has requested access to Apple’s source code. Five times now, but who is counting? Motorola made the first request last May according to a story in the Inquisitr, and has now just made its fifth.

The case is being heard by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The request is for the source code for both the Mac OS X and iOS and Motorola is also asking for a specific date from Apple on when it plans to hand over the code.

Kickstarter kicked
Kickstarter launched a bit over a month ago in the United Kingdom and it now looks like one of is first projects is going to cause the crowdfunding site a few headaches. A successful funding effort landed a startup called Formlab over 2 million pounds.

Birthed from MIT’s Media Lab, Formlab is developing a 3D printer, however 3D Systems, a maker of 3D printers is claiming patent infringement and has sued the startup, as well as Kickstarter. The issue is over how a laser causes a synthetic substance to solidify as part of the 3D process.

According to a piece in PC Adviser, Kickstarter is also being sued by a rival crowd funding company called ArtistShare over the use of a database software program and how it can be used.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Google, Instagram, iOS, iOS 6, iPad, iPhone, Kickstarter, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Windows 8 Tagged With: Apple, Google, Kickstarter, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung

Guest Blog: Pickmoto Tracks the ESPN NFL Experts

November 24, 2012 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Editor’s note: This blog is a series from Pickmoto, a fantasy sports mobile app.

WEEK 11

As you might expect in a week in which Favorites nearly ran the table, the ESPNers shined. None were as perfect as 33 Pickmotoers, but Golic, Jaws, Schlereth, and Carter came close, only whiffing on the Rams. And Hoge, Mort, Wickersham, Jackson, and Ditka were right behind with 1 wrong pick on top of the Rams. Even Allen went 10-3 and gained a point.

Schefter and Johnson were the only two who lost ground. But they were also the only two who picked the underdog Panthers, a near hit, which would have been enough to flip their Week 11 fortunes to positive.

Naturally, we feel compelled to claw back some of the credit we just dispensed. Besides the Panthers, the morning games nearly gave us 4 other big upsets. The Jags, Browns, and Lions were all winning heading into the 4th Quarter and the Cardinals were tied. Not one ESPNer picked any of them. Ultimately, they were right, but what turned out to be a stellar week almost fell apart early Sunday. Considering what heavy underdogs they were, we actually would have respected wrong picks more.

Finally, glad to hear that Ditka is doing better.

ESPN Experts Leaderboard – Week 11
-Everyone starts with 300 points.

+Seth Wickersham – 694
+Chris Mortensen – 616
+Merrill Hoge – 340
Adam Schefter – 319
+Ron Jaworski – 310
Keyshawn Johnson – 275
+Mike Golic – 263
+Mark Schlereth – 249
+Cris Carter – 223
+Mike Ditka – 175
+Tom Jackson – 145
+Eric Allen – 84

Filed Under: Apps, ESPN, NFL, Sports Betting Tagged With: ESPN, Fantasy Football, NFL, Pickmoto

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Microsoft Phone Issues

November 19, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

A week after Apple settled its patent dispute with HTC it looks like another of its long-running patent battles may be coming closer to a solution. Bloomberg has reported that Apple is now interested in settling its disputes with Google’s Motorola Mobility unit via arbitration.

The effort could lead to the elimination of all of their legal wrangling that is now taking place in courts around the globe. The two have been exchanging proposals for using binding arbitration to settle the problems, it was reported.

Samsung seeks Apple/HTC info
Not all good things have sprung from last week’s patent deal between Apple and HTC. Samsung, still involved in some bitter patent disputes globally with Apple is now seeking to have the courts provide it with the details of the Apple/HTC deal.

Samsung is arguing that the deal shows that Apple is quite willing to forgo the exclusivity that its designs provide if it receives cash in exchange, according to a piece in Computerworld. In related news about the ongoing Apple/Samsung lawsuits the U.S. District judge who presided over Apple’s huge victory over Samsung is expected to rule in December on Apple’s request for a permanent ban on select Samsung products.

Amazon’s 8.9-inch Kindle HD ships early, New Nexus 7 also available
Amazon is set to please the advance buyers of its Kindle HD by shipping the tablet five days earlier than expected. However the joy could be short lived as it looks as if demand has outstripped supplies and the next batch of the tablets will not ship until early December.

The Nexus Seven with 3G also now available and Google is telling customers that it will be three to five business days to receive the tablet.

Windows phone from Microsoft on the way?
The rumor drumbeat continues to grow that Microsoft has another hardware product in the works and that it will be a smartphone for Windows 8. Not sure if it is just one rumor that continually gets picked up and forwarded or if there are a number of independent sources reporting this but it does make sense. It is already competing with its hardware OEMs in the tablet space, why not in the smartphone space as well?

However all is not good with Windows 8 OS
Slash Gear is reporting that users of Windows 8 Phone are reporting a variety of battery and other issues with phones running the operating system. Among the issues are the phones just randomly rebooting while being used. Also poor battery life has been reported on a forum called WPCentral.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Google, HTC, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Windows 8 Tagged With: Apple, Google, HTC, Microsoft, Motorola Mobility

‘Tweeter’ Keselowski Wins Sprint Cup Championship

November 18, 2012 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

I’ve got to admit, I had never really known who NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski was until he sent the tweet heard round the sports world last February. Turns out not only is the guy social-media savvy, he’s a pretty good driver too, capturing his first Sprint Cup title Sunday.

Though the Chase to the Championship was tense, Sunday’s finish was decided early when top contender Jimmy Johnson went basically out of the race with 40 laps to go. That pretty much allowed Kesolowski to coast to the overall win with a 15th-place finish, and after he was done of course the first thing he did was send off a tweet.

We did it!#NASCAR twitter.com/keselowski/sta…

— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 18, 2012

Since Daytona, we’ve been following Keselowski and I have to say he has made the sport more enjoyable for me during the season, with his quick post-race comments and regular humor. While NASCAR wisely embraced his Daytona fire-picture moment (and quickly sealed a deal with Twitter to help promote the sport even more), there seemed to be signs of a backlash with NASCAR’s recent $25K fine of Keselowski for tweeting. While some think the fine was more of a punishment for Keselowski’s profanity-laced response to the crashing and fighting at Phoenix, NASCAR should back off on the tweet-fines because the social media world will reject you as quickly as it followed you if you show even the smallest signs of “not getting it.” (MSR free marketing suggestion: Why not partner with GoPro and have automated cameras where the drivers and crews can send auto-tweets and video clips during races?)

Right now, Keselowski certainly gets it, from Twitter to the race track. Enjoy the title, No. 2 car.

(And a big race-fan thanks to senior editor Greg Quick for compiling the weekly Watching NASCAR posts!)

Filed Under: NASCAR, Sprint Cup Series, Twitter Tagged With: Brad Keselowski, Homestead, Mobile Sports Report, NASCAR, Paul Kapustka, Sprint Cup, Twitter

Wi-Fi Whispers Bulletin: Cisco Buys Meraki for $1.2 Billion

November 18, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 2 Comments

Why wait until Wednesday? No whispering here, with the news breaking Sunday of Cisco’s $1.2 billion purchase of mesh-networking Wi-Fi provider Meraki. Coming on the heels of last week’s successful public offering by Ruckus Wireless, you’d have to say that Wi-Fi is the hottest topic in the greater tech world right now.

And if you didn’t want to say it, we will.

From a sports-specific viewpoint, it’s not clear how the Meraki purchase might help Cisco’s sports and entertainment group, since Meraki has reportedly had much more success in enterprise/campus deployments, where its easy setup and cloud-based management systems ease the process of deploying wireless networks. Since stadiums are a lot more high-touch — there are unusual RF problems caused by the buildings themselves, and the crowds of fans require fine-tuning of antenna directions — the Meraki gear may not be a big bonus, at least initially. Though according to Meraki, its gear has handled big outdoor events quite well, including the Monterey Jazz Festival. So maybe Meraki will help Cisco in the stadium-network battleground.

From a big-picture view, you can never be too thin, too rich or have too much networking intellectual property. And the billion-dollar-buy (all cash!) is a sign that Cisco, the biggest player at the table, isn’t hesitant about trying to buy a winning hand.

While we here at Mobile Sports Report have been concentrating on the deployment of stadium Wi-Fi networks, it’s clear that as a whole the greater public Wi-Fi market, of which stadiums are a part, is set to get bigger, faster. This weekend’s big cash events are just the start.

Filed Under: Cisco, Wi-Fi Tagged With: BYOD, Cisco, IPO, Meraki, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, Ruckus Wireless, Wi-Fi