Archives for 2012

ESPN Delivers a new Mobile App for Soccer Fans

ESPN’s promise to further establish its presence in the soccer world despite losing out to Fox future World Cup matches is coming to fruition as the sports media company has taken the wraps off of its latest mobile app, this one that promises to provide comprehensive coverage online.

The company will leverage its established web site ESPNsoccernet to provide fans the level of news and information content that is currently available from that site but deliver it to mobile devices.

The app will enable users to personalize it to some extent adding their favorite team, league and tournaments to enable them to more easily follow the action on field and off. News from teams or leagues can also be groups so that it is available on a single page rather than having to go to different pages for the information.

The App is the latest in a series of International sports focused offerings

In addition to the static news there will also be a range of videos and podcasts available from the app including ESPNsoccernet Press Pass podcast, plus, video content from ESPN’s studio-based discussion and analysis shows.

ESPN is striving for comprehensive coverage with the app, which is asking a lot considering the depth and breadth of soccer. Aside from the news a features it will of course have the scores from around the globe including tournament scores. The app will allow push notification so that both half time and full game results will be proactively delivered to the phones.

The app will initially only be available in the English language and only on Apple iOS powered devices but ESPN said that it expects to quickly expand the platforms that it is available to also include those powered by the Windows Phone, Symbian, and Android operating systems.

ESPN has been increasingly looking to mobile apps to enhance its position in the international market and has already launched two similar ventures that focus on mobile sporting content, including the ESPNF1 and ESPNcricinfo apps.

Highlight Hunter Helps Sports Fans Create Video Highlight Reels

Amateur sports videographer? Soccer parent? Career little league coach? Just like to shoot video? All of these, and most of the rest of us have miles of video and for most users, no real skills in video editing so we force people to watch hours of bad film for the few minutes of footage that you are truly proud of.

The ease of shooting video, much like the low cost of digital photos, has lead to a huge backlog for many people who then need a solution to help sort this all out. There are a number of solutions out there seeking to solve this issue for you and one that we just recently bumped into is from Highlight Hunter.

Program helps to quickly separate the wheat from the chaff in videos

It will not actually fix any backlog issue you have but going forward could tremendously ease the task of finding the highlights in the video you are shooting at to edit it much faster, by as much as 8x according to the company.
It is a simple three step process. The first is simply record your video, as much as you want. Taking the example that Highlight Hunter uses, let’s say you record 3 hours of a ski trip of a group of friends on the slopes. The second step is very simple. After any event that was noteworthy you bookmark it by simply putting your hand over the lens of the recording device for one second.

A user then downloads the video into the company’s app and it will automatically create a 30 second highlight backtracking from the one second bookmark. So for a three hour video a user could do all of their editing within ten minutes rather than be forced to watch the entire three hours.

The Highlight Hunter app is available for both Macintosh computers and PCs and can handle video from all digital cameras. It is compatible with most other video editing applications so that a user can add additional features to the program as well. The company also has a free version of the app so that potential customers can give it a test drive.

PlayUp Signs Exclusive ‘Fan Engagement App’ Deals With America East, Southern and Sun Belt Conferences for Hoops Tourneys

Following its first-ever exclusive deal to be the “fan engagement app” partner for Fordham University, fan-based social network app provider PlayUp has signed a similar deal with the American East, Southern and Sun Belt conferences for their upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

The PlayUp app, which gives sports fans the ability to track teams, scores and to converse with other fans in either small or large, or private or public groups, is a good fit for schools and conferences who have interested alumni who might not be able to view games in person. PlayUp said in addition to hosting conference-specfic “rooms” on its platform, it will be giving away prizes based on participation in the respective conferences’ rooms.

In a press release, PlayUp CEO Dennis Lee said:

“Each of these conference tournaments will showcase high-level basketball, and we are looking forward to bringing the fan experience closer to the court. As social media further integrates itself within the sports world, athletes, teams, conferences and brands will be pursuing opportunities to best reach fans in this capacity, and the America East, Southern and Sun Belt Conferences are leading this trend.”

The Southern Conference tournaments runs from March 2 – 5 and will be played at the Asheville Civic Center and Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C., the home of the University of North Carolina–Asheville Bulldogs. The Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Ark. plays host to the Sun Belt Conference Tournaments from March 3-6, and the America East Conference men’s and women’s tournaments will be held from March 1-4 at the University of Hartford’s Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion in Hartford, Conn.

Daytona 500 History: First In-Race Tweeted Photo!

If you are watching the Daytona 500 live on Fox you may have seen the spectacular crash-and-explosion when Juan Pablo Montoya’s car skidded into a safety vehicle, blowing up a whole bunch of airplane fuel. When something like that happens the race is red-flagged, meaning the drivers stop on the course — and of course since it is 2012 driver Brad Keselowski took out his iPhone, snapped a picture and tweeted it:

Now kids — don’t tweet and drive, especially when you are going 200 mph. But when you’re stopped for a red flag? Go ahead, make social media sports history.

UPDATE: Jalopnik had a great breakdown of the moment in NASCAR and Twitter time.

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: New Android Bug Found?

Proview now sues Apple in US
A week after being dealt a setback in court in Shanghai, Proview International has taken its trademark battle with Apple to US courts. The company is seeking to block Apple from shipping iPads into or out of China.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple purchased the trademark rights to IPAD from the company in 2009 and Proview is now seeking to have that sale canceled and has filed its case in California Superior Court, Santa Clara County.

Smartphone sales determined by age and income report says
Market researcher Nielsen has published a survey it conducted with 20,000 mobile consumers that gives some interesting insight into how the US smartphone market has grown broken down by age and income.

The report shows that overall smartphone penetration has reached 48% in January, but that the age group of 25-34 far outpaced the nation as a whole with 66% penetration. However when income is added into the equation the results start to change. Head over to take a look at the results.

AT&T loses data throttling suit
AT&T’s efforts to throttle, or slow down, data use by the top 5% of its customers has hit a minor bump as a California man has won a small court claim against the company. He was awarded $850 for his effort.

While he has an unlimited account AT&T the telecommunications company has started slowing down data downloads to heavy users, often despite the fact that they are using less that people with capped programs.
The judge ruled that it wasn’t fair for the company to purposely slow down his iPhone, when it had sold him an “unlimited data” plan. AT&T said it will appeal the ruling.

Motorola forces Apple to disable iPhone Push Email in Germany
As a result of one of the various rulings between Apple and Motorola Mobility, this one pertaining to a Motorola victory Apple will disable the push email function in its iOS devices in Germany. Apple is continuing to appeal the ruling.

The decision will affect users of Apple’s iCloud and MobileMe email. The programs have the ability to automatically send emails to the devices automatically when they are received at the mail servers rather than wait for the user to manually check for new mail.

LG in talks with Google on next generation Nexus device
Seeking to get a leap on its competitors and a prestigious title LG is in preliminary talks with Google that would enable LG to be the next device manufacturer to create a Nexus device. Rivals Samsung with its Galaxy Nexus and HTC with the Nexus One have already partnered with Google.

LG could use the partnership to burnish its faded image in the mobile phone market, whch has seen its once more prominent position fade a bit. According to Cnet which broke the story, the deal would also help assure other handset manufacturers that they would have a level playing field with Google’s Motorola holdings.

Panasonic developing virtual safe house for Android
With the growing concerns that app developers are intentionally stealing user data off of smartphones and other devices it was only a matter of time before someone developed an app to stop other apps. OK, there have been security programs in the past but the latest to join the herd is Panasonic which announced new technology to secure your mobile devices.

The company has teamed with Red Bend Software to develop a technology that prevents loss of data from smartphones both from apps seeking to exploit the phones and from outside users that might find a lost phone.

The core of the technology features a fold that is separate from the Android operating system and in which data, photos, emails and contact information can be stored securely. Panasonic claims that the technology, which utilizes Red Bend’s mobile virtualization software, will still allow Android apps to run normally.

New Android bug found?
It looks like there is a flaw in the Android operating system that could enable a hacker to take control of devices, according to a report from Reuters. The flaw was discovered by startup security firm CrowdStrike and they say that using the flaw they have found a way to take control of users Android devices

CrowdStrike said that it will be displaying its finding at RSA Conference in San Francisco later this week but said that the gist of matter is that by sending an email or text message that appears to be from a trusted source that urges the recipient to click on a link, which if done infects the device. I get emails like that from Nigerian princes all of the time- are they fake?

Gannett Increasing Digital Sports Focus: Teams with MLB

Gannett is seeking to leverage the digital media explosion by translating it into solid revenue via a diversified approach that will cover everything from customized content to an enhanced position in sports.

The publisher, possibly best known for its flagship paper USA Today, said that it expects to reach between $75 million and 100 million in revenue from digital services division and that it expects to see strong revenue growth going forward, reaching an estimated $275 million to $350 million by 2015.

Company executives speaking at its annual Analyst Day have bullish vision for revenue growth and one of the components of that growth will be its sports USA Today Sports Media Group, which it will try and drive into becoming a top five sports media companies in the country with over $300 million in annual revenue by 2015.

Acquisitions and partnerships part of sports push

It has already taken a solid step in this direction with the announcement of a co-development deal with MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media and Internet branch of Major League Baseball today announced a joint venture to develop and produce new content and products for sports fans across all digital and mobile platforms.

It has already worked to enhance its digital sports position with the purchase of Fantasy Sports Ventures (FSV), an umbrella organization that features a number of on-line sports sites including HoopsHype.com, Baseball-Reference.com and TheHuddle.com and The Big Lead. The deal, which was announced, last month was for an undisclosed sum.

It gives Gannett instant relevance in the on-line advertising space, an area that it has straggled in, according to the Wall Street Journal. USA Today has been battling players such as Yahoo Sports and ESPN.com, which have significantly larger audiences.

FSV is the 5th largest online sports property with an average of 18.4 million unique visitors monthly, USA Today is ninth with 10 million unique visitors. Executives said that they will continue to look at additional acquisitions but has no plans currently for any large purchases.

Additionally it plans to do a major re-launch of its entire desktop, mobile and tablet products across the company within the next two years, starting with USA Today.