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Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Google I/O This Week

June 25, 2012 by

Google’s Goggle I/O show is this week so expect to hear an onslaught of news from the company and its partners on all things related to Android, smartphones, tablets, Chrome and most likely a host of other issues that they are concerned with.

The show will be held from June 27 to June 29 at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center and most of the keynote sessions will be live streamed for those of you that are interested but don’t want to endure the cold of an SF summer. (editor’s note: 75 degrees here today, Oregon boy.)

One message I would like to hear is how it will deal with the growing fragmentation of its Android operating system. It seems that most of the major manufacturers are only now coming on board with Ice Cream Sandwich, and a new OS is expected this week.

The issue is important for a number of reasons but a major one is that continued fragmentation could lead to developers only focusing on Apple’s iOS and even Windows 8 when that OS is available.

Intel invests in touchscreen developer
Intel Capital was the lead investor in a EUR20 million investment funding round for touchscreen technology developer FlatFrog Laboratories. Invus was also an investor in the round. FlatFrog is developing technology that tracks light traveling inside the cover glass of a screen.

Apple dealt a setback in battle with Motorola
Judge Richard Posner, who is presiding over one of the major patent disputes between Apple and Motorola, has ruled that Apple cannot pursue an injunction against Motorola and has dismissed the case with prejudice.

Posner had previously indicated that this was the direction he was leaning in but relented to allow testimony from both sides of the case last week. Apple does have the option to appeal his ruling.


Apple moving ahead in Samsung patent suit
While losing an important round to Motorola, Apple is continuing to push ahead with its Samsung lawsuit and will have its request to have a court order blocking sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 heard this week.

The judge in the case has also said that she hopes to rule on Apple’s bid to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone at the June 29th hearing.

Microsoft says no to Motorola patent proposal payout
Microsoft has declined to accept the offer that Motorola made that would settle the patent dispute between the two companies that has threatened Microsoft’s ability to ship Xbox 360 consoles into the US and would bar some Android phones from Motorola as well.

Motorola was offering to pay 33 cents per phone that uses Microsoft’s ActiveSync software and wants Microsoft to pay it 50 cents for each device that uses Microsoft’s Windows operating system that uses Motorola’s industry standard video compression patent.

Mobile Carriers agree to alert travelers on roaming charges
Have you ever traveled in a foreign country and used your smartphone and had a slight heart attack when you got your bill at home with the huge roaming charges attached? Now carriers are going to do something about that.

What they are doing is to send you a message alerting you to the fact that your data plan has changed and new rates will apply. Among the 24 that have signed on are AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom-Orange, Hutchison 3 Group, SoftBank Mobile Corp., Verizon Communications, America Movil, and Vodafone Group.

Apple fined over 4G claims
An Australian court has fined Apple $2.27 million over its claims for its iPad that included unsupported promises of 4G support. After the charges were brought Apple changed its advertising and offered refunds. Apple now touts the device as WiFi+ Cellular.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, Google, Intel Capital, Lawsuit, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , ,

Nike Launches New Runners’ App after it Reengineers its Running Site

June 25, 2012 by

If you are a runner and like to share your information there always seems to be a new app around the corner designed to do just that. However a new app that has been released might have an advantage over many of its rivals in that the company that developed it, Nike, might have made the shoes you are running in. For that matter they may have made your entire outfit.

The company has launched an app called Nike Running App for Android that among its other features can link runners into the nikeplus.com site that the company has redesigned prior to the release of the program.
In many ways the app does just what you would expect, and want, from a runners’ app. It tracks performance, provides easy access to running statistics, has an in-run navigation system with a GPS map as well as provide the sound track for your runs.

It enables a user to connect directly to Facebook or Twitter and provide run summaries that can include shoes used, terrain and total mileage. The GPS feature also records the weather for runners based on location.

The nikeplus.com site claims 7 million runners and the redesign was enacted in order to make it more digitally friendly, with much more of a social media focus, according to Nike as well as becoming a motivational tool for the runners. The key feature to motivate is called “Next Moves” that presents a range of challenges for the runner and then provides a dynamic bar showing how well the runner has performed on the challenges.

When I was looking at the Nike web site I was surprised at how many people I knew were registered, including one person that I would have bet only ran when they heard the bell from the ice cream truck out in front of their house. So maybe the motivational messages really work!

Filed Under: Apps, Nike Tagged With:

ESPN to Broadcast All Wimbledon Matches

June 25, 2012 by

Wimbledon is here, the one grass court championship in the Grand Slam pantheon. One of the most watched, if not the top tennis tournament of the circuit is about to begin, with qualifying for unseeded players occurring last week. The tournament will run from June 25 to July 8 this year.

There will be much to watch for during the two week tournament. Will Roger Federer win a record tying 7th Men’s Singles title? Will the Williams sisters return to form and dominate? Will the torrential rainstorms that flooded much of northern England move south rather than east?

The event is held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and the seedings are in, with a few surprises. On the Men’s side Novak Djokovic has the top spot followed by Rafel Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Between the top two they have won the last none major tournaments and Federer has been strong at Wimbledon, although has slipped in the last few years. Between the three of them they have owned the top tournaments over the last seven years. I think it would be nice to see a great upset and a new rising star in the sport, but not sure of that will happen.

On the women’s side Maria Sharapova, fresh off her French Open victory, has top honors, followed by Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Petra Kvitova is fourth. Serena Williams, a four time winner on grass, is the sixth seed while her sister Venus, still dealing with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain was unseeded.

Broadcast

If you are looking for the match on the television tune into ESPN, which will be broadcasting 140 hours of play across a number of its properties including nine screens on ESPN3 so that you can view any match you wish and all of the action will also be on WatchESPN and via a mobile app as well.

The two main channels, ESPN and ESPN2 will have three days where they are both showing matches simultaneously so that a viewer can hop back and forth to view the ones that they are most interested in.

The network will be showing four historic Men’s finals on ESPN Classic, each shown on the anniversary of the match. In addition users of ESPN on Demand can watch highlights as well as historic matches.

Last year ESPN signed a 12 year deal to broadcast Wimbledon and the network will be expanding its US Open announcer John McEnroe to host a preview show called Breakfast at Wimbledon. With all of the coverage the network has a large staff covering the event including Darren Cahill, Cliff Drysdale, Mary Joe Fernandez, Brad Gilbert, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver. Chris Fowler will call matches and serve as studio host, sharing that role with Hannah Storm and Mike Tirico.

Mon, June 25 6:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Early Round Action ESPN2 / ESPN3
Tue, June 26 – Thur, June 28 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Early Round Action ESPN2 /ESPN3
Fri, June 29 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Early Round Action ESPN / ESPN3
Sat, June 30 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Early Round Action ESPN / ESPN3
Mon, July 2 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Round of 16 ESPN2 / ESPN3 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Round of 16, Centre Court ESPN / ESPN3
Tue, July 3 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Ladies’ Quarterfinals ESPN2 / ESPN3 Live 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Ladies’ Quarterfinals, Centre Court ESPN / ESPN3
Wed, July 4 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals ESPN2 / ESPN3 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Gentlemen’s Quarterfinals, Centre Court ESPN / ESPN3D / ESPN3
Thur, July 5 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Ladies’ Semifinals ESPN / ESPN3D / ESPN3
Fri, July 6 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Gentlemen’s Semifinals ESPN / ESPN3D / ESPN3
Sat, July 7 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Ladies’ Final ESPN / ESPN3D / ESPN3
Sun, July 8 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Gentlemen’s Final ESPN / ESPN3D / ESPN3

If you want to follow the matches via Twitter, or an individual player or announcer a good place to check out would be TennisTweets which has an exhaustive list of players that you can follow as well as a running board with the latest from a variety of sources.

The official Wimbledon web site is a very clean and easy to use web site. Want to watch video or listen to the games live on the radio-it is there. Get an app for your smartphone or view the history of the event. All there. Interviews, weather forecasts, as well as what you would expect with all of the draws, schedules and results.

If you happen to be wondering about grass courts, according to Wikipedia they tend to be slippery, with the ball, while remaining fast, staying low. The majority of the grass courts worldwide are located in England and they need to be reseeded annually, and so have a higher cost of maintenance.

This year you may very well see a great deal more play on grass than in previous years because the Summer Olympics, held in under two months in London, will see its tennis matches played at the All-England Club as well.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic, Rafel Nadal, Tennis, Wimbledon Tagged With: ,

NBC Increases Tour de France Coverage, Including Multi-Platform Mobile Options

June 24, 2012 by

In addition to increased broadcast coverage, including live coverage on the first weekend, the NBC Sports Group has substantially increased its internet coverage of the race’s 99th edition.

Collectively called Tour de France LIVE, race coverage will be available online at NBCSports.com, and through the Tour de France LIVE Mobile app.

The network will offer users two premium-subscription products which will give fans a multi-platform, all-encompassing viewing experience to the Tour.

Tour de France LIVE offers live streaming video of every stage in full HD, with the ability to pause, rewind and slow-mo the video. While watching live coverage online, viewers will also have access to a live GPS tracking map to follow the riders’ progress or to see an enhanced interactive map for each stage.

Subscribers can also personalize their Tour experience by choosing their favorite riders and teams to track throughout the Tour.

For iPhone and iPad users as a Android users fans can purchase the Tour de France LIVE Mobile app.

All the features of the NBCSports.com online experience will be mirrored in the Tour de France LIVE Mobile app, including live video of every stage, and is sold separately from the online product

Stages 7 and 8, which will air live on NBC, will also be streamed live for free, on NBCSports.com.

Here are some more helpful links:

NBC TOUR DE FRANCE TV COVERAGE

TV times for NBC coverage. Will probably be like NHL and have some on the former Versus channel. Check your cable provider listings.

Visit NBC Tour de France app for addition mobile viewiing options.


 

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Cycling, NBC Sports, Tour de France Tagged With: , , ,

NASCAR takes on the Road at Sonoma Raceway

June 22, 2012 by

Dale Earnhardt Jr. must be feeling lighter a foot these days as a 143 race losing streak monkey just leaped off his back with his victory last week at the Quicken Loans 400 held at the Michigan International Speedway.

The victory for the driver, who is having a great season, could help him break another streak that he would love to see gone, that of never having won a championship. In the top ten in points all season he is now just a mere 4 points behind Sprint Cup leader Matt Kenseth. The top five was filled out by Tony Stewart in second followed by Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Jimmy Johnson.

Toyota/Save Mart 350
This week’s race is a horse of a different color, as it is a road race at Sonoma, a good deal slower and much harder to pass. The 1.99 mile track, once as long as 2.52 miles, is situated at the gateway to the Napa and Sonoma wine country so if you are heading out you might want to make a weekend of it.

Road races are not to everybody’s taste. No high curves, the banging and bumping that characterize so many other races is missing. I think that they make a nice change of pace, but do not see a need to add another, not that I am aware of any push to do so.

Broadcast
June 24, 2 pm ET on TNT

Instead of pointing to a number of Twitter addresses as we have in the past it seems to make much more sense just to send you to a site that appears to have consolidated a who’s who of racing twitter addresses instead. So head over here for a huge list.

Sprint Cup Standings
1) Matt Kenseth
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -4
3) Greg Biffle -17
4) Jimmie Johnson -33
5) Denny Hamlin –51

The Nationwide race last week witnessed Joey Logano winning for the second win in a row by leading the last 24 laps but was forced to hold off a hard charging James Buescher to win his fifth race of the year.

Some of the top racers in the Nationwide series did not have great races including points leader Elliott Sadler finishing 11th. Danica Patrick had a very interesting race, there were seven cautions and she was involved in three of them. She did manage to finish in 18th. The top five last week was filled out by Buescher finishing second followed by Kurt Busch, Cole Whitt and Austin Dillon.

Sargento 200
This week the teams are headed to Road America for the Sargento 200, far away from the wine country where the Sprint Cup is running and instead out where the cheeseheads live in Wisconsin. This is also a much longer course that the one in Sonoma, with a 4.04 circuit and 14 turns.

Broadcast
June 23 3 pm ET ESPN

Nationwide Series Standings
1) Elliott Sadler
2) Austin Dillon -8
3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -27
4) Sam Hornish Jr. -45
5) Cole Whitt -81

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, NASCAR, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart Tagged With:

BCS Playoffs Coming-Will Anybody be Happy?

June 22, 2012 by

The drumbeat for a playoff in the Bowl Championship Series in college football has been growing over the past few years and talks have been ongoing recently to establish a playoff system appear to be in the final stages of planning.

According to ESPN and numerous other outlets the BCS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director have ironed out a plan that would create a four seeded team playoff for the BCS that would begin in 2014. There is still more approvals needed before that becomes a reality. The proposal goes to the BCS presidential oversight committee, meeting next week in Washington D.C.

The model would have the four teams picked by a committee that would use the usual criteria such as strength of schedule and how the teams performed in their respective championships. The playoff format would put the two semifinal games into existing bowl games on a rotating basis between the Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar bowls. The championship would be treated like the Super Bowl is currently and have cities bid on the game to determine where it is played.

One big benefit to college football is the huge extra income that is expected to come from the playoffs, which have been estimated at anywhere from $300 to $500 million annually. With a number of the bowl teams losing money when they play in lesser bowls and the probably elimination of some of the poorer performing bowls, this is a nice way for schools to bolster their bottom line.

I like the idea of a playoff but with so few teams involved I am worried about who will get in. You already see the favoritism in the voting system and voters blatantly leaving teams off the top 20 or pushing teams higher than they seem to deserve.

I heard one of ESPN’s commentators already saying that the playoffs would be no good unless it put two SEC teams in the playoffs. I guess he did not watch last year’s BCS Championship game. Yet that is what the SEC has been pushing, along with the Big 12, according to Sports Illustrated. It also reported that Pac-12, ACC and others are very much against that stance.

Since nothing has been finalized it is still too early for the various partisan groups to start their campaigns but I imagine that who gets on the selection committee will be very interesting and very heavily examined for bias for or against select conferences.

Filed Under: BCS, NCAA Football Tagged With: ,
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