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Is an Enhanced World Cup of Basketball on its Way?

June 20, 2012 by

The NBA is looking to alter the current World Cup of Basketball in a manner that will enable it to gain increased revenue from the event that is held every four years and is next scheduled to be played in 2014, according to a Yahoo Sports report.

The push is tied into an effort to discontinue sending star players to the Summer Olympics. While the Dream Team is one of the biggest broadcasting draws the NBA does not reap any revenue from the event and sees no reason to allow its stars to participate in an event where they might get injured.

For those who do not follow international basketball, there has been a World Cup tournament for some time, since 1950 to be exact, that is held every four years (with a few exemptions) and is played by the men’s national teams of members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The U.S. is the current champion, winning in 2010.

The idea appears to be that by partnering more with FIBA the NBA would bring its marketing might to the event and its superstars and in return, would get a piece of the financial pie, and a big slice at that. Yahoo reported that some owners want a new World Cup that is entirely controlled by the NBA.

It will be interesting to follow this, as I imagine that the loss of the dream team in the Olympics will likely mean a loss of any chance to win a gold medal, or possibly any medal, and so will result in a lot of pressure to start including the players once again. That was the reason the concept started in the first place.

Filed Under: Basketball, NBA, Olympics Tagged With: ,

SportStream’s rebirth Focuses on All Sports

June 20, 2012 by

One of the first sports chat and fan interactive apps that we looked at here at Mobile Sports Report was one called SportStream, at the time the first app from a startup developer named Evri, which was also focusing on developing a real time content engine.

A lot has changed since last September when the app was first being shown around it had a football focus, was part of Evri and ran on both Android and Apple’s iOS platform. Well that has all changed. iPad users will love the new version of the app, currently it does not run on other platforms.

That is not too surprising considering how prevalent it is for tablet users to employ the device as a second screen while watching sports and a bigger display is easier to follow all of the chatter rather than using your phone.

Evri has set the app free to be a standalone development, although it is being led by Will Hunsinger, who led its development at Evri. It has its own funding from Vulcan Capital, also the venture capital firm that has funded Evri. Its first round of funding netted the company $3.5 million from Vulcan.

There is also a change in focus or possibly an expansion rather. Initially available as a SportStream Football as a place for fans to gather, follow scores and post comments, and that is no longer available, although it said that it will add that feature when the season begins. It currently handles the end of the NBA season as well as MLB. Hockey will also be added when the season starts up later this year.

You can add teams as favorites, and their games will be automatically added to a feature called game picker, but you can add any game that you wish to that feature as well. Tap the screen to enter into viewing the game info and check in to a game from the game picker list to participate in the conversation. Once checked in you can also post to twitter or Facebook.

The app does have one very nice feature that many will probably find very useful, that is the ability to filter out twitter streams and block specific users that are uninteresting, rude, or for whatever reason that you might want including simply data overload. The app uses a Facebook check in, which seems to me to be a bit limiting because many might not want to use that avenue to access it.

It seems that almost daily a new chat app is available; some like Bantr and Golf GameBook aimed at one specific category of fans and others including FanCru, GrabFan, JockTalk and PlayUp open to a broader base of fans and so more directly compete with SportsStream. However almost all of its rivals have come out on iPhone first, while SportStream selected the iPad first.

It is hard to predict how the interactive fan sites and apps will work out, but I suspect that the market is already reaching its limits as to how many apps it will support. However having a big cash funding round should help serve SportStream very well. Many other apps appear to be mostly self funded and as Facebook has shown, generating ad revenue from mobile is tough and so may take longer than some developers have.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Contests, Facebook, Golf, iPad, iPhone, PlayUp, SportsStream, Startup, Tablets Tagged With: ,

Golf Gamebook seeks to Lure Users with Contest

June 19, 2012 by

Looking to brag about you golf game or just happy to show off your ability to hit the links more often that the average golfer? Then Golf GameBook has an event for you in its GameBook USA Golf Challenge.

If you are an avid golfer or a hacker you can still participate in the contest that runs until July 2, 2012 that features weekly events for golfers that use either the iPhone or Android app to register their rounds. Golfers that do not want to use a mobile device can also go online and participate at the company’s web site.

Unlike most traditional contests, in the Gamebook USA GolfChallenge a player does not know in advance what the categories are that will win prizes for each week or for the overall tournament. The two winning categories will be announced the Monday after the event ends and the weekly one the following Monday after each week.

The grand prizes will be an Apple iPad and a Nike VR Pro Driver signed by 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink. Also, three $100 Golfsmith Gift Cards will be drawn each week. The Golf GameBook app is designed to allow golfers to score and share results of their games as well as serve as an interactive chat site between golfers on and off the curse. Head over here to see what we said about it previously.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Golf Tagged With:

Lawsuit Jolts Athlete-App World — Is Strava.com to Blame for Cycling Accident Deaths?

June 18, 2012 by

The athlete-motivation application world got a jolt Monday when news broke of a lawsuit being filed against Strava.com, in part alleging that the results-comparison site caused a rider to push himself too hard, resulting in an accident that killed him.

This San Francisco Chronicle report (scroll down, it’s the second item) has most of the details — which stem from an accident two years ago when then 41-year-old William “Kim” Flint lost control of his bike while going approximately 40 mph in a descent on an East Bay road. Here’s a quick snippet quoting the attorney from Flint’s family, who is filing the lawsuit:

“If they are going to host events, give away prizes and draw in users to get the fastest times, then someone should at least come out and see that the routes are safe,” said Susan Kang, attorney for the family of William “Kim” Flint, the 41-year-old electrical engineer who died in the bicycling accident June 19, 2010.

Kang says Flint was “obsessed” with the bike-times website maintained by Strava Inc., the company being named in the lawsuit. He had learned the night before he died that someone using the site had beaten his record “King of the Mountain” time on the same hill, she said.

We’d never looked closely at Strava.com before but the site and its challenges seem pretty popular — certainly at the front of a marketplace just getting started, where weekend warriors can “compete” using recorded times on known routes, all done via GPS and device wonkery. But are some Strava.com users getting out of control, breaking laws and endangering lives in trying to become virtual champs? The latest twist in this scenario, according to the SF Gate report, is that Chris Bucchere, the cyclist charged last week with felony manslaughter (for running down a 71-year-old man in a crosswalk) was also trying to beat a Strava.com record.

We haven’t yet reached out to the company for comment yet, but on the company blog, Michael Horvath (who is referred to as Strava.com’s “fearless leader”) had a post Monday that seemed to answer the lawsuit obliquely: Titled “Stand With Us,” the blog post started with what seemed like a it’s-not-our-fault disclaimer that may or may not mean much to a judge and jury. Here’s the top of the blog post:

Each and every day we strive to improve Strava for you ­­ the athlete. We are athletes too, just like you. As the Strava community grows, we all need to follow a few simple guideposts to ensure that Strava’s impact is positive.

This is what we, the Strava community, stand for:

We know the rules. Laws and rules are created for our protection. Cycling, running and swimming are inherently dangerous and following the law, and common sense, when it comes to traffic, weather, or conditions, reduces our odds of getting hurt or hurting others. It’s as simple as that.

The blog goes on to talk about resting and honoring sportsmanship (aka, no cheaters) and ends with this line: “If you want to be part of the Strava community, we’d like you to stand with us and take these guideposts to heart.”

Something tells us that if lawyers are getting involved, it’s not going to be as simple as a statement on a blog to prove that Strava.com’s competitions didn’t cause harm. Or that the bad apples aren’t a part of the Strava.com community. There are going to be many who decry the lawsuit as some part of a nanny-state weirdness, but there is probably some legitimate question to be asked whether or not a site that promotes virtual competitions on real streets and trails is responsible for the participants’ actions, much in the way a 10K race must take out insurance to cover its runners. I have a feeling this may be the tip of the iceberg for such sites like Strava.com. It’s something we’re going to watch closely.

UPDATE: There’s a new blog post on the Strava.com site, with some new terms of service that appear to include language that basically says “you can’t sue Strava.com” if you happen to say, die or kill someone else while you are trying to beat your best time. Interesting language, no?

Filed Under: Apps, Contests, Cycling, Garmin, Lawsuit, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: , ,

Microsoft Delivers Surface: Its own Tablet Family

June 18, 2012 by

Microsoft used the created hype of a short notice major press event held in the heart of Hollywood to debut a major new product family, and a hardware one at that- welcome to the Microsoft Surface, a tablet family.

This is part of a much bigger effort by the company that when combined with its next generation Windows 8 operating system launch later this year the company hopes will propel it into the midst of two large high tech trends it has missed-smartphones and tablets.

After a day full of rumors, primarily that Microsoft was going to deliver its own tablets, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO took the stage a bit after 4 pm PT and kicked the event off by saying that “Windows is the heart and soul of Microsoft”

He then went on to talk about how the company has been successful with a range of hardware products in its past as well from the Soft Card, different lines of mice and the Xbox. Microsoft Surface will now join that list of hardware products from a company known for its software.

The Surface is designed for Windows and will enable users to use Windows apps and games and is designed for both business and entertainment usage. It will feature an ultra ridged yet light, 1.5 lbs, VaporMG magnesium case. It will support high definition video on its 10.6-inch display and has a built-in kickstand so that you can set it up on a table to watch video.

The company will build them in a variety of colors and will have two basic lines; one will run Windows RT and feature either 32GB or 64GB storage and one that will run Windows Pro and have 64GB or 128GB storage.

Microsoft plans to sell them directly via Microsoft Stores in the US and online around the world. Release dates and pricing were not released but the RT version will be available first with the Windows Pro following about 90 days later.

There has been a growing buzz about Windows 8. Intel has been touting the number of its OEMs that are developing tablets that will be designed to run the operating system while Asus and others have given sneak peeks of their tablets at recent trade shows.

Still Apple’s iPad is firmly entrenched in the top position in this market and market research firm IDC has predicted that it will see its share grow over the next year. For 2013 IDC predicted that 142.8 million will be sold, up from its previous forecast of 137.4 and by 2016 it expects that 221.6 million will be sold. Apple’s iPad is expected to own 62.5% of the market this year, up from 58.2% last year. Android is expected to drop from last years’ 38.7% to 36.5% this year.

It is reported that Google will soon be selling its own tablets running its Android operating system, so that will make the two established platforms, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, soon available directly from the manufactures and Microsoft will expand that group. RIM also sells its own products.

Hard to say how this will come out- a lot of naysayers predicted that the Xbox would flop because Microsoft had no business in that market. I suspect a lot will depend on the Windows experience- it could really be a benefit in the corporate space where established security measures would make it much easier to adopt these products rather than the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) that is now occurring.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Asus, Google, iOS, Microsoft, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , ,

Bantr Seeks to bring Soccer Fans Together

June 18, 2012 by

With the Euro 2012 tournament up and roaring along with the first round of eliminations I got to wondering about what type of chat and viewing options that was available for fans to catch up on scores and possibly talk a bit of trash to rivals and went looking.

Not surprising there is a number of apps available for a fan, including some we have talked about here previously such as Fancru. One i found that caught my eye was Bantr, an app that is designed to bring together soccer fans.

What made it noteworthy was it was one of the first fan interaction sites I have seen that is dedicated to a single group of fans, it is only about soccer, which I suspect is just fines with fans of that sport because the cross over talk would probably get pretty heated.

The free app is currently only available for products that run Apple’s iOS operating system including the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone. It is obviously designed for European soccer and supports English, German, Northern Sami and Spanish.

It shares many similarities with other interactive fan sites: you can select your teams that you support, check into games; chant or banter with other fans and predict outcomes. Some interesting touches include in game voting on if a player dives, on cards and penalties and the worthiness of substitutions. You can also vote for player of the match, rate players, refs and matches, and vote on manager and player approval.

The company was founded in 2010 and has secured $328,000 is seed money, according to Crunchbase. If you want to get a taste of what is available but do not want to download the app just yet, or do not have an iPhone (Android support is supposedly coming) you can head over hear at Facebook and take a look at what is available.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, ESPN, Euro 2012, Facebook, iOS, Soccer, Startup Tagged With: , ,
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