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Google Glasses a boon to Sports Fans and Bettors?

April 5, 2012 by

Google has publicly displayed its Google Glasses, officially called Project Glass following several months of rumors about the technology and what the company intends to use it for. The answer to that question is that the Android powered spectacles are to be used for augmented reality, the company has said.

If you are like me that term really does not mean much on its own but the basic purpose of the glasses is to give users access to information via superimposed graphics without needing to stop whatever activity you are engaged in. Say projecting a map to a destination on the glasses while driving.

The advantage of this is pretty obvious, no need to stop and look at your phone, a map, or the person next you saying turn left while pointing right. The danger is just as obvious; you take your mind off the task at hand and become too intent on the displayed info.

The company is not really saying too much about what they will do in detail, when they will be available, how they will operate and a host of other pieces of information that would be interesting. There is a posted video that shows people chatting via the devices as well as doing a number of other tasks while wearing the glasses.

But think of it in context of a sports fan. You are at a basketball game you can look up the history of the two teams, the high school and college stats of the stars and both coaches’ win/loss records, all without missing a second of the action. It might even be able to explain the rules of cricket to you while watching a test match, but that might be asking too much.

Or imagine you are in a sports book at a casino you can get real time information on weather, injuries, and a host of other factors that might influence your actions. Wait, casinos get that information as fast as anybody else you say. Well twitter seems to be beating news services on a range of breaking news, and the minutes or second lead time that you gain could make a difference.

Still who knows if and when they will be made available? Over a decade ago I saw a very similar technology demonstrated at IBM’s labs in San Jose, with a full version of Windows appearing in the glasses, and as far as I know nothing ever came of this. Then again maybe all spies now wear glasses.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Google, Social Media, Sports Betting Tagged With:

ESPN: March Online Highs, Par 3 Contest Lows

April 5, 2012 by

Is this any surprise? ESPN announced Wednesday that it had a “record-setting month in March, with new highs for mobile web and app usage, as well as video content and alerts.” We will get into the numbers below but — after all ESPN is the World Wide Leader and in an era of digital, mobile explosion its online numbers should be like Apple’s quarters: Every time, more.

Here is the snippet from ESPN PR on the online explosion:

ESPN mobile web and apps served an average minute audience of 103,000 in March, with an average of 5.1 million daily unique visitors (an increase of 22 percent over March 2011) and 3.1 billion total minutes for the month. ESPN apps in March had 3.6 million average daily uniques (up 125 percent over March 2011) and 1.5 billion minutes (up from 595 million in March 2011).

ESPN Mobile delivered 45 million video starts in March, including 24.6 million from mobile web and 19 million from the ESPN ScoreCenter handset and table apps, both record highs for a single month. In addition, ESPN delivered 1.5 billion alerts in March, also a record high for any month.

Yet for all its online savvy, ESPN found itself the victim of Mother Nature Wednesday at the Masters, when rainstorms turned its highly hyped live coverage of the Par 3 Contest into a rainout discussion with Mike Tirico at the helm. Now I like Mike Tirico. But I’m not wasting bandwidth watching Mike talk to Andy North about who might win the Masters. Jack and Arnie and Gary trading barbs and small iron play? I was just getting hooked when the toondershowers took over. I was surprised that ESPN had no backup other than having the studio guys start talking. And when they did, I clicked off the online stream and… went back to work.

No golfers ready for live interviews? No Dan Jenkins with some lore? In my mind ESPN whiffed a bit on a prime opportunity to show its Masters chops. (I also have had trouble all day with ESPN’s video feeds not loading properly — anyone else notice this?) But we have seen this before — ESPN doesn’t always do so well when there isn’t a script to follow. Let’s hope the WWL is back on its industry leading form on Thursday. Because we all will be watching.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN3, PGA, The Masters, WatchESPN Tagged With:

Join the MSR Masters Challenge Pool on ESPN

April 4, 2012 by

More details on possible prizes later. But join this group to play.

Filed Under: The Masters

MLB has App to Wirelessly Order Food at Select Ballparks

April 4, 2012 by

Minute Maid Park

As I was perusing the iTunes store, primarily looking for the Civil War Today app, but being easily diverted I wandered over to look at what MLB has to offer, which seems to be growing every time I head over.

I tend to gloss over established apps, just taking a quick look at what new features that they might include, now often just additional hooks into social media, but also there can be some surprises, which I found at MLB.Com At the Ballpark.

The free app does tout new social media integration, park info such as layout, parking, security and a rewards program but what really caught my eye was access to mobile food and beverage service at select ballparks.

Currently this is only available at is accessible at the following MLB ballparks: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia), Minute Maid Park (Houston), Chase Field (Phoenix) and Marlins Ballpark (Miami) but MLB has said that additional ones will be available.

I imagine that the parks the league is currently looking to establish networks in will be the next in line as these will likely have enough capacity to handle the additional traffic. While it may seem like a no-brainer that the network could handle it, heavy use can swap the network, which is why increasingly parks need separate networking equipment, such as the new Marlins ballpark.

The one piece of information that is not included, but which we will check in with MLB is where will this be available in the park? For all fans with iPads and iPhones or just ones in select section?

This is not the first time that a service has been available at a ballpark, but it looks as if MLB is going to take the bulls by the horn and establish a standard method to do so. Last time I was in box seats behind home at AT&T you could order food electronically from a server in the stands and even back at old Candlestick Park the service was available, however there was a fairly steep premium on beer carrying charges, as I recall.

Now I wonder if it will be available at the Anaheim er… Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s ballpark., They have just expanded the menu, primarily for fans that are traditionalist in that they need their hot dogs (like me ) at the game, but are willing to try new versions (like me). The Angels now offer a bacon wrapped dog, a hot dog wrapped in a tortilla and then deep fried and a hot dog topped with BBQ beef. For dessert there is now the Arctic Nachos which are cinnamon-sugar nachos topped with vanilla ice cream, then doused in caramel and chocolate sauce. Too much you say? Hah!

Next up larger seats?

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apple, Apps, Baseball, iPad, iPhone, Los ANgeles Angeles of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

Verizon Puts DAS Network Into Miami’s New Ballpark

April 4, 2012 by

An example of a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) antenna atop a light pole. Credit: Sidecut Reports.

Verizon Wireless announced it has installed a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) inside the new Marlins Park in Miami, to better serve fans who want to use their Verizon phones and tablets at the games.

Though Verizon also notes that its new 4G LTE wireless network is up and running in the Miami area, big crowds with cellphones can easily swamp the regular cellular network in and around stadiums. One of the steps providers like Verizon and AT&T are now taking is using DAS deployments to install a number of small cellular antennas inside and outside arenas, to provide more connection points.

While today’s press release doesn’t try as hard as previous ones, it is still interesting that Verizon tries to make good news about the fact that their previous network installation simply can’t handle the new demands of the always-connected fan. Still, any capacity increases are good news for the fans who have in the past been frustrated by the lack of connectivity at the ballpark.

Here’s a look at the new ballpark, with its fish tanks and retractable roof.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Baseball, iPad, iPhone, Major League Baseball, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , ,

Rangers Catcher Videos Tornado’s Fury at Ballpark

April 4, 2012 by

While preparing for last night’s exhibition game against the Mexican City Diablos Rojos, Texas Rangers bullpen catcher Zach Zaneski caught a bit more than he expected- a video of the effect that the numerous tornadoes that swept through Dallas leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

The video then went worldwide when regular catcher Mike Napoli tweeted a version of the video which showed the impact the storm was having at the pall park including the wind and rain driving a tarp across the field.

The weather service reported that there was anywhere from six to 12 tornadoes that set down in the North Texas area around Dallas with a pair of them sweeping through the city, tossing big rigs around and destroying most everything in their path.

Even with all of the destruction and parts of the city recovering the teams went on to play the game with the Rangers beating the Diablos Rojos 14-3. Here is a set of videos including the one from Zaneski showing the storms impact in the city.

Filed Under: Baseball, ESPN, Live sports via mobile, Major League Baseball, Sports Social Media, Texas Rangers, Twitter Tagged With: , ,
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