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Hewlett-Packard Expands Tablet/PC Options

May 16, 2013 by

split

Looking for a tablet? For a Notebook Computer? Want Android or are you sticking with Windows? It doesn’t matter because Hewlett-Packard has you covered in its latest platform releases in its HP SlateBook x2 and HP Split x2 offerings.

For a company that once abandoned tablets it now has some interesting offerings in this space while not abandoning the shrinking notebook market either.

The HP SlateBook x2 is the Android line of products and features the Jelly Bean 4.2.2 version of the operating system. It has a detachable keyboard that uses a magnetic hinge to connect to the 10.1-inch HD touch screen display.

The device is powered by an Nvida Tegra 4 processor and it comes with 64GB of storage. A cleaver feature is the inclusion of a battery in both the display and the keyboard, when attached you simply get a much longer product life.

If you are looking to maintain existing PC files you might look at the HP Split x2 that features the Windows 8 operating system and an Intel Core processor. It also features a detachable keyboard and has a 13.3-inch touch screen display.

It also has an extra battery in the keyboard, 2GB of memory and an optional hard drive is available for the expanded storage capabilities. The exact amount of storage was not clear from the company’s web page but since the hybrid models are not expected to ship until August it is very likely that additional details will emerge. The HP SlateBook x2 and HP Split x2 are expected have starting prices of $479.99 and $799.99, respectively.

Filed Under: Android, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Nvidia, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,

San Jose Sharks Enlist Wayin for Twitter Hub

May 15, 2013 by

sjsharks


ESPN’s deal with Twitter the other day was an expected development as there is a growing desire to hook into social media by sports franchises and broadcasters and another that is following on that same path is the San Jose Sharks Hockey team.

The Sharks have teamed with a Denver-based startup called Wayin using that company’s social media engagement hub to create a Twitter hub for fans of the team and of the National Hockey League.

The Shark’s Wayin hub, called the Sharks Game Day Hub, is more than just a central depository for all of the twitter activity that naturally follows a team when it is in the playoffs. It serves the fans a central site where they can gain a degree of control over what they are following.

The hub features both team generated content as well as a variety of other information including tab on Tweet volume, Twitter activity from players, coaches, broadcasters and Sharks staff, imbedded broadcast video interviews, and fan Tweets. The hub also supports Instagram so that fans can also follow along on images and photos posted by others.

While the casual fan may not have heard of Wayin, in part because it’s a startup and secondly by being located in Denver it is off the beaten paths for most new tech companies. However it has a prestigious foundation starting with co-founder and Chairman Scott McNealy, former top honcho of Sun Microsystems. Anyone from the Bay Area could tell you that McNealy is a huge hockey fan and that once for April Fools played hockey with former pro hockey players with Sharks players in attendance.

It will be interesting to see how a hub such as this will compete with the emerging class of apps that put fans in connection with athletes. A number have emerged over the years in the app space but none seem to have caught the attention of the mainstream. By bringing a team into the mix fans might be able to connect more directly with players using this type of hub.

Filed Under: Apps, Athlete to Follow, Instagram, NHL, Social Media, Sports Social Media, Stanley Cup, Startup, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , ,

CBS Sports Enhances High School Coverage with New Partnerships

May 15, 2013 by

cbssporta

Increasingly fans are following not just college teams and players but looking at the incoming prep classes and watching where the top high school star athletes end up, and also increasingly this is being catered to by the broadcast networks

The latest to head this way is CBS Interactive which has lined up a pair of partners, 247Sports and MaxPreps.com to enhance its coverage and provide fans with year round coverage in the area of recruitment and emerging stars.

CBS has already had a trial run with 247Sports, teaming with the site for coverage for the 2013 National Signing Day, a partnership that CBS reported had strong viewership. The relationship will have CBSSports.com carry news, analysis and rankings of the Top 247 players in football and basketball.

CBSSports.com will use the content that 247Sports generates to complement its existing coverage of college football and basketball and will be running a web page called “Signing Day”.

The deal with MaxPreps.com provides an additional layer of information for fans, following the athletes during their high school years so that dedicated fans are informed about the quality of the players that are part of the favorite, or arch enemy’s next recruiting class. This will also be carried on line at CBSSports.com, along with blogs and on-demand and live video.

For fans of both high school athletics and collegiate level this looks to be a great place to garner information on teams and players and to hear how future draft classes and individual players are shaping up. With the recent recruiting rule changes from the NCAA, if they are not rescinded, coaches can start contacting players earlier so it will be important for fans to know who the coaches are contacting and what they are capable of doing on the court or field

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Basketball, CBS Sports, High School Football, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NCAA.com Tagged With: , , ,

Twitter and ESPN? We’ve Seen this one Coming

May 13, 2013 by

The inevitable combination of Twitter and ESPN is going to become official, according to a Wall Street Journal story today. As the WSJ story notes, the killer relationship is ESPN content — mainly video highlights — and Twitter’s distribution channel. Under the proposed deal, the story says, “people can watch the video clips on Twitter’s website and mobile apps shortly after the action happens on TV.”

Here at Mobile Sports Report we’ve seen a closer Twitter/ESPN need coming for quite some time. Here are some archived posts about Twitter and its relationship to ESPN, and how Twitter is the main disruptive technology as it relates to sports:

Could Twitter + Mobile Phones Kill ESPN? (Aug. 19, 2011)

Twitter Loves ESPN Loving Twitter (Oct. 28, 2011)

Twitter is Hammering ESPN on Penn State ‘Riots’ Coverage (Nov. 9, 2011)

Twitter and Sports: The Game Has Already Changed (Sept. 19, 2012)

ESPN Adds Twitter, Facebook ‘Share’ Buttons to In-House Commenting (March 22, 2012)

Filed Under: ESPN, Twitter Tagged With: , , , ,

Would Proposed A La Carte Cable Bill Hurt Sports Channels?

May 13, 2013 by

tv

Senator John McCain is introducing a bill that would enable cable companies to offer subscribers the ability to select which channels they would watch, and pay for and allow them to relegate the remainder to the waste bin.

The push is not his first try at this, he had a similar bill back in 2006 that did go very far, and the new effort, called the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013 is designed to encourage the cable companies to offer freedom of choice for their customers.
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ESPN and its related channels and packages are one of the more expensive set of channels available, and currently if you get basic cable a nice chunk of your bill gets sent to them. This in turn has allowed it to have a war chest that has seen it increase its power in the sports world by buying broadcast rights. If this passed and a large number of people opted out of its sports channels it would be weakened.

Also the growing number of league channels would also be potentially harmed as well. The rise of the SEC, PAC-12 and other dedicated networks has been helped by their channels getting bundled with other properties, something that the bill would outlaw. Would you pay extra year round to have a network that may broadcast only one sport that you are interested in?

However one interesting thing about the bill is that the unfettering would be voluntary, but does include some incentives to get the major players on board. There are a few sections that do appear to have some teeth in them. One of which is if networks pull their on the air broadcasts and put them on cable they would be stripped of their spectrum and the spectrum would then be sold by the FCC.

There are some other interesting tidbits in the bill including a provision that would prohibit television blackouts at publicly funded stadiums or even stadiums that have used some public funds. I am pretty sure that includes all of the NFL stadiums.

This type of a la carte push has been strongly resisted by both broadcasters and content providers and they will likely launch a strong effort to kill the bill or to at least remove its few teeth.

Filed Under: Baseball, Basketball, BCS, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN FC, ESPN3, Fox Sports, Golf Channel, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, NBC Sports, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NFL Tagged With: , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Unhappy iPad Users? Is Facebook Home Dead Already?

May 10, 2013 by

Will Microsoft buy Barnes & Noble’s Nook Business?
The rumor has once again emerged that Microsoft is looking at buying Barnes & Noble’s Nook business unit, a unit that Microsoft has already invested $300 million. TechCrunch is now reporting that it has internal documents that show that indeed the software giant is pondering such a move.

The cost is approximately $1 billion, which would also include Nook Media and related digital business operations. The documents show that Barnes & Noble is considering discontinuing its Android-based tablets next year.

Apple Patents invisible buttons
As smartphone users seemingly are demanding additional functionality with each new release of their favorite handset product designers are faced with the classic issue of form or functionality. Now Apple has patented a technology that seems to solve the issue by enabling fully functioning buttons and sliders that are not visible.

If you are wondering how you would use invisible items, they are not always hidden from the eye, but would appear when you motion towards them, according to a piece on them in Geek Newsletter.

Is Facebook’s Home burning down?
A few weeks ago amid a great deal of hype Facebook offered its latest and greatest mobile offering, Facebook Home. If you missed the announcement it was the debut of a smartphone, and a related app for owners of alternative Android devices, which made Facebook your smartphone start screen.

The HTC First was the first smartphone to come with the technology as standard and it was available from AT&T for $99. It has been apparently been met by a universal shrug of the shoulders by users, which had led AT&T to drop the price of the phone a bit, to 99 cents! Salon gives a good look at how far and fast this technology has dropped.

Amazon to offer smartphone with 3D display?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting (via C/Net) that Amazon is working on a pair of smartphones and that one of the two will have a 3D capability that will enable hologram like images. However the article made clear that the smartphones might never see the loght of day.

Amazon is increasingly delving into the hardware space starting with its popular Kindle tablet. While the rest is rumor, so far, it sounds like a set top box and the aforementioned smartphones are also in the works.

Google Glass takes another hit.
In case you missed the send up on Saturday Night Live you can look here but real world resistance to Google Glass technology is also continuing to rise. A nice piece in the New York Times outlines some of the major Pros and Cons of the technology.

We have always wondered how Las Vegas would deal with the glasses, and the NYT is of the opinion they will be banned, an opinion backed by Caesars Entertainment statement that they would be prohibited. However it is estimated that the glasses could generate upwards to $#500 billion for Google.

Bill Gates chimes in on iPad
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates recently spoke with CNBC and said that iPad users are frustrated with the lack of keyboard and because there is no Microsoft Office app for that platform that they will migrate to PC Tablets.

As can be noted in the Guardian’s coverage of his statements so Apple has sold an estimated 141 million iPads to unhappy users while the happy Microsoft Surface users have already swarmed the stores for an estimated 2 million units. Of course the Surface is still relatively new so we will see what the future brings.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Google, HTC, iPad, Microsoft, Nook, Smartphone, Surface, Tablets, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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