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Friday Grab Bag: New Tablets, Hybrids ahead of WMC

February 22, 2013 by

Rumor has it that Google may be taking a page from Apple’s playbook and plans to open a real brick and mortar line of retail outlets to sell Nexus and Chrome products in a manner that enables the buying public to touch and try the devices prior to purchase.

Currently it is already possible to test drive some of Google’s products at retail but as its lineup of tablets and notebooks grows, and with the possible inclusion of smartphones as well, the company has reportedly been planning a retail move for some time, according to 9to5Google, as relayed by Intomobile.


Instagram coming to BlackBerry 10 OS, indirectly
It looks like users of the spanking new BlackBerry 10 will get a shot at using Instagram on their new devices, however it also appears that it will not be an app that is written from the ground up to run on that platform.

All Things D is reporting that the app will simply be a port of the Android version rather than a native creation. Still the appearance of the popular app will be welcome on the platform as it continues to fight for a bigger share of the market.

LG expected to show a hybrid Tablet/Ultrabook next week
LG has said that it will be displaying its hybrid tablet/ultrabook next week at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona. The Tab-Book Ultra Z160 operates with the Windows 8 operating system and is powered by Intel Core processors, according to Gizmag.

The device, first talked about last month at CES is expected to have two different processor configurations. One will have a 1.8GHz Core i5 chip while the other will be running a 1.8GHz Core i3 chip.

Asus debuts low cost tablet
A new player in the 10-inch tablet space comes from Asus with its Memo Pad Smart ME30, which has apparently already been released in some countries, according Android Authority. The tablet is expected to have an official unveiling next week in Barcelona.

Among the details that have been made available is that it is running a quad-core 1.2GHz Tegra 3 processor and will have 1GB RAM and 16GB on board storage with a microSD slot for additional storage. It is expected to have a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

Google’s Chromebook Pixel now available
Google is moving its Chromebook upscale, at least in price with a $1,300 offering that comes in a Wi-Fi only model as well as an LTE equipped model that will be a about $150 more. It is equipped with a 12.85-inch 2560 x 1700 resolution display.

It will be powered by a dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 chip and will feature 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Other features include an SD card reader, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0.

Filed Under: Instagram Tagged With: , , ,

Watching Golf this Week: The Frozen Open, or WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

February 21, 2013 by

Pardon us for our late entry for this week’s watching golf episode… can we claim we were just waiting for our keyboard to thaw?

In case you hadn’t heard, the opening rounds Wednesday of the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championships got put “on ice,” so to speak, after a snowstorm moved in on The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz. Snow? In Arizona? You bet. Watch Ricky Fowler get pasted by a snowball… what fun!

Seriously, there is a golf tournament going on, but my personal opinion is that match play does not make for a good TV viewing experience, especially in the first rounds when there are so many matches going on that it’s hard to keep track of where anybody is. In the spirit of March Madness, which is just around the corner, I say it’s best to wait until Saturday or Sunday to see if there are matches you care about, then tune in. If you’ve joined the PGA bracket competition you can track it live to see if your bracket is busted, like mine was thanks to Richard Sterne’s 1-up upset of Jason Dufner Thursday. As of this writing, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are still playing. Update: Rory and Tiger are out. But you can still watch this weekend!

UPDATE 2: Here’s Saturday’s pairings:

Below are starting times for Saturday’s third-round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Attached is an updated bracket with results from Friday’s second round included.

Saturday 2/23/13
Tee Time Match # Players
1 07:10 AM Match 49 Robert Garrigus vs Fredrik Jacobson
1 07:22 AM Match 50 Nicolas Colsaerts vs Matt Kuchar
1 07:34 AM Match 53 Shane Lowry vs Graeme McDowell
1 07:46 AM Match 54 Bubba Watson vs Jason Day
10 07:10 AM Match 51 Scott Piercy vs Steve Stricker
10 07:22 AM Match 52 Tim Clark vs Ian Poulter
10 07:34 AM Match 55 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano vs Webb Simpson
10 07:46 AM Match 56 Martin Kaymer vs Hunter Mahan

Round 4 – Approximate Starting Times: Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., one tee start

All times local Arizona MT

WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE

Thursday, Feb. 21 — Golf Channel, 12:30 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 22 — Golf Channel, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23 — Golf Channel, 12 p.m. — 2 p.m.; CBS, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 24 — Golf Channel, 9 a.m. — 1 p.m.; CBS, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.

LIVE ONLINE COVERAGE

Thursday and Friday, Golf Channel coverage via PGATour.com and GolfChannel.com; Saturday and Sunday, CBS coverage at CBSSports.com. Right now only Comcast cable subscribers can watch live online video on weekdays. NOTE: If you are using the PGA Mobile app to watch the CBS or Golf Channel online video, be advised that it only works with iOS phones and with some (not all) Android phones. There is no fix planned for the immediate future.

RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite) Thursday-Friday-Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The live broadcasts are also available to subscribers on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App and online at SiriusXM.com.

TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW

Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.

WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The Golf Club at Dove Mountain is a Jack Nicklaus design, and we expect it plays better when the snow melts off. Not sure if there are chairlifts. End of snow jokes.

WHO WON THIS THING LAST TIME?
Hunter Mahan, over Rory McIlroy.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Golf, Golf Channel, PGA Tagged With: , , , , , ,

March Madness Online: Free, if You Have a Cable Contract

February 21, 2013 by

Once again, the epic sporting event known as March Madness, aka the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, will be available online for free… as long as you have a cable contract that includes the Turner channels.

HERE IS THE LINK TO MARCH MADNESS ONLINE.

Broadcast by both CBS and the Turner cabal of TNT, TBS and truTV, the tournament is probably the biggest online sports time-waster, given that the balance of games take place during the day on Thursday and Friday, March 21 and 22 this year. For the second year, all 67 games will be on TV, though sometimes that requires the challenge of actually finding the truTV channel on your cable box.

For online watchers, there will be the usual cable-system confirmation, which should allow you to watch on “the digital device of your choice,” according to the press release. There will also be a “preview option,” which will allow for up to four hours of online viewing for free — good if your team is a one and done.

Here’s some more goodness from the official press release:

This year’s NCAA March Madness Live® product offers several enhancements including:

— Redesigned for optimization across platforms – With improved navigation, NCAA March Madness Live® will have a completely new look and feel while also providing users with the same levels of access and a consistent user experience across all devices
— Available on new devices – NCAA March Madness Live® will be available on more devices than ever before including smart phones and tablets with the Android 4.0+ operating system, the iPhone 5 and iPad mini
— Capital One NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge – The official bracket game of March Madness includes new designs and feature enhancements on smart phones and tablets, along with expanded social functionality across all devices allowing fans to join groups, share brackets and chat with friends and other passionate fans via Facebook
— Coke Zero NCAA March Madness Social Arena – A forum to extend the conversation surrounding all of the games within NCAA March Madness Live® products, fans can follow game and tournament tweets, participate in fan chats, watch the games and keep a pulse on all the key moments of every game via the Coke Zero NCAA March Madness Social Arena. Fans can participate in the social commentary by using the hashtag #marchmadness

Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live® will once again provide video highlights, full game replays and real-time game alerts, as well as fan-favorite features, including live game scoring, real-time tournament brackets, personal channel lineup features, live stats, live social companion views and the return of the “Boss Button.” Fans will have direct access to live radio broadcasts, courtesy of Westwood One/Dial Global Radio Network, for all 67 games across the collection of digital products.

Sounds good to us… may the best bracket win!

Filed Under: Basketball, CBS Sports, NCAA Hoops, TNT, truTV, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

MLB’s AT Bat 13 Also Shows Up for Spring Training

February 21, 2013 by

at bat

For many baseball fans one of the landmark days of the season is when pitchers and catchers report. For others it has now become when MLB.Com releases its At Bat mobile sports program at the start of each season.

The popular app is now in its fifth season and it is now available on a much greater variety of platforms than ever, with its mainstay Apple iPad and iPhone as well as support for Android-driven smartphones and tablets. New this year will be the support for the BlackBerry 10, due by opening day. Apparently still no Windows Surface Pro support.

Like the players the app is now only ready for Spring Training but there will be an Opening Day update soon. It costs a onetime fee of $19.99 for the entire season including the World Series, although there are a few options. Subscribers to MLB.TV Premium can upgrade to MLB AT Bat 13 for free while Apple’s iOS users can get a monthly billing of $2.99 a month if they wish.

As with every year there are new and/or enhanced features with the program, and it also varies a bit by which operating system and device you are using to view the app with although the differences are narrowing.

Some of the features for all devices include a new app navigation system, searchable video highlight library, and a classics games video library archive. For iPad and Android tablet users there is also sortable batting, pitching and fielding statistics as well as favorite team enhancements. Then there are also ones just for smartphones such as new team pages and revamped news interface.

There is also a host of Spring Training features including the ability to watch an estimated 200 games, live audio broadcasts, scoreboard tracking as well as breaking news and full season calendars.

Filed Under: Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , ,

New Ubuntu Linux-driven tablets at MWC

February 20, 2013 by

tablet-multi-tasking

If you happen to journey over to the Ubuntu home page these days you see a notice that alerts you to the fact that the Mobile World Congress will be graced by tablets that are driven by Ubuntu’s Linux operating system.

Under the moniker of Tastefully Tactile it is pushing it as a solid alternative in the post-PC era, a multitasking tool that provides the flexibility and functionality that modern users are seeking in their tablets.

The operating system hardware requirements are broken down into two categories, entry level consumer tablets and high end enterprise offerings. It is designed to support displays that vary from 7-10 inches for entry level consumer tablets to 10-12 inches for high end offerings.

A minimum of a dual core Cortex A15 for entry level processor or a quad-core A15 or an Intel processor for the high end. Memory for entry level is a minimum of 2GB with 8GB storage and 4GB memory and 8GB storage is preferred for the high end. The device will be able to run all PC apps at the high end and will support a keyboard dock.

While some of the details have yet to be revealed prior to its debut at the show on February 25, there is a good deal of interesting tidbits at Ubuntu’s site including a picture of the tablet displaying its multitasking ability by having both a Skype phone app and a running tablet app on the screen simultaneously.

The multitasking ability extends to the software where developers can use one set of code and the operating system to create apps that can be used for pc productivity apps, phone and TV interfaces, easing development issues. It touts its security features including the ability to have multiple users’ accounts on the same device with full encryption of each user’s personal data.

There are plenty more and I am sure they will be spelling out who hardware partners and tablet specific developers will be at the show. Canonical is providing service and design support for the operating system.

Filed Under: Tablets Tagged With: , ,

NFL Combine Coverage Includes Online and Social Media

February 19, 2013 by

combine

Diehard NFL fans know that it is never too early to start tracking college players prior to the draft, it really starts the day after each year’s draft and then slowly at first and then with rising urgency becomes a very important factor in fans’ lives as they hope their team fills the gaping hole that hindered its advance last season.

Well the NFL.com and NFL Network are a great source of information and their annual coverage of the scouting combines will start on Feb. 23 at 9:00 am ET with the start of the combined drills. The two will have a total of 24 analysts and commentators anchored by Rich Eisen.

While most fans are probably pretty used to catching a good deal of the combine via television coverage there is a good deal of information that is available online only or via social media, from fan participation polls to an extensive database of prospects.

Here are a few of the programs: Cover it Live: this includes polls, the ability to interact with other fans and see player interviews and video highlights and also provides leads to interesting Twitter pages. The NFL Fan Pass: this provides unique interviews, photos and videos with prospects via the NFL.Com and NFL insider position as the official NFL digital media provider.

The NFL.com’s Combine Tracker gives statistics and results from the drills and skill tests while the Prospects’ Database includes the scouting reports and statistics as well as profiles for every participant of the combine.

The NFL Network will be using 17 cameras at the event and have a range of technologies designed to enhance the viewing experience including its NFLN-Focus Camera Technology that allows a moving target to not only stay in frames longer but also in greater detail. The Simulcam Camera Technology allows the comparison of different athletes’ styles when participating in the same drill such as the 40-yard dash.

Something that might be of key interest to fans is the “Draft Journey” program that will follow four prospects as they prepare for an NFL career. They four are Matt Barkley from USC, Geno Smith from West Virginia, Marcus Lattimore from South Carolina and LSU’s Barkevious Mingo. The profiles and behind the scene coverage will continue on these four until the NFL draft in April.

The network will start with pre-combine coverage on Feb. 21 with Path to the Draft:2013 NFL Scouting Combine Press Conferences. All of this will take place at Lucas Oil Field.

Filed Under: NFL Network Tagged With: ,
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