Pickmoto Looking to become Sports Pick Platform of Choice-Starts with NFL

August 22, 2012 by Paul Kapustka

Pickmoto

As the NFL season rapidly approaches many fans are preparing for fantasy drafts, closely scrutinizing daily camp reports and trying to discern who is actually playing well in preseason, but they are also doing these tasks for another reason and that is so that they can pick winners.

Regardless if they are betting an office pool, heading to Vegas, have a bookie, or just picking against the spread each week, fans want to show that they know their sport by picking the most winners on a weekly basis, and to meet their needs apps have started to appear.

The latest that I have seen is called Pickmoto and is designed to enable friends and others to compete on a regular basis and show who’s understanding of football, or luck, is the greatest over the course of a season.

The small three man startup, based in San Francisco is seeking to establish itself as the provider of a platform that enables fans to compete among both circles of friends and in larger groups that form around making correct sports picks.

Reverse Stretch Marks

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It is currently waiting for approval of its iPhones version of the app and then plans to branch out and develop for the Android and other platforms. Future plans also include expanding to cover additional sports.

It has a common approach found in other games as well as a few features that appear to set it apart. A player makes their selections based on who they believe will win, no points involved. It will use what the company calls crowdsourced scoring that makes the less popular picks more valuable. You can have head to head competition as well as against larger groups.

It also has a leader board, provides users with stats, has chat and notification features and provides trophies. It has a Facebook hookup but the game was built from the ground up to be used on a mobile device.

The company has been waiting almost two weeks for approval from Apple and expects to receive it prior to the start of the season. I will be interested to try it out and see what it can do compared to rivals. Other platforms seek to bring fans together to chat such as Bantr in soccer and PlayUp and Fancru as a more broad based platform. They are all different but have the sports scores and ability, in some cases, to provide contests that pit fans against each other in selecting winners.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Fancru, iOS, NFL, Pickmoto, Startup Tagged With: NFL, Pickmoto

Wednesday Wi-Fi Whispers: DAS, but no Wi-Fi, for Niners at Candlestick

August 22, 2012 by Paul Kapustka

There’s already buzz building in Silicon Valley for the new Niners stadium being constructed in Santa Clara, as the team is already out front saying the facility will be an example of how to do stadium technology right.

Unfortunately for Niners fans, the next two home seasons will still be played in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, which has historically been one of the worst places to try to get a cellular signal. Though a new Distributed Antenna System (DAS) deployment should help matters some this season, there is no stadium-wide Wi-Fi in the cards, a bit of a bummer since the team’s new game-day app features lots of video — which you need Wi-Fi to watch.

With an edict from the commish Roger Goodell to put Wi-Fi into every stadium, teams across the league are moving quickly to figure out how to get that done (see the second part of this post about Carolina’s new spiffy network). Caught in the middle of this deployment strategy is Candlestick, which has to be one of the worst geographic locations for wireless traffic. Not only is the stadium hidden by a small hill directly to the west (which can block signals from nearby cell towers), it is surrounded on its three other sides by the San Francisco Bay — in case you weren’t aware, wide open spaces of water also play havoc with wireless signals, and you don’t see too many antenna towers floating around.

The historically terrible cellular situation at Candlestick was brought even more to light by last year’s “blackout” game, a Monday night tilt against the Steelers that saw the stadium lose power not once but twice. Though we didn’t hear any reports of fan panic (no shaking) we did hear from a lot of folks about how nobody knew what was going on because nobody could get a cell signal to check Twitter.

To help alleivate the problem the Niners and the top three wireless carriers — Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint Nextel — collaborated on the installment of a DAS system at Candlestick, essentially a bunch of small cellular antennas mounted inside the stadium to make it easier for fans to connect. Apparently there is also a day-of-game Wi-Fi network in service at Niners games, though we haven’t been able to find any press material telling us where the service can be accessed. While we wait for the Niners’ reps to get back to us we will take a wild guess and post that it is a parking-lot or concession-area only network, and not something you can use at your seat.

So, Niners fans — even though there is a spiffy new game-day app, you probably aren’t going to get much use out of the video component at Candlestick. And since it doesn’t make sense to drop a few million bucks on a Wi-Fi network that will only be used less than a couple dozen times before the team moves south, unless the Niners can figure out how to bring in a portable Wi-Fi network the Candlestick fans are probably stuck with the DAS deployment as their best connection. Though DAS deployments are better than nothing, they simply don’t have the bandwidth that a robust Wi-Fi network can bring to the table.

Carolina Gets Stadium-Wide Wi-Fi, Courtesy of AT&T

In stark contrast to the situation at Candlestick is the news from the Carolina Panthers, who will have a powerful new Wi-Fi network at Bank of America stadium in Charlotte this year, courtesy of Ma Bell.

You can read the press release and from it what jumps out at us is the 460 Wi-Fi access points, a huge number that should keep everyone there connected. According to the release the Wi-Fi access is free and easy for AT&T customers, with users of other carrier systems having to connect via a “simple login.” Anyone out there in Panther land sample the new network yet? If so give us some SpeedTest results in the comments.

NFL’s Mobile Device Stadium Strategy Slowly Coming into View

There is no official announcement we have seen but if you peruse any NFL team web page you will see a bunch of little widgets popping up saying things like “Watch 49ers games online” with a link to the new preseason and rewind tablet apps that Greg Quick wrote about last week. There are also several teams, like the Niners, who apparently have some kind of GameDay Live-branded app — if this reminds you at all of MLB.com and its AtBat app strategy, it’s not a coincidence. You don’t need a press release to see what is happening, albeit a bit slowly — the NFL, like baseball, is moving to a single app for live mobile-device action, and it will cost you a bunch of extra dollars to watch it.

I think the fly in the ointment right now is the NFL’s current exclusive deal with Verizon for the NFL Mobile app, but I think that contract is up soon and I would be surprised if the NFL renews it. More likely we will see an MLB.com strategy emerge, where you purchase mobile-device access on a monthly or season-long basis. For the current year the NFL will take baby steps as it tries to help teams get networks put into stadiums. But I bet by next year there is a cohesive digital device content strategy that will cost fans a few more bucks. Might be worth it though, to get other games and RedZone while you are tailgating or waiting through halftime.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apps, AT&T, DAS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, NFL, NFL Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Video Streaming Tagged With: Candlestick Park, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Niners, Paul Kapustka, San Francisco 49ers, Wi-Fi

Athletepath Debuts Race Tracking App at Hood to Coast Relay

August 21, 2012 by Paul Kapustka

Athletepath

The other day a friend went zipping past my house setting what looked to be a pretty good pace and he ran down my gravel, pot hole stricken street and away he went around the corner and up the hill. When I ran into him later in the weekend he said that he was just on a 10 mile run in preparation for the annual Hood to Coast Relay.

It turns out that a number of friends and acquaintances are going to be participating in the relay, either as runners or as team volunteers. So how do you follow people in a two day race when the roads are closed and it is hard to tell team times?

Well one startup company, Athletepath, is going to give it a shot with a product that is just now emerging from beta. The product uses social media to keep followers of atheletes informed on their progress and enables the athletes to fill in their followers about what is going on with them.

The company, started by Wieden + Kennedy’s Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) that selected the company last year as one of nine companies to get funding, out of 275 applicants. The founders of Athletepath include CEO David Embree, Christian Reed as front-end developer and Junichi Furukawa as lead technical developer. A look at their athletic resume shows triatheletes, cyclists, soccer player and skier, among other outdoor activities that they and others on the team participate in.

The free app can be used with any browser and uses official race timer information to keep racers and their followers up to date on their progress. It can use email, text or post to Twitter results when someone crosses the finish line that you are following.

The goal of the program is more than just a tool to inform fans of ongoing results. It also informs athletes of upcoming events in which they may be interested in participating.

Hood to Coast Relay

About Hood to Coast
The race is an interesting event that takes place over the course of two days and runs, as its name implies, from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood east of Portland, down the hill and onwards to the ocean, finishing leg 36 in Seaside the following day.

The starting altitude of the race is over 6,000 feet above sea level and each leg is anywhere from 3.52 miles to 8.09 miles in length. There is also a start in Portland for teams that are doing the walking version of the race as well.
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It is a pretty big event and this year it expects to have 1,050 teams, each with a maximum of 12 runners and a minimum of eight that will take on the challenge of running the entire 199 mile course over the two days of August 24 & 25th. This is the 31st running of the event and the first year it had eight teams.

While it might seem that this could be a receipt for confusion as some teams come, like at events such as Bay to Breakers, just for the fun of it and with no real expectations of finishing the race, the race has a rather strict approach and gets times from previous races to judge the quality of teams. It also looks at finished times and uses that for seeding teams. There are a series of penalties for a variety of infractions ranging from 30 minutes to 60 minutes to disqualifications.

Now I can tell my friends I was there watching and citing their team times as proof, and as long as they are unaware of the app I can reap free beers for being such a supportive friend! A win for everybody in my book.

Filed Under: Apps, Athletepath, Contests, Hood to Coast Relay, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: Hood to Coast, Race

Friday Grab Bag: New U.S. Olympics Basketball Coach?

August 17, 2012 by Paul Kapustka

US wins Olympic gold in 2012

After winning Olympic gold this year with the U.S. basketball team, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that he is stepping down. This has already led to speculation about who will helm the U.S. teams through the next round of international competition.

While it looks like the powers that be will try and retain Krzyzewski if at all possible they are already making contingency plans that include Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich as the leading candidates, according to Sports Illustrated.

Nokia and Microsoft expected to launch Windows 8 phone soon
It appears that in an attempt to steal Apple’s thunder Microsoft and smartphone ally Nokia will be introducing Nokia’s next generation smartphone powered by Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system for smartphones on Sept. 5.

The two companies have sent out press invites for an event in New York City that indicates that Windows Phone and Nokia smartphones are the topic. Apple is expected to release the next generation iPhone, currently called iPhone5, a few weeks later.

Would you use Twitter if it was ad-free?
That is what one start-up is hoping. App.net has raised $600,000 in seed money with the idea that it can build a better Twitter, one without ads. Using crowd funding favorite Kickstarter, App.net seeks to offer an alternative.

The goal is to have a messaging system that is paid for by users, $50 per year, and developers who will pay an annual fee of $100 for access to the API. It has already received donations from over 10,000 potential users to the tune of $676,000, and was only seeking $500,000.

San Diego Padres

Did MLBAM raise Padres’ selling price?
The San Diego Padres recently sold for $800 million to a consortium that was led by Peter O’Malley along with others including golfer Phil Mickelson. Amid the various components of the deal is the increased role that MLKB’s Advanced Media group plays in team value.

In a nice piece in Forbes, assignment writing

-for-one-quarter-of-padres-800-million-sale/”>Mike Ozanian traces the growing impact that MLBAM has on team value, and the revenue stream that it brings in for teams, now valued at $6 billion. I thought that it just helped create nice games and contests!

Microsoft divulges the Windows RT Developers
Microsoft has said that it has finished Windows RT, the version of Windows 8 that is designed to run on tablets that are powered by processors built using ARM technology. While Microsoft has already said that it will deliver Surface tablets that support RT when it debuts Windows 8 it now has said who else is supporting that version of the operating system.

The fellow travelers will include Dell, Asus, Lenovo and Samsung. Microsoft provided some general guidelines a few of the tablets’ features including saying they will be 11% thinner than Apple’s iPad and weigh 20% less than an iPad.

RECAPP updates in time for NFL season
If you have not tried the sports news aggregator RECAPP app and are a fan of the NFL now might be the time to try it. The program has had some enhancements added in order to make it easier to use and have enhanced performance.

The program brings together articles from top news and sport sites together according to a users stated preference. So a fan of the NFL can get general articles on the topic while fans of the Miami Dolphins get articles centered on the team.

Love the Surface rumors
A few weeks ago there were a few articles that claimed that the upcoming Surface tablet from Microsoft would cost in the range of $1,000. Now the worm has turned and rumors are emerging that it will be released at a $199 price point.

While I discounted the $1,000 projection, the $199 might have legs. According to Endgadget, Microsoft is preparing a Surface tablet that will run its Windows RT operating system and have it available at the formal introduction of Windows 8 on October 26th.

That would likely mean that it is being sold for less than cost, as its price would put it in line with the breakdown estimates for the 7-in Google Nexus 7 tablets. However it seems that Microsoft was saying that RT version of Windows 8 would trail Windows 8 by a few weeks so is the company going to release a version prior to its OEMs that are also making RT tablets?

The Rams drop London from schedule
The St. Louis Rams have dropped plans to play two home games in London that were scheduled to be played in 2013 and 2014 although the team still plans to play New England there this year on October 28th.

Filed Under: Apps, Asus, Baseball, Basketball, Dell, Major League Baseball, Microsoft, NFL, Olympics, Samsung Tagged With: Microsoft, San Diego Padres, Windows 8

RadioShack Tour Tracker Will Return For Second USA Pro Challenge Mobile Coverage

August 17, 2012 by Paul Kapustka

The USA Pro Challenge debuted in Colorado in 2011 as a new stage race but with a long history in some respects dating to the iconic Coors Classic which ended in 1988. The high degree of the new event's success even surprised race organizers.

Strong online and mobile event coverage helped in 2011, and it will return for the race's second edition, Aug. 20-26, beginning in Durango, Colo., via the RadioShack Tour Tracker.

Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), the third-place finisher in this year’s Tour de France, 2011 Tour de France titlist Cadel Evans (BMC) of Australia and defending race titlist Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) of the United States are among the favorites for the Colorado race.

Five of the top 13 finishers in this year’s Tour de France plus a host of other Tour de France and Olympic riders will participate in the 683-mile, seven-stage race that will take the expected field of 126 cyclists from 16 teams to Denv

er.

The free RadioShack Tour Tracker (RSTT) app is downloadable from the Apple app store and Google Play. Available as a mobile and web-based app (online at prochallenge.com/RadioShack-TourTracker), RSTT features live video coupled with real time data, including stats and the standing of each rider.

Each stage will be detailed “on the road” and will immediately report breakaways, time gaps, speed and road gradient.

Fans viewing the race in person can use the RadioShack Tour Tracker’s integrated GPS tracking to monitor race progress on the detailed course map and anticipate the arrival time at their viewing point.

The TourTracker is considered the premier online and mobile race coverage platform. (Editor's note: We profiled Tour Tracker last year.) It addition to the USA Pro Challenge, it's utilized in the Tour de France, Tour of California, Tour of Utah and other international cycling events.

James Raia is a California-based journalist who writes about sports, travel and leisure. Visit his cycling site at tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Apps, Cycling, iPhone, Tablets, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Video Streaming Tagged With: mobile applications for sports, Radio Shack, Tour Tracker, USA Pro Challenge

NFL Offers a Great Range of Apps for Mobile Users

August 14, 2012 by Paul Kapustka

NFL '12

The first week of the National Football League’s preseason ended last night with a thump as the Dallas Cowboys beat the Oakland Raiders 3-0 in a game that started out like a ball of fire but quickly cooled as time passed.

I was not able to watch the game and since I do not currently use Verizon I could not stream the game over my phone, and I decided not to use the NFL’s site to get the basic about what was going on. Later a friend called and asked if I had seen the run that McFadden had early in the game. I did not and was not willing to watch SportsCenter that late in the evening to catch it.

I did wander over to the NFL’s web site and was amazed at the number of options available for mobile customers, something that seems to have expanded greatly from last year when it seemed that it was Verizon or nothing.

The main point of interest was the breadth of offerings, eight in all, not counting several additional ones that were games. I will not recount all of them here, but several are very worth of downloading on your phone or tablet.

The lead one is the NFL’s official app, NFL’12 that follows all of the games with play by play as they occur. It can be set to provide alerts for scoring and games and has the ability to chat with others while the game is being p

layed. It has full integration with another app from the NFL- NFL.Com’s Fantasy Football so that you can access your team from within this app. Pretty standard stuff but certainly a must for NFL fans.

There are two that stood out for me however. The first was Game Pass, a subscription based app. This has two features, the first being audio pass that enables you to listen to live game broadcasts. Good until Jan.4, 2013 the program also lets you listen to any game from the 2009-2011 season as well. It is currently available for $24.99 A paired down version to follow only your favorite team is also available for $22.99.

The second part is Game Rewind, which lets you watch replays of all the games. In some cases it provides coaches film views of plays as well as the broadcast version. The program is currently $39.99 or for the single team view $34.99. There is also a subscription based app called NFL Preseason Live, designed just for tablets.

Then there is the NFL Mobile from Verizon that permits live streaming video from the NFL Network. There is the already mentioned Fantasy Football Mobile that allows players of the NFL’s Fantasy Football to control their teams from mobile devices. A related app is the Fantasy Cheat Sheet, targeted at the Fantasy Football players.

Baseball has been at the forefront of pushing mobile apps, in my opinion, and I believe that the NFL has significantly closed the gap with the huge array of offerings that it now has available. I will be downloading several to see how well I like them, as well as some of the games to see how much productivity I can kill.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Fantasy Sports, iOS, NFL Tagged With: Apps, NFL