You are here: Home / Archives for Apps

Ooyala, R&A Team up for British Open App — But You Still Need a Cable Contract to Watch Live Golf

July 17, 2012 by

Though we originally got excited here at MSR when we heard that the British Open’s app might feature another way to get live video of the event, as we expected, there is no getting around the need for a qualifying ESPN cable contract to watch the British Open via a mobile platform. As we said earlier today, this is ESPN’s baby and they are not going to let someone else end-run their mobile video strategy.

The British Open app, built by the video-services folks at Ooyala and the R&A, does have some neat stuff in it, highlights on demand and a live fly by of the course. What threw us off was the app store screen shot (see left) that shows a button for live video. But upon further review the live video link from the app merely redirects you to the WatchESPN app — for which you need a contract with Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Bright House Networks or Comcast to access the online content.

So — the app may be less useful than it originally appeared, especially if you don’t have a cable contract. According to Ooyala the app is available for Android phones, iPhones and iPads.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, British Open, Golf, iOS Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Autodesk Snaps Up Socialcam for a Cool $60 Million

July 17, 2012 by

3D design powerhouse Autodesk has purchased startup Socialcam for $60 million in a deal that is expected to close in the third quarter that ends Oct. 31, 2012, according to a release from Autodesk.

Socialcam has only been on the scene since last year, but its technology that provides mobile social video capture, editing and sharing app and service has proven to be very popular with users. It is estimated that the platform has 54.7 million users. Top rival Viddy has half as many users and had a valuation of $200 million, at least at one point.

The move and the price both come as a bit of a surprise. While Autodesk has expanded from its core of delivering high end software for 3D modeling and architectural markets into entertainment, many had been predicting that Socialcam would go to Facebook, Google, Microsoft or one of the other major players in the social networking space.

Also the price was much lower than figures that had been tossed about when Facebook made its surprising purchase of Instagram for $1 billion. After that people were tossing around the question of what company would be the next Instagram, and the two most popular choices were Viddy and Socialcam, with an expectation that the winner’s valuation would skyrocket also.

Autodesk said that the move was due to the changing way in which its customer base was approaching their tasks, using cloud computing, mobile apps and social media for design purposes. The company said that video is a very good medium for communications and sharing of ideas and projects.

The first step will be to ensure that it supports and maintains the existing Socialcam customers, according to Autodesk. From there it seeks to scaling the platform and expanding its existing tool sets so that it can expand the technology into new and existing markets for Autodesk.

Filed Under: Apps, Autodesk, Facebook, Google, Klip, Microsoft, Social Media Data, Socialcam, Viddy Tagged With: , , ,

Velocomp’s iBike Powerhouse System Hits Market

July 17, 2012 by

Velocomp has delivered its iBike Powerhouse to the market just in time to train another generation of Tour de France hopefuls along with the much more likely crowd of weekend riders looking to step up their game.

The iBike Powerhouse is a portable computerized cycling fitness system that runs on either an iPod Touch or an iPhone and is designed to adjust automatically to an individual user’s exercise goals.

The system features power measurement and analysis technologies and features that monitor your efforts and provide feedback and updates that are automatically-adjusted based on a number of goal-oriented cycling plans that the company provides.

A user simply selects from any of the four to six week goal-based programs that the application features and it will set up a program that is designed to help you reach your goals with a series of rides that vary between 45-90 minutes long.

The plans, which include programs such as “iSlim, ”“CycleMax,”“ Express Fitness, ”“Brazilian Butt,”“ Weekend Warrior, ”and“ Zero to 20 miles also, allow a user to set their skill level so that a couch potato and a potential racer do not have to follow the same regime. Included in the information and feedback for each program are videos from cycling coach Hunter Allen that provide tips on overall cycling and how to improve your performance.

The iBike Powerhouse comes with a water/shock resistant case, a set of electronics for your bike that register your cycling performance and a wireless speed sensor. A handle bar mounting system also ships with the app so that a user can clearly see what is required for the current workout session. The iBike Powerhouse kit has a MSRP of $279 and comes with two workout programs, iSlim and CycleMax while additional programs are available for $9.99

Sports feedback is a very competitive field, with players from Nike, Garmin to all of Ant +’s customers and many in between trying to grab a piece of the market. Velocomp has a well rounded offering that has gained critical acclaim and should be able to carve out a nice niche for itself.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Cycling, Garmin, iBike, iOS, Nike, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: ,

Facebook Gains Mobile Development Team with Spool Deal

July 16, 2012 by

Facebook has gained the development team, but not the technology or assets of startup Spool, a mobile app developer that has in the past created programs for both the Android and Apple iOS operating systems.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed but on its blog Spool announced that it was now becoming part of Facebook and that it was shutting down its site and provided instructions on how to move off of Spool.

The company had only come out of beta late last year and started 2012 off by raising $1 million from a number of angle investors that included SVAngle, Felicis Ventures, Start Fund, Stephen Chen, Bill Lohse and Charles River Ventures. Its apps enable users to bookmark Internet content, including video, for later reading both on and off line.

The move is part of a growing trend from Facebook, and others, to purchase companies more for their design teams and capabilities than their actual products. Some of the recent deals from Facebook include Face.com and Glancee. Google has recently purchased Quickoffice and Meebo.

For Facebook the recent deals all appear to be centered on enhancing its mobile technologies, an area that it has admitted it is having issues in monetizing. Facebook has said that Spool’s team will help develop building tools to facilitate consumption of mobile content.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Facebook, Google, iOS, Meebo, QuickOffice, Spool, Startup, Venture Capital Tagged With: , , ,

Minnesota Twins Seek to Engage Fans with ‘Twins At The Plate’ App

July 16, 2012 by

The Minnesota Twins along with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) have launched an in-stadium gaming app that is designed to engage fans by allowing them predict what is going to happen when the Twins are at bat.

The “Twins At The Plate” is a predictive game that has the fans predicting each batter’s results in the bottom of the inning. While there are a number of predictive apps, this one is the first that I have seen that is not specifically designed for an individual.

Instead Target Field, the Twins’ stadium, is divided into sections and the one that gets the most points for correct predictions is eligible to win prizes. The game will be played at the bottom of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th innings and all picks for a specific inning must be made prior to the end of the top of that inning. Results can be followed by an in-app leaderboard.

All a fan has to do to collect the prize is to show their ticket stub prior to leaving the stadium that evening to pick up the award. If you have lost your stub you are out of luck. The app can be accessed only while fans are at Target Field through MLB.com’s At the Ballpark application.

MLB and its MLBAM are have been very aggressive in their delivery of apps to engage fans, with ones that will enable you to order food in select stadiums to one that provide cash awards if you can select enough batters in a row that get hits in real games to break DiMaggio’s record hitting streak.

This is another one that is in that vein. I suspect that it will take a while for it to catch on as word of mouth spreads about the app. I certainly hope that the stadium can support the wireless data load because fans would not like to find out that they did not win because their selections did not get registered due to network overload.

MLB has been working to enhance the networking capabilities of all of its ballparks to avoid this issue and I suspect that once that is accomplished, it will roll this app out to additional stadiums.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apps, AT&T, Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Twins At The Plate Tagged With: ,

ESPN’s John Kruk Shilling for Nokia — ‘The Phone for Sports Fans’

July 14, 2012 by

Not sure that just having an ESPN app pre-loaded makes something a phone for sports fans — I mean, c’mon, who can’t download an app — but for your weekend entertainment, here’s ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk shilling for Nokia. OK, I do like the bit at the end. No word on whether the stadium he’s at has Wi-Fi, though. Or whether Kruk was chillin’ at the ESPYs Nokia preparty. Anyway.

Filed Under: Apps, AT&T, Baseball, ESPN, Nokia, Wi-Fi, Windows Phone Tagged With: , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »