Mobile technology and the Tour de France: Good, bad, ugly, cool — and you still need to pay NBC to watch it live online

Ever wanted to know what the Tour de France looks like from right in the middle of the pack? You now can see what it looks like for yourself, thanks to some on-bike cameras being used on a trial basis at this year’s race. Here is a link to a clip from Stage 1 that shows what it’s like to see a crash happen right in front of you. Great stuff, the kind of smart use of mobile technology that we’ve been waiting for since GoPro cameras hit the scene.

(For some reason it looks like the TdF is making some of these videos private, so watch them while you can. We also agree with what some commenters have been saying — what’s with the cheesy overdubbed music? Just use cycling action noise, please… thanks)

Of course, with technology advancements come things both good and bad, and if there is a crisis-about-to-happen trend it’s the proliferation of fans alongside the Tour de France trying to snap selfies with the racers in the background. Look, we get it: You are at a bucket-list type event, you spent hours by the side of the road waiting for the too-brief minute or two of action… so hell yeah, you’re going to snap a selfie to show everyone else how cool and important you are! Superb!

(VeloNews also has a report on the problem.)

The only problem is, over the last couple years, it’s become pretty obvious to anyone who watches Tour de France coverage on TV that the exuberant fans of old — usually fat old French guys who would sprint alongside the riders, on the steepest inclines where a human running can keep up with a bike for short distances — have now been replaced by a crew of idiots who know nothing about bike racing, but who want to be on TV. Or on the Internet. They dress up, they run in the road, they block the path of cyclists and motorcycles — every day now we hold our breath, hoping like hell there isn’t an incident where a fan takes out a leading rider, or far worse, a cyclist or fan suffers a terrible injury because some idiot was out in the middle of the road. Combine the idiot behavior with the turned-around selfie head not looking at what’s coming and you have a toxic stew. Who will save these jerks from themselves?

I’ve been around big bike races enough to know that there’s really no way of keeping these crowds completely controlled, short of putting up fences like they do for the last 1,000 meters in tour stages. Even then, people lean over the fences and cause crashes. I get it that part of the romance, the excitement of the Tour is the up-close involvement of fans. But these days it seems like it’s 90 percent self-important party clowns lining the roads, and not people who really care or understand the event. So far, it seems like the Tour has done little to try to tone down the on-road crowding. Let’s hope someone figures something out before there’s a race-changing or life-changing incident.

Crowds overwhelming cellular signals again?

This report is somewhat unconfirmed but in watching the NBC coverage live early this morning west coast time we heard one of the on-course reporters saying something about how team cars couldn’t communicate from the front of the pack to the back because they couldn’t get a cell signal — courtesy of the huge amount of fans lining the road for the stage into London. Shades of the Olympic road race! Guess they still haven’t figured out how to handle cellular crowds in the UK countryside.

TourTracker partners with CyclingNews: Best of both worlds!

Screen shot of TourTracker TdF app

Screen shot of TourTracker TdF app

We are also happy to see that our favorite live-action tour-following app, TourTracker, is now finally available for Tour de France coverage thanks to a partnership with CyclingNews. We’re happy for founder Allan Padgett and TourTracker… the best way to follow the biggest race in a mobile fashion. Unfortunately, the TourTracker app won’t have live video coverage — for that you still need to pay NBC extra, to the tune of $4.99 a day or $29.99 for the whole race. For mobile access only it looks like the charge is $14.99; not sure if there is also a per-viewing charge as well as a charge for the app.

How do we feel about NBC milking cycling fans for chump change? It wouldn’t be so bad if you could ensure that Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen were the only commentators heard, but from my short viewing stint today it appears that NBC has loaded up the announcer roster with those “other guys” that people generally can’t stand. My suggestion to Phil and Paul — hold some classes in the offseason to train the next generation of announcers! Please!

Sony adds HD POV action cam

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Sony has used the largest stage in consumer electronics, last week’s 2014 International CES show in Las Vegas to bring out a high-end action cam that combine high quality images with a portability that will enable users to capture and display their feats and those of others, athletic of otherwise.

The Sony HDR-AS100V Action Cam is a POV (point-of-view) device that is designed for high-end users who want the best in video quality with a simple interface that is easy to use, important features if you are say, hanging on the side of a mountain filming your climb.

Basic Features
At the very start the HDR-AS100V comes in a splashproof case so when using around water, or snow as the season and situation dictate, it does not have to be encased in a waterproof housing, although that is needed for underwater work. It has a media/battery indicator that informs users of how much capacity and recordable time is available. Its on-screen indicators inform users of both recording and shooting mode as well as GPS Tracking States and image stabilization. It has a display panel that enables users to view settings and images. A waterproof casing is also included.

Advanced Image quality
However the camera offers much more including the ability to record high quality, 1080/24p video and high-speed 720/120p or 720/240p shooting. It has a built-in stereo microphone for use with the images. For still images it functions as a 13.5 megapixel camera and has multiple functions including the ability to do time-lapse photography.

The key to the image quality starts with the camera’s support of XAVC 5, a version of the codec that was developed for the emerging 4K/HD video space. This enables very high speed bit transfer that in turn allows the camera to capture live video in quality HD. The next step is its ultra-wide Carl Zeiss Tessar lens that provides a 170-degree viewing angle. To augment that there is Sony’s SteadyShot Image Stabilization, a huge enhancement over Sony’s previous stabilization offering, providing double the camera’s stability over the older technology. When on it limits the lens’s viewing angle to 120 degrees.

The Action Cam AS100V features a lens that is ideal for panoramic shots that is not all the camera is capable of, it features an enhanced 18 megapixel sensor for use in low light and night conditions, perfect for everything from spelunking to night skiing.

Connectivity
Currently the camera cannot do live video streaming but Sony is promising that an update this summer with provide that capability. However despite that there are a number of very nice futures including both Wi-Fi and Near Field Communications (NFC) support that enable to share content on smartphones and tablets using the free PlayMemories Mobile app that supports both Android and iOS devices.

For the technically minded there is the ability to control up to five Action Cam AS100V devices using the optional Live View Remote model RM-LVR1, a wristwatch sized controlling device that features an LCD that is waterproof and synchs automatically with the cameras. The HDR-AS100V with the RM-LVR1 as a bundle that is being called the HDR-AS100VR.

Mount Options
While users of portable cams often find new and unusual mounting issues for the device, Sony Electronics has worked hard to head off issues in this area. It ships with a tripod adapter that can be used with the cameras when they are out of the waterproof housing. That however is just the start as it also has at least 26 different mounting attachments with a number of new ones joining the already established mounts that the company had made available for earlier models. He newest mounts include an Action Monopod (VCT-AMP1), Hard Lens Protector (AKA-HLP1), Camera Leash Pack (AKA-LSP1), Arm Kit (VCT-AMK1) and the aforementioned Live-View Remote Kit (HDR-AS100VR).

The $299.99 HDR-AS100V is currently only available as a pre-order from Sony but the company said that it expects it to hit the market in March.

Under Armour joins sports-community race with $150M MapMyFitness buy

Today’s news that sports apparel giant Under Armour has bought sports community concern MapMyFitness for $150 million is just more proof that the big brands will be driving the bus in the race between sports social networks.

MapMyFitness, one of the more popular activity stat-recording and sharing site businesses, better known through its MapMyRun and MapMyRide services, will now have a deep-pocketed parent to help it compete against players like Nike and its FuelBand, Jawbone and Fitbit, and newcomers like Adidas. Then there are software-only or web-only players like Strava.com who are all angling for a part of the new, popular field of athletic and everyday biometrics.

What will be really interesting is if the biometric information from pro athletes becomes more readily available to fans — the Tour de France does an interesting job recently with showing wattage and other exertion information while cyclists are out on the road. Why not have heart rate or calorie-burning levels for marathoners, or basketball players? Recorded stats so you can compare your workouts to LeBron James? It will be interesting to see where the biometrics and social data sharing ends up, now that the big marketing dollars are taking over.

GPS Developer TomTom Set to Deliver Two Sports Watches

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TomTom has delivered a pair of GPS-based sports watches, one that is focused primarily on runners while the other is designed for a more multi sports approach that should appeal to a much broader range of athletes.

The company had two design goals win mind when they built the TomTom Runner and the TomTom Multi-Sport GPS sport watches. It believes that most existing watches in this field are too bulky and cumbersome and so sought to shrink the size and make it a slim, easily worn device. At the same time it was seeking to use a large display to show the graphical training tools. It believes that it reached both of these goals as well as simplifying the use of the watch with its one button control.

The watches are both built on TomTom’s Graphical Training Partner, a program that allows users to track vital statics in real time. It has three basic modes: Race, Goal and Zone. Race allows you to vie against a recently set time or your personal best. Goal allows you to set a number of parameters such as time, distance or calorie and then track how you are doing against your goals. Zone has users set targets such as pace or heart rate and then allows you to track your progress during a workout. A heart monitor for this is an option.

Among the watches other features are an indoor tracker to so that a user can track activity on devices such as a treadmill; QuickGPSFix uses GPS and GLONASS satellite technology to quickly find users’ precise location.

Since many runners and other athletes already often use other apps to track and share progress the watches have the multi-platform compatability and can sync with a variety of alterative platforms including the TomTom MySports website, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPeaks and MyFitnessPal

All of these and other features are standard in both watches while the TomTom Multi-Sport also allows multi-sport athletes to track their distance, time, speed and other key metrics when they cycle or swim and includes a built-in altimeter and a bike mount.

Last year TomTom teamed with Nike for a GPS watch and it ran Nike Fuel but it is not clear if this one will also support Nike’s platform.

The TomTom Runner and TomTom Multi-Sport will be available in Summer 2013. The market for sports watches is a fairly crowded one, and one that will get even more packed if all of the rumored hybrid smartwatches that have been reported from the likes of Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft and others actually do come to market. I expect that including all of the ones that have appeared on Kickstarter their will be a glut on the market of these types of devices and users should spend some time considering how and when they plan to use such devices to see what will best fit their needs.

Mobile Sports Report Grab Bag: MLB Man Cave, Red Bull Crash

Last fall ESPN rolled out a new stat that it claimed would be the be-all and end-all in quarterback ratings called the Total Quarterback Ratings or (QBR). The company said that it went much further than other rating systems by adding in such important features as how clutch the performance was.

Now fast forward a year and use of the number has fallen off a cliff at ESPN. A good look at this is provided by The Classical which provides a good overview of the inner workings of how QBR is figured. I guess they can put this next to the last attempt at creating its own stats – Productive Outs in baseball.

Samsung wins another round vs Apple
A Dutch court has ruled that Apple’s multitouch patent was not infringed on by Samsung last week. The Court of The Hague ruled that the patent that describes technology that prevents smartphone users from pushing two on-screen buttons at the same time is not the same as the technology that Samsung does use in its Galaxy products.

As part of the ruling the court has ordered Apple to pay Samsung court costs, which are in excess of $422,000, according to CIO.com. Where this leaves the overall case, with each player winning and losing versions of it around the globe is anybody’s guess.

MLB taking applications for 2013 Fan Cave
If you think that the Fan Cave contest is a waste of time consider the case of Ashley Chavez, Ricardo Marquez and Kyle Thompson who are all at the current World Series and one will be declared Fan Cave Champion.

Sound interesting? Well it is too late for this year obviously but MLB is accepting applications for 2013 to be part of the “Fan Cave.” After the application process is closed there are elimination rounds and then a final lineup of nine fans. Did I mention they also went to the All Star Game this year?

Miscellaneous earnings reports
Earnings reports were in and it was a very mixed bag. HTC reported sales down 23% from previous quarter to $2.4 billion and said that it expects a weaker Q4 at approximately $2bn. Samsung however saw a huge spike in sales of its Galaxy that helped it set a new all time highs in sales and profits, driven by an estimated sale of 56 million smartphones in the quarter. It had net profit of$ 5.9 billion.

Apple reports 24% increase in earnings at $8.2bn and a 27% increase in revenue at $36bn, and disappointed Wall Street. The company said that it shipped 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter and was still heavily backlogged. Amazon when back into the red for the first time in four years when it reported a $274 million loss on sales of $13.81bn. The company took a $169 million write down on its stake in Living Social, a daily deal site.

Cost of Instagram deal drops
When Facebook purchased Instagram for an estimated $1 billion in April quite a few in the market were astounded at the price tag. Now that the dust has settled, and the deal paid for, the price tag has dropped quite a bit.

According to a filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission Facebook’s final cost for the deal was $715 million that consisted of $300 million in cash and 23 million shares of stock. The original price was based on Facebook’s estimated $30 per share stock price, pre-IPO.

Looking for a great crash video? Red Bull has the answer
Here is a video taken from the helmet cam of extreme mountain biker Cam Zink taken during an attempt to cross a 68-foot canyon. Guess how he fared.

Is RIM, among others, doomed?
Digi Times is reporting that due to mounting losses Research in Motion may be broken up and sold to other high tech companies. This is not that really surprising if it happens, its management has said in the past that all options are on the board and the company’s losses continue to mount.

What is surprising is that the article goes on to say that both Nokia and Motorola may also be on the chopping block for exactly the same reasons, even though Motorola is now owned by Google. I suspect that Google will want to keep the patents at the very least.

Smaller, Weather Resistant new iBike Cycling Computer Hits the Roads

Velocomp has upgraded its family of iBike offerings with the release of the iBike Dash cc5 cycling computer that it has designed specifically to be used with Apple’s popular iPhone 5 smartphone. Along with the Dash 5 is a new and iBike Phone Booth 5 bike case and mount as the company continues to expand its iBike platform.

The iBike Dash CC 5 Cycling Computer includes the updated iBike Coach 2.0 App with precision measurements that help provide cyclists with up to the second feedback on their performance. It has sensors that measure speed and cadence and Bluetooth 4 Smart Technology to communicate with the phone.

The iBike Coach 2.0 App, using the sensors technology provides precise measurements of your cycling data including speed, distance, cycling time, cadence. The computer also provides a good deal of flexibility because with its Bluetooth capabilities it can communicate with other wireless sensors including ANT + ones. In addition the computer can use other cycling apps as well.

It comes with a smaller, lighter case that is weather and water resistant and has a dual purpose mount that can be used in a vertical or horizontal position. The app is available in nine languages and there is an optional heart monitor available for users that want that additional piece of information.

The iBike Phone Booth 5 case & mount for iPhone 5 will be available next month and is available now for pre-order, priced at $49.95 at Amazon.com or the iBike Store online and will also be available for purchase in late November at Apple Stores or Apple online.

Available in December, the iBike Dash CC cycling computer for iPhone 5 will be available in December and is available now for pre-order priced at $99.95 at Amazon.com or the iBike Store online and will also be available for purchase in late November at Apple Stores or Apple online. Optional Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate sensor is also available.

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