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iPad now on Duke’s hard court

September 25, 2012 by

Duke University’s men’s basketball team is the latest college sports team to adopt a tablet as a major training tool as the school revealed this week that it was going to eliminate notebooks and move over to Apple’s iPad.

The school will be providing the latest version of the iPad with a 64GB storage capacity and players will have a range of information ranging from the static such as schedules and scouting reports, to live video of the teams’ plays as well as those of rivals and scouting reports. Also included will be tracking software and the ability to wipe the memory if they are stolen or lost.

Tablets are gaining ever increasing acceptance across a wide spectrum of usage models and sports, often viewed as so old school that it is still considering the typewriter, has actually been at the forefront of adoption.

There are at least eight NFL teams that have moved away from paper notebooks and onto iPads including the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens. MLB and the NBA have also been quick to follow suit.

Colleges have seen what their professional brethren are doing and have also started to adopt the technology. At the start of this season Stanford University adopted the iPad for its football players. Ohio State announced earlier this year that it was going to outfit all of its student athletes with iPads over the next two years. Other schools moving in this direction include Syracuse and the University of Colorado.

The one constant I am seeing is that almost all of the schools and pro teams are using Apple’s iPad as the tablet of choice and that is a great PR boost for the company (not that they really need it), but if rivals want to get high profile positioning of their tablets they might be well rewarded by going after some teams. I guess we might see this change a bit when the Windows 8 tablets come out next month, but then again maybe not.

Filed Under: Apple, Basketball, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Duke University, iOS, iPad, Major League Baseball, Microsoft, NBA Game Time, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NFL, PlayerLync, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , ,

The Night the NFL’s Replacement Refs Blew Up Twitter

September 24, 2012 by

At 9:24 p.m. Pacific time Monday night, here is what is trending on Twitter: One promoted stream, followed by: #MNF, Roger Goodell, Packers, XFL, #MyExTaughtMe, #ThingsBetterThanReplacementRefs, Vince McMahon, Mike McCarthy, Hail Mary. If you didn’t watch the end of Monday Night Football Twitter can tell you all about it: I don’t even need to hear from Twitter PR that tonight will be the most-tweeted night ever, as every single NFL fan, follower and participant calls for Roger Goodell’s head and his decision to keep real refs out and replacement refs in.

It wasn’t just the single game-ending call that stunk like skunk. There were numerous calls either way, including an egregious offensive pass interference call that went the other way, keeping Seattle’s game-ending drive alive. We’ll embed some choice tweets here but may not get any more since we are betting the Twitter server farms are nearing code red or whatever thing they use to warn of meltdown. If nothing else, Twitter can thank Goodell for probably cementing their IPO. Twitter may be changing sports, but tonight sports is changing Twitter. Or at the very least blowing it to smithereens.

Filed Under: ESPN, Monday Night Football, NFL, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wednesday Wi-Fi Whispers: Panthers (and Fans) Love Their New Wi-Fi Network

September 19, 2012 by

Panthers President Danny Morrison

When it comes to in-stadium wireless networks, most NFL teams and their fans are still looking to the future as to when high-speed Internet access will be available. Not so the Carolina Panthers, whose stadium sports what is arguably one of the NFL’s best Wi-Fi networks, with more than 460 access points providing free wireless access to every seat in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.

Mobile Sports Report got a call from Panthers president Danny Morrison last week, and the head cat in Charlotte couldn’t be prouder of the network bringing bandwidth to Panthers fans, a deployment done through a partnership between the team and telco giant AT&T. According to Morrison the Panthers started talking with AT&T about an in-stadium network after seeing what AT&T helped build at Cowboys Stadium for the Super Bowl in February of 2011.

“We entered into a partnership [with AT&T] and did a soft launch last season,” Morrison said. After testing and tweaking (including a full-bore tryout at a Kenny Chesney concert in June) Morrison said the network was ready to go this season, along with a new team app designed by YinzCam, a relatively unknown Pittsburgh firm that has quietly become the stone cold leader in NFL and sports-team app development. [Editor’s note: Look for a YinzCam profile soon!]

“The app is fantastic, you can grab all kinds of video from the [game production] truck, different replay angles, everything,” Morrison said. Even though we asked politely, Morrison didn’t disclose the terms of the network-building deal between the team and AT&T, other than to call it an “excellent partnership.”

Though the stadium also has an upgraded Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to help with straight cellular connectivity, the Wi-Fi network is the star of the show, and according to Morrison it’s all there to increase the enjoyment of the ticketholder. When we asked him if the network was put in perhaps to help drive revenue — sell more concessions, help with team operations like ticketing — he said all that matters right now is making fans’ phones work better so they can enjoy the unique experience of a live gameday that much more.

“When fans go to games, they want to send pictures to their friends, and see data from other games,” Morrison said. “That’s the world we live in. But there’s nothing like the experience of being inside the bowl at an NFL game. If you can add to that experience, it bodes well.”

Cisco Scores at Barclays Center

This is a late update (we just saw the press release blog) but it is good news for Cisco’s Sports connectivity group, a big win for the stadium Wi-Fi and digital signage biz at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. We are on the horn to Cisco folks and will try to get a more in-depth interview for next week’s column so stay tuned.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apps, AT&T, DAS, NFL, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Mobile Sports Report Grab Bag: New Tablets from ZTE & Huawei and MNF Flop

September 14, 2012 by

Toys 'R' Us Tabeo

Tired of losing your pricey iPad to your kids and then they yell when you try and take it back? Well Toys “R” Us has stepped in with a product that just might save the day with its Tabeo offering. A 7-inch tablet that runs the Android operating system will be available in stores Oct. 21, but will start shipping Oct. 1.

The $149.99 device will feature 4GB of storage that is expandable to 32GB, but the big plus for parents is that it will come with more than 50 books, games and educational apps preloaded including such popular ones as Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. The Tabeo is now available for preorder.

Chinese vendors ZTE & Huawei catching tablet fever?
DigiTimes is reporting that both Huawei Technologies and ZTE have both shown a good deal of interest in entering the tablet space. The move is seen as an effort to expand their respective footprints globally as well as take advantage of the huge Chinese market.

First Monday Night Football game of season a flop with fans
The first MNF games have come and gone, and thank goodness if you were forced to watch them. Apparently not that many did as Sports Media Watch reports that the opening game, a Ravens blowout of the Bengals only managed an 8.1 rating.

Monday Night Football

The season opener, shown on ESPN, was down 21% from last year when the Patriots and Dolphins played and down 23% from the Jets vs. Ravens in 2010. It was the lowest rated MNF broadcast by ESPN since it took over broadcast duties of the iconic show in 2007.

However just a few days later the NFL Network, with a much better matchup with the Packers vs. Bears, received the highest rating in its short history. However its numbers, at 6.3, are hurt because it still is not carried anywhere near as much by cable operators as ESPN.

Analysts predict 58 million iPhone sales in 2012
The iPhone orders only start today after the introduction earlier this week with the first phones expected to ship next week but analysts are predicting a tsunami of sales for Apple’s iPhone 5 smartphone in 2012.

According to a survey done by Bloomberg and reported in Mashable the consensus from analysts is 58 million sold this year and FBR Capital Market analyst Craig Berger is predicting 250 million over the life of the device.

Is Samsung’s LTE threat an issue still?
Samsung mentioned that if Apple included LTE in its iPhone 5 there was a high likelihood of Samsung suing Apple. Samsung owns a huge number of patents in this area and has a healthy business in the LTE area that is spate from the smartphone business.

Now so far Samsung has not acted but it might just be that the company is looking at the technology that is used in Apple’s LTE offering to make sure that it has it right. We could always hope that maybe the two are actually talking and can settle things out of court.

Samsung & MLB partner on contest
Speaking of Samsung the company has entered into a contest with Major League Baseball called Photo Hunt. It is a pretty basic game, one I think even I would have a decent chance at. Every week MLB, at @MLB, will tweet out a Samsung Photo Hunt item using the hash tag #SamsungMLB.

All a user has to do is take a picture of the item and share it with @MLB. Winners will get a Samsung S III phone and two free tickets to a game of their favorite team.

Kindle opens to lukewarm reviews
I was impressed by what I saw during the Kindle HD press conference last week, but reviewers with hands-on experience with the device have been less than complimentary. Some seems to be valid complaints, such as the speed apps load and a few issues with software.

Some of the complaints appear to be, well it is not an iPad, and that really is Amazon’s fault for proclaiming it the best tablet in the market. I still like it, but it is obviously what Amazon said it was at its introduction: a device that opens up other Amazon services to customers. It seems to me to make a product like that (in hindsight) that there will be features that are not included that a general purpose tablet user might want.

USA Today to look like iPad?
I have not been down to the local newsstand but it appears that USA Today will be sporting a new look starting this morning. The paper, which in many ways revolutionized the way papers look and how much space they devote to a story, is now taking on a sleeker appearance.

The paper took a lesson from the Web and how many sites present information. It will also feature input from social media users, including comments from Twitter and Facebook. Its web page will function more like an iPad, according to a piece in the New York Times.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, ABC, Amazon, Android, Apple, ESPN, Facebook, Gannett, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Major League Baseball, Mashable, Monday Night Football, NFL, NFL Network, Samsung, Smartphone, Tablets, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wednesday Wi-Fi Whispers: New Networks for Bobcats, Patriots and Vols

September 12, 2012 by

Wi-Fi gear supplier Ruckus Wireless has racked up another stadium win, this time as the technology behind a new Wi-Fi network at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C., home of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.

The new network was live just in time to supply attendees at last week’s Democratic convention with a signal much stronger than cellular. According to a report by John Cox in Network World the new network uses Ruckus’s specially designed stadium antennas and uses the better-performing 802.11n Wi-Fi protocol. Doug Sabo, product manager for micronetworks at Time-Warner Cable, said the cable giant (which supplies Internet and video back-end services) is talking with “many of the venues in our service area” to gauge their needs or desires to install or upgrade their stadium Wi-Fi operations.

Patriots Expand Network, Pick Local Firm Enterasys for Wi-Fi Gear

Fans of the New England Patriots can now enjoy Wi-Fi access throughout Gillette Stadium, thanks to a new network put in place by the team and Enterasys Networks, an Andover, Mass., supplier of networking gear. This Boston Herald report details the new network, which will provide free Wi-Fi service to all fans at the Pats’ NFL games.

Previously, wireless gear supplier Xirrus had helped the Patriots bring Wi-Fi services to Gillette Stadium’s extensive luxury suites and clubs. No word yet on whether the Xirrus installation will remain, or whether the Enterasys deal will usher Xirrus out.

Tennessee Vols get DAS at Neyland Stadium

One of the most orange places on earth, the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium, has a new Distributed Antenna System (DAS) installation in place to help improve cellular coverage. Raleigh, N.C.-based Longent is behind the installation, using DAS gear from Solid Technologies. Verizon Wireless will be the first cellular provider to use the DAS system, which improves cellular coverage by placing small antennas throughout the facility.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, DAS, NBA, NFL, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

NBC’s Sunday Night Football Expands Social Media Presence

September 10, 2012 by

Sunday Night Football on NBC

I was reading an old NBC Sports press release this morning and an interesting note caught my eye on its growing use of social media as a tool in reaching fans. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all will feature much more prominently in the networks pro football efforts.

The first thing I saw was that for what seems like a first you will be able to get live video updates from the sidelines of Sunday Night Football. It seems that NBC’s broadcast team sideline reporter will be posting updates directly to Twitter.

As the ultimate in mobility, if not image quality, it looks like instead of a traditional camera they will be using an iPhone, according to Mashable, to record the updates that will be provided by reporter Michele Tafoya and then post them to @SNFonNBC.

I think that this is a great idea because it will enable her to expand beyond the role that sideline reporters often seem to fall into such as asking blindingly obvious questions to the coaches and occasionally providing an injury update when they can squeeze them into the broadcast.

During sports broadcasts I do not like the breakways from the action that seem to increasingly occur. ESPN almost ruined Monday Night Football for me by having a guest in the booth and talking with them and showing the conversation rather than the action that was on the field. I did not tune in to hear Mark Wahlberg tout his latest movie!

Apparently the Twitter effort started in the preseason and I managed to miss it, as I followed my tradition of not watching preseason games, or pretty much caring about their results aside from the injury reports.

For the second year NBC will also be employing Instagram as a tool to send images to fans, both ones that it generates from the control truck, field and locker-room but also fan-generated ones as well who can submit via Instagram using #SNF that be sent into a special Instagram tab on the Sunday Night Football Facebook page.

The centerpiece of the social experience will be its Facebook page, Facebook.com/SNFonNBC that will serve as an aggregation site for all of its various properties including NBCSports.com, ProFootballTalk.Com and RotoWorld.com as well as the Twitter feed and the Instagram postings.

I think this is one of the best uses of social media by a broadcaster and shows that as the broadcasters, at least this one, are getting a grasp on the fact that fans view events and gather information about them with a greater variety of media tools than ever before and that reaching them all takes a more concentrated effort.

Filed Under: Facebook, Instagram, Mashable, NBC Sports, NFL, ProFootballTalk, Sports Photography, Sports Social Media, Sports Social Media Data, Sunday Night Football, Twitter Tagged With: , , , ,
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