New Chicago focused Web site launches with solid cast
While the review might be a bit over the top, Robert Feder in his column points out a new entrant to the world of sports blogging, and one focused on Chicago that will go by the name of ChicagoSide that is slated to officially launch on baseball opening day in 2012.
Author and columnist Jonathan Eig is helping lead the charge. If you are unfamiliar with his name you may have seen some of his books in the sports sections- such as Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season.
The web site will have three dozen writers, something that in this day and age is almost mind blowing. Among the initial lineup will be Lou Carlozo, George Castle, James Finn Garner, Jim Coffman, Lauren Etter, Elliott Harris, Noah Isackson, Billy Lombardo, Amy Merrick, Joel Reese, and Alan Solomon,. Theo Epstein might find himself missing the Boston press corps.
Will Tim Tebow slay ESPN’s QB rating system?
Rating systems are always a lot of fun, often hard to figure out, great source of bar arguments and rarely do they provide any insight if rating an individual in a team sport. ESPN happily entered the market this year with its QBR.
The Washington Post’s Achenblog takes a good poke at the system noting that winning is not one of the metrics and that Tebow fares poorly in the QBR. He says that it does not measure heart, leadership and desire.
While those are often the lead in anti-stat diatribes this one is not really that. He also notes that rating systems do not take into consideration the changes in rules in the NFL that allows QBs and receivers to run free to a degree that players a generation earlier would have loved. Also would you trust any rating system that puts Philip Rivers as a better QB that Joe Montana?
Control your Xbox from your Windows Phone
Microsoft has released its Xbox Companion App for its Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. With the app a user can control select services on their Xbox as well as consume any content that they might have stored on the device. In addition Microsoft has added search capabilities to examine the entire Xmox catalog and find games, apps, movies and movies.
The phone enables users to learn additional details about the objects of a search as well as select and launch a search result movie, video game TV show or app on the console as well as play, rewind and pause music and video. The App is free from Microsoft.
Will the Kindle Fire be 50% of Android Tablet Market in 2012?
That is the thought of Evercore Partners’ Robert Cihra who believes that the tablet from Amazon will have a major impact in the Android space, carving out a huge niche for itself and creating barriers for rivals to enter and profit from the space.
The Kindle Fire, which many have estimated Amazon sells for cost, and possibly just a hair under, in the old razor/razor blade business model, could “Vaporize” the for profit Android tablet OEM business according to Cihra.
He notes that Apple will remain the dominate player in this space with its iPad and that it will continue to dominate the most profitable segment of the market. The Kindle talking 50% of the Android market would represent a drop in the bucket of the overall market which Apple is expected to have a market share of as much as 70% in 2012 depending on the source.
Twitter claims iOS integration boosts signups by 25%
The redesign of Twitter appears to have struck a chord with one segment of the market, the Apple iOS users. The redesign, for those of you who have not noticed, includes a consistent menu across desktop and mobile platforms, the ability to track what has happened with an individual post and a Discovery section that recommends new areas based on previous history, among other changes.
So where does the iOS come in? Well it actually started helping the micro blogging site earlier when it integrated the service into its mobile OS. Users can tweet photos directly from the camera, for instance. Since the integration Twitter has seen a notable uptick in status updates, according to MACNN.
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