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Friday Grab Bag: Samsung News, New World Cup Mascot, Windows 8 Tablet Tidbits

September 21, 2012 by

World Cup 2014

Oddly I never think of an armadillo when I think of Brazil, yet in just a few years fans will be flocking to the country to watch the 2014 World Cup and no doubt will be inundated with images of the new World Cup mascot, an armadillo.

FIFA unveiled the mascot, which it has not yet completely ruined by giving it some cute name, Monday with the assistance of Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo. Don’t worry, they are unveiling its official name in November.

Twitch gets a $15 million investment for eSports broadcasting
Twitch.tv has received a $15 million investment that is intended to help the company expand its eSports live streaming capabilities. The money, which came from venture capital investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners, will be used to expand its engineering team.

This is the company’s third round of funding, bringing its total to $23 million, with the last being a $8 million round in 2007 when the company was known as justin.tv. It received a small seed funding in 2007.

Samsung strikes back at the iPhone
Samsung has said that it plans to add Apple’s just released iPhone 5 to its existing patent lawsuit that it has with its rival. The move has been expected as the company said that if Apple included LTE Samsung believed that the technology would likely violate its extensive patent holdings in that area.

Hopefully this will go better than Samsung’s Facebook campaign, where it asked which smartphone a user would like to have if stranded on a desert island. The Apple faithful flooded the site and voted for the iPhone.

However on a brighter note the company has landed a major deal with American Airlines that calls for the airline to equip 17,000 flight attendants with the Samsung Galaxy Note, according to CIO.

StubHub out Ticketmaster in for MLB?
A report from the New York Post is claiming that Ticketmaster is seeking to replace StubHub as the office site to resell your MLB tickets. According to the piece the deal between MLB and StubHub has expired and there is pressure from several teams to switch.

The reason for the switch is pretty obvious; you can get discounted tickets for top teams at StubHub, while Ticketmaster has a reputation of piling on charges and raising the price. Teams like the Yankees want their seats sold at a higher price.

Intel gets first marquee Atom smartphone user in Motorola
Motorola Mobility has unveiled its Razr I smartphone, its first that is powered by Intel’s 2GHz Atom Z2460 processor. The phone features a 4.3 inch display that can use its entire area, displaying images from border to border.

Among its other features are an 8 MP camera, the ability to start up in one second, NFC and the screen has a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. No pricing was announced at the rollout.

Anti-Japan protests lead to Intel Extreme Masters tournament cancellation in China
The latest round of the Intel Extreme Masters tournament was scheduled to take place in a few days in Guangzhou, China at the Anime Comics and Game Show has been canceled due to anti-Japanese protests, organizers have said.

The protests, sparked over a fight between Japan and China over a set of islands has led to the cancelation of a large number of Japanese vendors at the show.

More details on Surface Tablet from Microsoft
Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer told the Seattle Times that company would be pricing the device in the same price range as Apple’s iPad rather than in the area that Amazon and Google are seeking to carve out at the low end.

This is not really a surprise since Amazon and Google are positioning their tablets as front end devices that will be used to purchase additional goods and services from the company, and are selling the tablets at cost. The range that Microsoft is looking at is from $300 to between $700-$800.

Leaked pricing on the pending Asus tablet, according to a report from ZDNet, is that it will be even pricier, coming in at $599, $799 and $1,299 depending on model and features. The most expensive is expected to have an 11.6 HD display.

Google asks ITC to ban wide array of Apple products
The International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate alleged patent violations by Apple based on charges brought by Google. Google is claiming that Apple is violated a number of patents that came to the company via its Motorola Mobility purchase. It is also asking the ITC to ban all Mac OS X computers, all iPads and most iPhones.

Microsoft wins a round in patent battles
Microsoft has earned a victory in its patent battle with Motorola in a lower regional German court that ruled that Motorola has infringed on a Microsoft patent that relates to text input. Motorola is expected to appeal in the case.

The ruling could result in both the banning of select Motorola smartphones as well as unspecified damages if the appeal is unsuccessful.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Asus, Baseball, Electronics Sports League, eSports, Facebook, FIFA, Galaxy Note, Intel, Intel Extreme Masters, iOS, Lawsuit, Major League Gaming, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphone, Soccer, Tablets, Venture Capital, Video Games Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Major League Baseball jumps on Apple’s Passbook Ticket Technology

September 20, 2012 by

Major League Baseball has long been a fan of Apple and its technologies, rolling out its very popular sports apps on the iOS platform first and so it is no surprise that it has quickly adopted Passbook, the mobile ticket option available as part of its iOS 6 operating system.

With the operating system just being released this week MLB already has four clubs set up to support the technology, the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, all of which will offer the option at their home games for the remainder of the season.

Passbook is a technology that enables a ticket to be transmitted, stored and displayed on an iPhone. Apple is seeking to have it adopted as an accepted technology at a wide range of establishments that use tickets including movie theaters, boarding passes as well as used for coupons and loyalty cards, to just name a few. A nice feature is that the ticket can appear on the lock screen so that users don’t slow down a line activating and logging into their phone.

For baseball fans they have multiple avenues to purchase the digital tickets including via MLB.com or the official Club websites, including the mobile web, or through the MLB.com At Bat or At The Ballpark mobile apps. MLBAM also will automatically display the digital ticket from Passbook on the device’s lock screen as a day-of-game reminder.

The tickets will be like a normal ticket and will show the information that you would expect including game date, opponent, time, section, row and seat. StubHub, the official secondary reselling site for MLB will also adopt the technology.

Filed Under: Apple, Baseball, iOS, iOS 6, iPad, iPhone, Major League Baseball, Passbook, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , ,

The World Baseball Classic starts this Week

September 19, 2012 by

While Major League Baseball has not yet reached the wild card round of play, the World Baseball Classic is preparing for its first round of qualifiers with games being played in Jupiter Florida and Regensburg, Germany.

For teams that are going to

rely on filling out their rosters with current MLB players, well you are just going to have to wait apparently, something that could harm the chances of some of the teams involved.

The first qualifier, the one held in Jupiter, will feature teams from France, Israel, South Africa and Spain while the second one in Regensburg will have the teams from Canada, Czech Republic, Germany and Great Britain.

The next two sets of qualifiers are slated for play in November. One will take place in Panama City, Panama and will feature Brazil, Columbia, Nicaragua and Panama while the other will take place in Taipei, Taiwan and will include Taipei, New Zealand, Philippines and Thailand.

The Jupiter qualifiers run from Sept. 19-23 while the Regensburg qualifiers run from Sept. 20-24. The Panama City qualifiers run from Nov. 15-19 while the Taipei City qualifier runs from Nov. 15-18. All of the game will be broadcast for free online.

In addition, the final game of each pool will be aired in the United States and Puerto Rico on MLB Network. MLB Network will air the final qualifier game from Jupiter on tape delay at 8 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 23rd and the final game of the Regensburg qualifier live on Monday, September 24th at 1 p.m. ET

The winner of each qualifier is then entered into the 2013 World Baseball Classic tournament that will begin next year in March. The qualifier rounds, which include the four teams that did not win any games in the 2009 WBC, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Panama and South Africa, are a six-game modified double-elimination format.

The winners of these rounds join the 12 nations that received automatic invites based on their last WBC performance. The countries are – Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, United States and Venezuela.

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Filed Under: Baseball, Live Sports Video Consumption, Major League Baseball, World Baseball Classic Tagged With:

PrePlay takes Aim at Major League Baseball with Latest App

September 13, 2012 by

MLB PrePlay

PrePlay, one of the early app developers in the growing predictive sports space has returned with a new program entitled MLB PrePlay that is aimed at the fans of Major League Baseball and was launched in conjunction with MLB’s digital media arm Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

The alignment with MLBAM is a coup of sorts for the developer because not only will it have the blessing of the sport but it will also be able to use logos and markings that are MLBs, but that is the smaller of the advantages.

It will also have access to the Gameday API. This is the technology that helps drive some of the most popular sporting apps on the market, MLB at Bat and Beat the Streak, both of which are MLB properties.

The app has the advantage that fans of the sport can use it as both an in-game or pre-game tool; you can use it while following a current game to make predictions about upcoming plays ranging from individual at bats to how an inning will turn out to when a pitching change will occur. It also allows for pregame and in-between innings predictions.

However if you are unable to watch the game you can use the app prior to the opening pitch as well making predictions along similar lines such as who will be the winning pitcher, how fast will the fastest pitch be and a wide range of other options.

The program is designed to enable you to compete with friends and even create competitions with them to see who can most accurately predict outcomes and allows you to chat with them during the event, or trash talk as your case may be. It can be opened to a wider audience if you feel that your skills warrant the extra competition.

MLB PrePlay also comes equipped with Facebook Login, Twitter integration, and a trophy case. The free app is currently available at Apple’s iTunes App Store and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Predictive sports apps are increasingly popular, and so the market is seeing a growing number of apps that cater to them, some broad based supporting multiple sports and some just one sport. I like the single sports approach, at least right now. I can go to an app like Bantr for soccer, Pickmoto for football or this one for baseball and talk and predict with friends. With the average iPhone user having over 100 apps, according to Apple, one more is not really going to cause confusion on the average users’ phone.

Of course at times when multiple sports seasons are all ongoing at the same time my opinion might change as I have to switch back and forth, but for most of the summer it’s just baseball for me.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Baseball, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Major League Baseball, MLB PrePlay, Pickmoto, PrePlay Tagged With: , , ,

SportsPicker Challenge Provides Cyber Bragging Rights with Real World Prizes

September 5, 2012 by

SportsPicker

Want to show that you know your stuff about the upcoming NFL season, or possibly on one of the other major sports ranging from NBA, MLB to MLS and EUFA Championship soccer to your Facebook friends?

Well the SportsPicker Challenge, developed by OHK Labs might just be the app that you have been looking for as it not only covers those sports but also others such as NCAA basketball and football among others.

Everybody has friends that like to brag about how well they pick winners in sporting contests but a little digging often shows that they tend to do so without taking the odds into consideration, something that would have made the task considerably harder. And that is one feature that sets the app apart from others.

Users select the sport that you want to follow and make predictions about how a week’s slate of games is going to turn out, using the odds that have been established for that event. The apps scoring system takes the odds into account so that a victory by the favored team earns 100 points, and underdog team wins earn between 125 and 200 points, depending on the odds of winning.

The importance of the points is due to the apps challenge periods that feature prizes. The nice thing about the prizes is that they are real ones and not a cyber award that only is usable on the app. The company is offering gift cards from a variety of companies including Amazon, Sports Authority, Best Buy and others.

In addition, for the opening week of the NFL (which starts tonight) three fans will win an EA Sports Madden 13 for picking the most winners in the opening week of the season. The OHK has said that it plans to have approximately $10,000 in prizes. Users do not have to participate in sponsored events. They can get friends to join and compete with them via your own challenges.

There s no cost to play and fans have two options; they can play on Facebook or via their iPhone using a free app available at Apple’s iTunes store. It has just emerged from beta testing in time for the start of Football.

There are a growing number of apps that do some of what SportsPicker Challenge does, but as far as I know none use the odds as part of the equation. There are plenty of apps that allow for bragging rights and even some that have prizes, but as far as I have seen the prizes are mostly cyber ones- points for contests and to get extra privileges. This is the one of first that has real world prizes, something I think that fans can appreciate as much as bragging rights.

There are single sports ones that provide prizes including the cool $1 million that the NFL is now offering but that is a fantasy league and so really a horse of a different color. PickMoto is also a one sports play, at least currently.

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Filed Under: Apple, Apps, Baseball, Facebook, iOS, iPhone, Major League Baseball, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NCAA.com, NFL, NHL, SportsPicker Challenge Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Apple/Samsung Jury Forms, NFL Cutdowns, Kindle Loses Big Sale

August 24, 2012 by

Major League Baseball

Now that it has decided to test expanded replay, Major League Baseball is testing a pair of systems to see which will better meet its needs which will now include examining fair/foul calls and trapped balls.

MLB will have one system installed at Yankee Stadium and the other at the Mets' Citi Field in order to conduct tests. The systems are expected to be up and running by the end of this month and will be used in September games, according to Yahoo Sports.

Google Nexus 7 sales to hit 7 million
A report has surfaced from Tech-thought.net that said it estimates that Google will sell as many as 7 million of its Nexus 7 tablets this year, an amazing feat that would put it in among the leaders in tablet sales.

That number would be more than twice what Google had originally estimated it would sell, but demand has been strong and in the first weeks it sold out of its entry level model that starts at $199.

Look to Awful Announcing for your NFL broadcast news
Now that the NFL season is around the corner its time to look at one important aspect of the games — the announcers. I find most announcers to be pretty grating and often watch games on mute rather than expose myself to their blather.

Some brave souls not only listen, but rate them with the pros. So head over to Awful Announcing and lend a hand. The site also does nice work covering many aspects of sports.

Microsoft to build 3 million Surface tablets in 2012?
Market research firm IDC said that it expects Microsoft to build 3 million Surface tablets in 2012, according to an interview run in C/net. The estimate includes tablets that run Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT.

In the interview with IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell C/net reported that he believed that the entry level price of at least one version of the tablets would be in the $199 range, putting it in a head to head price competition with the smaller 7-inch tablets and making it much less expensive than offerings from Apple and Samsung.

America’s Cup World Series mishaps
One captain at this week’s America’s Cup World Series races predicted carnage due to the sailing conditions on San Francisco Bay. Well the San Francisco Chronicle has done a nice job of providing a photo essay on that topic.

Dell not as enthusiastic on Surface sales
Dell executives said that the company expects that Microsoft’s Surface tablets will represent a very small percent of the overall PC units in the next year. Michael Dell, founder and CEO said that he expects the numbers to be between 1% and 2%.

The company has reported that its PC and mobility sales were down 14% for the most recent quarter and sees tablets as eroding that space. The company will be among the hardware developers expected to deliver Windows 8-based tablets in the fall.sales have been

ESPN bids on BCS playoffs
Now that the BCS has altered its championship format to now feature a playoff, the next step is of course to sell the rights to broadcast those games. ESPN has been broadcasting the BCS Championships the past few years and it has the opportunity to continue.

It has been reported that starting Oct 1, ESPN will have an exclusive 30-day window in which to purchase the playoff rights from the BCS. The BCS is also working on a new revenue-sharing plan to work out how the playoff money will be divided.

BCS Championship

Think you are well informed re Apple vs Samsung — look at Jury form
The form that the jury is using for the case is 20 pages long and looks like a college exam. I really feel sorry for the jury and expect that they will need to constantly have to get refreshers on what all of the varied elements are in the case.

Huge U.S. Government Kindle purchase killed
ITWorld is reporting that the U.S. Department of State has canceled a large order for Amazon’s Kindle Touch tablets along with additional content. The order was valued at $16.5 million over the course of its lifetime.

The department said that it was taking a second look at the requirements of the program and was conducting additional market research. The contract originally called for an initial 2,500 e-readers and 50 titles of content.

NFL roster reductions start Monday
For NFL fans some of the most interesting days, prior to when they actually start playing, will be coming up over the next week as teams will have to reduce rosters from the current 90 player level to 53 by Aug. 31.

Teams will be looking to shore up perceived weak areas as a flood of players hit the market with the first cut down next Monday to 75 and then again later in the week. I wonder how many might find a place in the USFL or other alternative leagues?

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Filed Under: Android, Apple, Awful Announcing, Baseball, BCS, Dell, ESPN, Kindle, Major League Baseball, Microsoft, NFL, Samsung, Smartphone, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , ,
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