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On Wi-Fi Day, a Warning: Find Wi-Fi if You Want Sports on Your Phone

August 2, 2011 by

Attention, mobile sports fans: If you are thinking of watching a game anytime soon on your portable device, be prepared to find yourself some Wi-Fi — or get ready to pay Peyton Manning-like dough to stay connected.

Since today is officially “Wi-Fi Day” since the numerical date, 8-02-11 neatly corresponds with the IEEE designation for the Wi-Fi protocol (802.11) it’s a good time as any to start thinking about where you might be able to find a Wi-Fi connection for when you want to watch sports, especially live video, on your phone, pad or laptop. Why? Because the nation’s two biggest cellular carriers, AT&T and Verizon, have recently made it loud and clear that heavy users of wireless data will be forced to pay more for the service the more they use, and may even face data-download slowdowns if they use their phones too much.

AT&T this week let it be known that even those users who still have so-called “unlimited” data plans may see their cellular connections slowed down if Ma Bell decides you are using too much data. And Verizon’s new CEO spent part of the company’s most recent earnings call talking about how “tiered” data plans are inevitable and that cell phone users need to get used to a future where every bit is counted and charged for.

The good news is that both AT&T and Verizon are busy trying to set up free public Wi-Fi networks, especially at major sporting arenas, to help ease the cellular crush being caused by stadiums full of fans snapping pictures and sharing videos from their phones. The alternative is to find a Starbuck’s or other friendly eating establishment where you might be able to use a local Wi-Fi connection to get the bandwidth you’ll need to watch sports live on your phone for longer than a few minutes.

And if you are dead set on using your phone or tablet to watch sporting events via a cellular connection, now might be a good time to take a look at what Sprint has to offer, since as of this writing the No. 3 cellular carrier in the country is the only one still offering truly unlimited data plans for its new, faster 4G network.

We’ll have more on this topic soon but in the meantime it might not be a bad idea to take a look at Wi-Fi aggregators like iPass or Boingo to see if your corporate communications needs can sync up with your desire to stay connected with your favorite team.

Filed Under: AT&T, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Video Streaming Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Friday Loose Ends

July 1, 2011 by

The Smithsonian looks at ways to cheat in baseball
Cheating in baseball is a time honored tradition except when it annoys the sports writers, who are after all the arbitrators of the sports unwritten rule book. The Smithsonian took a scientific look at a couple of the more popular topics in this space such as the impact that using a corked bats or confining baseballs to a humidor can have on the distance a baseball can travel. Fun read.

Samsung and Apple at odds, again
Samsung Electronics is suing Apple for violating its patents and using the technology in Apple’s iPhones and iPad. If this rings a bell it might be because Samsung already has other litigation brewing versus Apple. On the other hand Apple is suing Samsung for copying Apple’s iPhone look and feel in Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.

Pac-12 official; Did ESPN ‘lose” the Big Ten over hardball tactics?
Today is the day that changes are occurring in College football. One of many is that The Pac-10 Conference is officially dead, Long live the Pac-12 Conference. With the Colorado Buffaloes and the Utah Utes joining the Pac it will now have two divisions and a playoff, as well as considerably more revenue from a new TV deal. In other news it was reported in the Chicago Tribune that ESPN played hardball with the Big Ten and that led to the creation of the Big Ten Network as feeling were bruised.

Smartphones continue market gains, Android and iPhones lead the pack
Smartphone sales continue to grow as the communications devices are increasingly popular with consumers, according to a May survey conducted by Nielsen. Currently 38% of all US mobile users have a smartphone and in the last three months the handsets accounted for a robust 55% of all mobile phones purchased in the last three months. Android-based systems lead the way with a 38% market share while Apple’s iOS-based devices account for 27%. Apple has seen a surge in recent months according to Nielsen, something that coincides with its move to a second major US carrier. RIM’s Blackberry is third with a 21% share with a number of others having less than 10% market share.

Microsoft adds Office 365 for mobile users
Love the Cloud and want to use it for your business applications? Then Microsoft wants you and has released its Office 365 this week which enables collaboration and access between e-mail, web conferencing, documents and calendars. There is a $6/month version for professionals and small businesses and a $10/month plan for mid and large size offices. Designed for sharing across a range of devices including smartphones it supports versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browser; mobile devices requires Wi-Fi. Some mobile functionality requires Microsoft Office Mobile 2010, which is included with specific releases of Windows Phones and Nokia phones. So for full functionality sorry iPhone and Android users, Windows phones will rule in this space for the near term.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Baseball, BlackBerry, ESPN, iPad, iPhone, Nielsen Ratings Tagged With: , , , ,

2011 Tour de France Features All Access, GPS

June 26, 2011 by

 

Cycling legend Bernard Hinault. (Photo courtesy letour.fr)

All cycling, all the time, for a price. NBC Sports plans expanded mobile sports coverage of the 2011 Tour de France, with $14.99 Android, iPhone and iPad applications that provide unlimited live video streaming and Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of every rider in every race.

According to an AllThingsD report, NBC recognizes that sports coverage must expand every year to meet the sophisticated demands of the mobile sports consumer. NBCSports.com coordinating producer Tom Seeley told AllThingsD that it is “not acceptable” for sports programmers to offer the same services as the previous year. 

In 2010, NBC Sports’ cable channel Versus offered some GPS tracking of riders, but this year’s broadcasting will provide detailed tracking of every rider of every race. For those paying the freight for the Android, iPad and iPhone apps, there will be up to 14 hours of live video daily. For app-less sports consumers, NBC will provide maps, standings, rider profiles and video highlights.      

From now until July 11, NBC will charge $14.99 for the Android, iPad and iPhone apps. The price will drop $5 to $9.99 for week No. 2 coverage (July 12-16) and final week coverage (July 17-25) will cost $6.99.

Subscriptions for live video over the Internet will be $4.95 daily and $29.95 for the entire event.

Filed Under: Android, iPad, iPhone, NBC Sports, Tour de France, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Verizon Adds Cellular Tower Power at Michigan Speedway

June 14, 2011 by

Portable cellular tower on light truck -- aka a "COLT." Credit: Verizon Wireless



As more and more fans bring their new high-powered cell phones to sporting events, wireless operators are being forced to scramble to support the new demand for bandwidth by adding portable cell towers or Wi-Fi infrastructure.

Making lemonade from the sour problem today was Verizon Wireless, which issued a press release trumpeting its attempts to provide more cellular bandwidth to the thousands of NASCAR fans who will visit Michigan International Speedway this summer, especially the big crowds expected at Sunday’s NASCAR race.

Verizon’s quick fix to handle the crowd (the speedway has 106,000 reserved grandstand seats) is something called a COLT, or Cell on Light Truck, a mobile cell antenna unit that Verizon says “will boost voice capacity by 200 percent and data capacity by 1,000 percent” in the greater speedway vicinity. Here’s the money quote from the press release:

“Ensuring our customers can count on their wireless devices for communication, news and more at major sporting events, like the races held at MIS is part of our ongoing commitment to network reliability,” said John Granby, president–Michigan/Indiana/Kentucky Region, Verizon Wireless. “We look at how our customers’ usage patterns are changing at events like these and we use this information to make sure we stay well ahead of their demand.”

What Verizon left unsaid was why it had to scramble to add portable cellular power in the first place — namely it’s the crush of new bandwidth demand precipitated by people bringing their iPhones and other superphones that Verizon and its competitors have been busy selling selling selling to large-gathering public venues like stadiums and malls. Like Verizon, expect all the other major carriers to follow suit the rest of the year by telling you how great it is that they are adding additional capacity to handle the crunch caused by selling all those phones that are overpowering their old networks.

Filed Under: iPhone, NASCAR, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: , ,

Review: ESPN Enhances ESPN Radio App

May 10, 2011 by

I do not know why, but it had never occurred to me to load a sports radio program into my iPhone. Now I actually have several radio apps, all part of my iTunes package, but I do not listen to them as I have so much music also loaded on the phone. I guess sports radio to me is something I listen to my car or at my desk, since both environments that are better suited for different broadcast modes.

However I noticed that ESPN has released a new version of its iPhone radio app, namely ESPN Radio 3.0, technically it is v3.2.106, and so I decided to kick the tires, so to speak. Oddly enough getting to the app was not quite as easy as most, probably because of the roundabout method I followed. My iTunes app was set for search when I opened it so all I did was type in ESPN Radio. Unfortunately it gave me dozens of ESPN podcasts. So I typed in ESPN Radio 3.0 and I got an ESPN FIFA app. When I used my computer I found it instantly.

The $2.99 app has some specific target markets, and I noticed in the comments sections people complained about not getting a variety of live game broadcasts, however it should be noted that while it does provide some live sports action, it is very focused.

The program, good for both iPhones and iPod Touch devices provides a variety of streaming radio from over two dozen ESPN affiliated stations around the nation as well as ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio Network feeds. Also included is 35 different ESPN podcasts. (There are also versions of the app for Android phones and BlackBerry devices; didn’t try them but guessing they have similar capabilities.)

Several areas stand out to me from the app including the live radio programming carrying ESPN standards such as Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Heard with Colin Cowherd, The Scott Van Pelt Show and others. Another is that it will carry live all of the college football games that ESPN broadcasts, something that I could not test at this time.

Other features include up to the minute scores and the ability to text message and call-in directly to ESPN Radio and ESPN affiliate station. The app includes a nice degree of customization including adding favorite stations and programs and a feature called myESPN that provides what ESPN calls customized audio of your selected teams which will be pulled into the app and it has searchable audio for specific clips broken down by a variety of categories including team and player.

It has the ability to run in the background so that you can use your iPhone for other tasks, but a volume control would be appreciated. I found that the radio shows and podcasts were easy to find and run. I did not encounter any breakups or dropping of programs when I tested the app but I am sure that it happens since it also happens with calls and other apps I have used in the past that require live streaming.

The app seems best suited for a variety of fans including those who want to listen to a different city’s sports radio and ones that want to hear a specific football game that is on the air, but possibly not in their area or they cannot get to the television to watch.

On a side note for fans of ESPN’s various radio programs it looks like both Mike Greenberg of the Mike and Mike show could be getting his own sitcom based on his book “My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot,” which will give two ESPN personalities shows, as Colin Cowherd also has one in the works.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, ESPN, iPhone Tagged With:

Apple Customers Get Best View of Masters Golf Online

April 7, 2011 by

If you are a golf fan with an iPhone or iPad, you already have a two-shot lead even before this year’s Masters Tournament kicks off on April 7. That’s because the tourney is tilted in favor of Apple devices for non-TV viewing, especially for iPad owners who will have access to a wide array of features including nine live channels via a $1.99 app, as well as “the only digital live simulcast” of CBS’s weekend coverage.

While Android device owners won’t completely miss the cut, the free official Masters Android app for non-Apple devices will only provide live scoring and radio coverage, with video available only as highlights. (A version downloaded Wednesday night to a Samsung Epic 4G from Sprint also seemed to have issues with it not being able to increase text size.)

Golf fans with iPhones, however, will have access to five live video channels on their free app, an edge that could allow iPhone users to multitask (say, at your kid’s soccer game) on Sunday and not miss any live coverage of a potentially exciting finish.

Though many fans will no doubt be glued to the TV set (since the Masters has only a couple commercials each hour it remains one of the most pure sport-watching experiences) there will likely be many more viewers watching via their PCs, thanks to the beefed-up feature set found at the Masters.com site. One of the first big events to truly embrace the Internet, the Masters in 2011 will add the following online features, according to the tournament press release:

· Eight live video channels, all available in HD-quality

· DVR functionality that allows users to rewind to key moments during live action

· Exclusive live scoring with integrated leader board highlights

· The Internet’s only live, 3D video stream for users with 3D-capable computers

If you are watching via the iPad, you probably want to make sure you are doing so via a Wi-Fi connection, since extended video viewing via a 3G link could potentially burn through your monthly data download limit. But we are guessing there will be many golfing fans with both TVs and tablets ablaze during the tournament, as the multi-screen experience allows for Masters saturation far away from the hallowed fairways of Augusta.

Filed Under: Android, Golf, iPad, iPhone, The Masters, Top News Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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