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Friday’s Technology Tidbits

September 16, 2011 by

Microsoft deals Flash another blow

Microsoft has decided to not support plug-ins in its Tablet version of Windows 8, which means that it will not support Flash. For the uninitiated but mildly interested this does not mean the type of Flash that got Uncle Ernie in trouble but rather the technology from Adobe that is used to add animation, video and interactivity to web pages. The thinking is that Flash is old technology and the the more recent HTML5 is better suited for the mobile users because of its low power demands, among other features. Microsoft is following Apple in this move, which also does not support Flash for its iPad and iPhone platforms. However Microsoft will offer an option that is expected to enable users to continue to use the technology if they so chose.

Come for pease pudding, stay for Football?

While the use of tablets seems to be growing every day, this is a tack that might actually get me off the sofa when a game is on (well not really). A British supermarket chain in London is testing the use of iPad-equipped shopping carts. The purpose of the iPad is not as a tool to check your list or to do comparison shopping. No, it is there so that you can view streaming sports while deciding if the beer on sale is worth saving a few quid. Sainsbury is teaming with Sky Sports for the service. Sainsbury provides a cart that has an iPod dock. iPod owners can download a free app called Sky Go iPad , available to Sky subscribers, that enables them to watch several sports channels. The carts will include special bumpers and sensors to help prevent collisions while watching the latest goal. Of course I guess you could also use it for the shopping list, but why bother?

Android-based tablets losing ground to RIM? Really?

According to the latest report from market research firm IDC, tablets that run the Android operating system are losing ground to newer players, including both Research-in Motion’s PlayBook which managed to gain a 4.9% market share for the quarter. The firm said in its second quarter report that the tablet market continues to be led by Apple’s iPad, shipping 9.3 million units that account for 68.3% of the market. The Android devices fell from 34% market share in the first quarter to 26.8% in Q2. Only part of the drop was due to growing RIM sales. The Hewlett-Packard fire sale on its TouchPad has a huge impact as well, expecting to comprise 4.7% of the market by the end of next quarter. The demand was so great for the cut rate devices that the company built an additional run. At $99 per, it makes you wonder what the real breakeven point for the devices is. Still HP will be out of the running soon and expect the Android systems to continue their upward growth in sales and market share.

The Atlantic nails the NCAA, hopefully will wash it to sea

In case you have missed it, the October issue of The Atlantic just lays into the NCAA with a well written, well researched piece on what a sham it actually is. I really doubt that anything will come of it, I mean look at the pat on the hand the Fiesta Bowl received for its transgressions. While a $1 million fine might seem like a lot to a working stiff, it is just two years salary of the guy that formerly ran the program. Instead of citing all of the points that I liked I think just these early quotes show where it is going.
“Why,” asked Bryce Jordan, the president emeritus of Penn State, “should a university be an advertising medium for your industry?”
Vaccaro did not blink. “They shouldn’t, sir,” he replied. “You sold your souls, and you’re going to continue selling them. You can be very moral and righteous in asking me that question, sir,” Vaccaro added with irrepressible good cheer, “but there’s not one of you in this room that’s going to turn down any of our money. You’re going to take it. I can only offer it.” Ouch.

Filed Under: Android, iPad, Live sports via mobile, NCAA Football, Soccer, Tablets

NCAA/Turner Alliance to expand its Football Presence

August 31, 2011 by

The alliance between NCAA and Turner Sports will be showing increased activity this Fall

With the start of college football just days away the NCAA and its partner Turner Sports have stepped up with a range of programs for fans and followers of NCAA football including a 30 minute preview show every week.

The show will be hosted by Vince Cellini and SEC college analyst Dave Archer and will cover not only the Football Bowl Subdivision but also the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II and Division III, which should make for a very busy 30 minutes.

The move is just one of many as the two partners start to move forward in a joint effort to expand the NCAA’s on-line and broadcast presence. Last year the NCAA singed a pair of deals with Turner Sports, one of which included CBS as well.

The first deal called for a 14-year television, Internet and wireless rights agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting. It gave the two the rights to present the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship beginning in 2011 and continuing through 2024 for more than $10.8 billion. This includes all the games being broadcast live, over a combination of four networks-CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.

Included in the deal are joint marketing effort between the NCAA , CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting. At the time this was labeled the start of a new partnership and so it was as a second deal was cut soon after.

The second deal was just between Turner and the NCAA and it called for Turner create and mange NCAA Digital and which also covers 14 years. No terms of this deal were made available. NCAA Digital will cover all 88 NCAA championships and is designed to heighten awareness and interest in them, including running NCAA.com, the primary web site for all of the championships.

Included in the Fall football push will a number of expected features including a live scoreboard, power rankings and game recaps. There will be live statistics from ongoing games and a Heisman Watch as well as the ability to call up video highlights and watch features produced for the site.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts ESPN who currently is the unchallenged king of on-line and broadcast sports. I expect that will raise the bar for much of the channels analyst, much as the Baseball Network seems to have done, in my opinion. However the 30 minute show has a tough hill to climb to surpass the very popular ESPN College Gameday program.

Filed Under: CBS Sports, ESPN, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NCAA.com, TNT, truTV, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , ,

Smartphones and a lotta’ Luck

August 23, 2011 by
Andrew Luck and beard

Stanford Cardinal QB Andrew Luck

It is one of the most compelling stories in the history of college football. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, a mortal lock for the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL draft, instead decides to complete his senior year as the Cardinal signal caller. He is considered by some primed to have one of the 10 greatest seasons in the history of alma mater gridiron, and is the first really phenomenol story since the dawn of Twitter.

But what if he gets hurt? Or something strange happens in his personal life, like his recently revealed beard is really precursor to a move to Utah to start his own religious cult. And the most likely scenario, a single mental error or physical mistake costs Stanford an undefeated record and damages an otherwise perfect season. Wouldn’t you want to be the first to know?

Mobile Sports Report thought so, which is why we think following every Luck snap in 2011 is a must for every college football fan. Here are three good ways to wire in to Luck, and be the first to know if Luck will continue his rise to college immortal unabated:

KNBR is the official station for Stanford Cardinal football, and is as active as any radio station in the country on Twitter. Every snap Luck takes carries with it NCAA Championship implications, and KNBR is a way to stay wired wherever you are. 

The official line for information is Stanford Athletics, and it is worth a follow for anyone able to recognize the magnitude of the Luck story.  

Stanford gymnist Nicole Pechanec  is Luck’s No. 1 girlfriend. Although she’s not active on Twitter, she’s registered. And she’s worth a follow in case something heats up in Luck’s life and she has something to say.

Filed Under: NCAA Football, Twitter, Uncategorized

ESPN kicks up Xbox service in time for College Kickoff

August 8, 2011 by

ESPN plans to launch a revamped version of its ESPN360.com live sports service in time for users to for the start of the college football season. The latest version is designed to give viewers enhanced customization so that they can fine tune their broadcast watching experience.

Slated for release on Aug. 25, which not so coincidentally is just a week before the Sept 1 start of the NCAA Division 1-A season starts, so that if you rush you will be able to watch that Villanova at Temple game that has been intriguing you all off-season. Snide comment aside ESPN will be making over 400 regular season games available as well as 31 bowl games.

The live sport streaming service, available on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console will now feature a host of additional features and upgrades, with possible the most interesting being the ability to have a split screen so that you can watch two games, or programs, at once.

There are many more ranging from a live college scoreboard, the ability to use a Kinect controller from Microsoft to gain voice control capabilities that will enable a user to pause, rewind, play and skip all using voice control. Upgrades will also allow users to set reminders, receive live alerts if they wish add the ESPN crawler at the bottom of their screen for scores and other sports news. This can be personalized to feature a users favorite sports and teams.

The deal is available to customers of EXPN’s Internet and broadband partners which show ESPN.3 and includes include Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Bright House Networks and Suddenlink Communications.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN3, NCAA Football Tagged With: , , , ,
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