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Mobile Bracket Apps: ESPN’s Rocks, Which One are You Using?

March 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

Being old enough to remember the days when we had to sketch out NCAA brackets by hand, do a bunch of photocopying and then massive all-night scores tabulations for hoops pools, I can only sit back and wonder where technology has brought us… to having my bracket live on my phone.

As an ESPN bracket user (please join our bracket challenge) I noticed today after downgrading my Syracuse picks that there was a phone app available for tracking my bracket. A quick download, a quicker sign in and… presto, my brackets and groups were live and ready for viewing. And even more importantly, there was a quick way to change the name of my entry which as many of us do, depending on the fate of our picks.

Will be interesting to see how quickly the mobile platform updates when the games start — so far ESPN servers seem to be working overtime, but as we all know it gets different when the ball is tossed up in the air. Anyone else using a different bracket service or mobile app? Let us know in the comments.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, ESPN, NCAA Hoops, Samsung, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: , ,

Timeout Tuesday: Here’s Your Time-wasting Sports Videos

March 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Who doesn’t want a dunk fiesta to start your Tuesday off right? What better way to start than with a Derrick Rose tomahawk, courtesy of the turnstile defense of the Knicks Monday night:

How about golf? Poor Tiger Woods got the O.J. Simpson treatment Sunday with the TV cameras following his car as he left the course after withdrawing because of an Achilles injury. But did you catch him on Saturday, making par “the hard way” after rinsing his tee shot on a par 3? Shades of #16 at Augusta… here is El Tigre, and four other “shots of the week.”

This next one might be unofficial but it was a great play — Colorado’s Carlon Brown caught Arizona sleeping during Saturday’s Pac-12 tournament championship game and slammed one down hard:

And… since I went to CU and can’t remember Buffs hoops ever being worth a damn to watch, a Carlon Brown encore, this one to help polish off Cal in the semis. Who knew Buffs could jam?

And this isn’t a video of her win last weekend (couldn’t find one yet) but we’d like to spend a minute or so honoring American skier Lindsey Vonn, who may just go down in history as the greatest ever for her sport. What I like about this GS at Kranjska Gora is how she almost buys the farm near the end but recovers with such grace that you have to look closely to even see the slip. It’s probably what cost her a podium here but the form is just damn fine skiing. And somehow the foreign-language commentary just makes it seem more exotic.

Filed Under: ESPN, NBA, NCAA Hoops, PGA, Skiing Tagged With: , , ,

It’s Madness Time: Join the MSR Bracket, Follow the NIT @ ESPN

March 12, 2012 by 2 Comments

Is anyone getting any work done today, or is everyone filling out brackets? If you are looking for a place to show the world your NCAA hoops savvy look no farther than the inaugural MSR Bracket Challenge. Hosted over at ESPN, of course, the group is public so come one come all. If you are searching for the group its title is the “MSR Bracket Challenge.” We’ll think of some cool prize for winning; if any sponsors want to step up with some schwag hit me with an email to kaps at mobilesportsreport.com.

Also: If your team didn’t make the dance (Sorry Washington fans!) you will probably be headed over to ESPN since the WWL has the rights to the National Invitation Tournament, including some games shown only online at ESPN3. Here’s the full NIT broadcast schedule.

And here’s a great post from The Big Lead showing NCAA broadcast times and (most importantly) which announcing crews will be on hand.

UPDATE: How cool is this? A CBS Sports interactive map of the tournament field.

Filed Under: About MSR, Contests, ESPN, ESPN3, NCAA Hoops, The Big Lead, truTV, Turner Sports, WatchESPN Tagged With: ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Mashable to sell for $200 million?

March 12, 2012 by 1 Comment

TV makers missing the boat on apps?
The NY Times has a nice, short pierce on how other forms of streaming video are increasingly sidelining television viewing and that they need to add a greater degree of connectivity to compete with developments such as Apple TV and even smartphones. It asks some of the questions that likely be the basis of this conversation going forward.

How is Twitter’s Finances?
Gawker has come forth saying that the micro blogger’s revenue and profits are poor, based on leaked information that that site has received. Twitter has been pronouncing that it has seen an uptick in its performance but Gawker says otherwise.

It claims that in 2010 Twitter had total revenue of $28.5 million, a pretty good number for a startup until the fact that it had to spend three times that to earn the revenue and that for the year it reported a net loss of $67.8 million.

The company, which has 100 million active users, does not appear to have a comprehensive plan to maintain steady revenue, according to the article, which claims that it could be the greatest tech bust ever.

March Madness is here- so are the apps (for iPhones)
Appolicious has taken the time to track down and do a nice short write up on 5 apps that can help you track the tournament and follow your teams. They are both free and paid apps and cover just scores to ones that include analysis, news updates and bracket creators and tracking information.

Generation C?
Labeling generations seems to be an art, although I have always wondered why the first I had heard of was Generation X. I mean why start at the bottom of the alphabet? Well the good folks at Nielsen have come up with another, Generation C.

At least this one makes sense as the C stands for connected and its members are Americans in the 18-34 age group, or 23% of the overall population. Gen C make up 27% of online video viewers, 27% of those that visit social networking sites, represent 33% that own a tablet and 39% of the smartphone owners.

Mashable on the block?
Reuters is reporting that CNN is in talks to purchase social media news site Mashable for more than $200 million. Mashable covers a range of areas in the tech and social media sector including startup news and issues related to major players. CNN declined to comment.

One interesting aftereffect of the big Apple iPad announcement is that it seems to have unleashed a wave of rumors about pending rival products. While there is always talk about company A planning to do such and such with its next generation platform, it seems much more pronounce these days. Of course it could be that I am just now paying more attention, anyway here are a few of the more interesting ones.

Google and Asus to team on 7-inch Tablet?
DigiTimes is reporting that Google and Asus are teaming to deliver a 7-inch Android tablet that will be shipping in May. Targeted directly at the e-reader space that is currently dominated by two players, Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook the tablet is reported to be in the $199-$249 price range.

Padfone to ship in April?
It looks like Asus will be delivering its Padfone convertible next month, at least in select markets. I have to say that this is the device that I am very interested in getting my hands on. The reason is that the phone snaps into the tablet and the phones processor powers the entire device. This way a user can get a tablet with 3/4G without a separate contract, a major drawback on connecting tablets to digital networks.

The Padfone is a three piece product with the first being 4.3-inch smartphone designed for the Android 4.0 operating system powered by a Qualcomm 1.5GHz dual core processor. That can be inserted into the top of a 10.1-inch tablet, and there is a keyboard dock as well

This and that

Instagram looks to Android
Instagram is coming real soon to the Android. Founder Kevin Systrom showed, but did not give a full demo of the app at SXSW. The company said that it currently has 27 million users.

Some iPads will be late
Apple’s recently introduced iPad, set for delivery this Friday, will be missing in some areas due to an overwhelming demand for the product. The company said that it has sold out and that some buyers will have to wait as long as three weeks to get their orders.

Nvidia vs Apple Rd 1
Nvidia disputes Apple’s claim that the iPad is 2x faster than nVidia’s Tegra 3 processor. Its response can be boiled down to simply- let’s see the data. Wonder if this is the first shot in a benchmark war a la Intel/AMD from a decade ago?

Path now syncs with Nike +
For users of the iPhone app that makes a journal of your life for your friends it now enables you to share your workout stats using Nike’s Nike + technology, with more forthcoming when Nike releases the Nike + Fuelband product.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Barnes & Noble, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Live sports via mobile, NCAA Hoops, Smartphone, Tablets, The New York Times Tagged With: , , , ,

CBS and Lowe’s Team for March Madness Cube Contest

March 9, 2012 by 1 Comment

Do you have one of those so-called Super Fans in your office? You know the type- they always come in with a hangdog expression when their team loses a game. Some are one sports fans but most almost always include support for the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

Now all of their years adding team pennants, photos of their favorite coaches and pinning up headlines from newspapers talking about epic wins can pay off due to an event from CBSSports.com and Lowe’s.

They have launched an event called March Madness Cube Mania for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship that rewards a few select fans with the most rabid cubicle. The event runs from now until March 25th and calls for fans to decorate their cubes with their favorite teams’ colors and logos.

Once the decorations are finished all a fan has to do is take a tasteful photo of the cube and post it at the CBS Sports page on Facebook (Facebook/CBSSports).

In addition fans are encourage to share the images over social media such as Facebook and Twitter and to try and get their friends to vote. It would be good to ensure your friends are rooting for your teams first — or at least open to bribes.

The images will be sorted in a variety of manners including by most popular, teams represented and participating companies. After the closing day for submitting photos, March 25th, the polls open and will remain open from March 26 to March 30, 2012.

Three winners will be selected by a combination of public votes, and judging by the Social Media department at CBSSports.com based on originality and creativity. Grand prize winner’s photo will be announced on March 31, 2012 during The Final Four Show on CBS and receive a $300 gift card to Lowe’s. Two secondary winners will receive $150 Lowe’s gift cards.

In addition the grand prize winning photo will be announced on CBS during The Final Four Show prior to the Men’s Final Four semifinal games on March 31, 2012 so your efforts will receive a brief national note. So as they used to say in Chicago ‘Vote early and vote often!’

Filed Under: CBS Sports, Facebook, NCAA Hoops Tagged With: , ,

ESPN: Online Audience for College Hoops Soaring — Now Just Wait Until the iPad 3 Arrives!

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Even before the new Apple iPad arrived to save humanity and burn through wireless data plans, ESPN said that people watching college hoops on small screens this season set new records, with 1.6 billion total minutes and 283 million visits across the worldwide leader’s various online entities, representing increases of 16 percent and 5 percent respectively compared to 2010-11.

While these stats aren’t really unexpected — I mean, what’s not to like about watching hoops on an iPad? — it is pretty amazing on one hand to consider that in just a few short years mobile devices like the iPhone, Android phones and the iPad and its imitators have become fixtures in the sports-audience landscape. Want more stats? The most-viewed game online this year, according to figures provided to us by ESPN, was the Duke-North Carolina game on Feb. 8, with 4.4 million online minutes generated across computers, smartphones and tablets.

ESPN called that event the “most watched college basketball game ever” for online, but we are betting that it gets quickly eclipsed sometime during the upcoming NCAA men’s tournament, when all those shiny new iPad 3s get turned on and tuned in.

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, ESPN, ESPN3, NCAA Hoops, WatchESPN Tagged With: , , ,
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