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Friday Grab Bag: Fox Sports 1 around the corner

August 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

If you have been waiting for a new 24-hour national sports broadcast network then your dreams have been answered as Fox Sports 1 is set to launch on Aug. 17 as the network once again challenges ESPN for sports supremacy.

The network already has a very full array of content teed up from different sports and leagues such as MLB, NASCAR, FIFA World Cup, UFC as well as college football conferences such as the Big Ten, Big 12 and the Pac-12.

Hopefully the fight between the two powers will be a bit more mature than the last time when they would both superimpose their logos over scenes so that if the rival carried the broadcast they had to show the logo.

Samsung to debut next Galaxy Note in September
Samsung has sent out invites to a major announcement that the company will be making on Sept. 4, and the line ’Note the Date” is being taken as a sign that the company will be delivering its Galaxy Note 3 at the event.

It is expected to follow in the footsteps of previous Galaxy Notes and be released at the annual IFA trade show that is held in Berlin, where the two previous generations were also unveiled.

Tablet sales slow, IDC says; no new iPad to blame
Market research firm International Data Corp. has reported that tablet sales slowed in the second quarter of this year, down 9.7% from the preceding quarter. However that number is more than offset by the 60% increase sales have increased compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

IDC expects the market to take off in the upcoming months, helped a great deal by the expected release of Apple’s next generation tablets. Apple has not refreshed the lineup in a year. It said it expects ‘impressive growth’ in the fourth quarter of this year.

One area of positive news for iPad rivals is that Windows Tablet sales on the upswing, with a 527% increase over the same period a year ago, reaching 1.8 million compared to the 300,000 shipped a year ago.

Spartan Race World Championship to be broadcast on NBC
The 2013 Reebok Spartan Race World Championship will be the centerpiece of a collaboration between Spartan Race Inc. and NBC Sorts Group for a television special on the obstacle racing sport.

The special will culminate with coverage of the championship that takes place in central Vermont on Sept. 21-22, 2013. That event is expected to draw tens of thousands of participants vying for the $250,000 in cash and prizes.

Apple’s fused glass patent destined for iPod, iPhone, iPads?
The most recent Apple patent application that has come to light shows that the company is looking to secure the rights to a method of fusing glass that the company describes as being applicable to several different products.

As shown on Slash Gear the next generation products that are built using the fused glass would be entirely enclosed by the material, but don’t get your hopes up for the current generation of Apple products expected within the next month or so, this looks to be a year out at the least.

Android-powered game console?
The game console market is a cutthroat business and minor errors in judgment regarding features and functions can alienate legions of fans. According to rumors from Game Informer, that segment maybe drawing a new player into the fold, Amazon.

The rumor is that not only does the company have a console in development that will use the Android operating system but that fans of midnight shopping may be able to get one by Black Friday.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, ESPN, FIFA, Fox Sports, Galaxy Note, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, NASCAR, NCAA Hoops, NFL, Samsung, Spartan Race, Surface Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Turner Sports Goes All-in On PGA Championship Coverage

August 7, 2013 by 3 Comments

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The 95th PGA Championship is being held at the Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course in Rochester, N.Y. and if you cannot catch any (or all) of TNT’s 18 hours of broadcast coverage there are other options that will enable you to stay abreast of the tournament.

Turner Sports is seeking to provide one of the broadest multimedia sports presentations possible with its coverage of the PGA Championship starting tomorrow, the 23rd consecutive year that the network has covered the event.

There is first off PGA.Com, an online site that provides users with a variety of features about the event but possibly the most important for remote fans is that it provides live streaming via PGA Championship Live. It is designed for not only PC users but also available on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Among the features available from the app are a 360-degree camera that provides a panoramic view of the course and it has the ability to allow users to move the camera to get a view that matches their desire (aside from being there live). Fans can also look for highlights via its Video Highlight Hub so that they can witness all of the top moments and will allow fans to search and browse by player, round, hole or top moment from the 2013 PGA Championship.

For desktop users there is also a function that provides bird’s eye view of the interaction between players with an enhanced leaderboard that not only provides scores and highlights but also players interaction with each other around each hole

For mobile users there are also some specific features available as Turner has expanded its app from last year and added Android support in addition to the existing iOS features, although they offer slightly different features. For iOS users the user news, video alerts, detailed leaderboard and scorecards and access to live video streaming. The mobile web site will also offer live video, score updates and other news.

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Turner is not forgetting social media and has a number of new, improved or returning features. In the new category s Twitter Mirror showing shots and comments from players that fans can view @PGA.Com. Twitter will also be showing video highlights at the Twitter address and fans can participate in join a chat site that will include journalists and players at #PGAChamp.

Turner is also offering a variety of extras such as Predict It, an interactive tournament prediction feature and “PGA Championship Pick the Hole Location Challenge Hosted by Jack Nicklaus” that will enable fans to select the location of the famous Par 3 on the 15th hole.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Golf, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, PGA, Sports Social Media, Tablets, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: March Madness Changes, NBCSN Push

August 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The NFL’s Pro Bowl, seemingly the one property that it has never managed to get fans to watch, is undergoing a major change as the league tries to once again salvage the event, this time by eliminating the traditional AFC vs NFC format.

Instead the league will be take the top two vote getters and make them team captains and they will then select players for their respective teams from the pool of players elected by the fans in a fantasy draft style effort.

Goodbye NBC Sports Network, Hello NBCSN
Branding seems to be all important these days and with the sports network wars heating up prior to the latest entrant of Fox Sports as a national provider and NBC is taken steps to establish its brand, and it looks like the transition is scheduled to be completed by the upcoming Winter Olympics, according to Awful Announcing.

If you are familiar with the NBC Sports Network moniker, wave goodbye as the network has been slowly phasing it out and replacing it with its initials, NBCSN.

Dell is looking to computer on a stick to help reverse its fortunes
Dell has an internal development effort code-named “Project Ophelia” that according to reports is basically a computer that runs the Android operating system and all of it is in the form of a USB stick, according to a report in Quartz.

The basic premise came from a company called Wyse that Dell acquired a year ago. Ophelia is designed to run a large number of operating systems including Windows, Google’s Chrome, and the Mac operating system in a virtual mode running in the cloud. However the fact that this might kill off Dell’s existing PC business may be an issue.

Tablet shipments head to top of the pack
Maybe Dell is onto something about killing its PC business. NPD DisplaySearch is reporting that shipments of PC tablets are expected to reach 364 million next year, a number that more than doubles the estimated 177 million standard notebook and ultra slim PCs.

The company had previously predicted that tablet sales will overtake notebook sales this year and it now looks like that trend will continue going forward, driven by growth in all regions, particularly emerging markets.

Microsoft’s Surface Tablets have quite a price tag
When Microsoft entered the tablet market there is no doubt that the company had some expectations for the platform, however having it cost the company $900 million, which is the amount that it took in a charge in its latest earnings report for the write down on unsold Surface RT tablets.

The RT was the first model to hit the market and it started shipping them last October. In addition the tablet platform has raised $853 million in revenue, according to its annual report.

NCAA makes alterations to March Madness brackets
The NCAA is seeking o keep teams closer to their true seed level with a number of changes in bracketing rules that will take effect with next year’s tournament, primarily relaxing conference and regular season rematching restrictions, according to Sports Illustrated.

Among the moves will be one that could change how the top three seeds from a conference are bracketed and may now be in the same one, as well as changing how early conference rivals can play, now moving up to the round of 32.

Filed Under: Android, Awful Announcing, Dell, Microsoft, NBC Sports, NCAA Hoops, NFL, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Google’s Latest Nexus 7 Raises the Bar on Tablets

July 26, 2013 by 1 Comment

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Google has introduced its next generation Nexus 7 tablet this week and has incorporated a host of enhanced features as it seeks to maintain the popularity of its top selling 7-inch tablet, which already has a 10% Android market share.

The tablet, built by Google partner Asus, weighs in at slightly more than half a pound (0.64lbs with Wi-Fi, 0.66 lbs with LTE) and runs the Jelly Bean 4.3 operating system. Among the features in the latest Jelly Bean release is parental control features as well as support for the newest energy efficient Bluetooth technology.

The screen is a standout item on the latest Nexus 7 with support for 1080p high definition video that equates to 1920 x 1200 resolution and includes new stereo speakers. The tablet is powered by a Qualcomm snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 2GB of memory and the company said that you get 9 hours with active use from its battery.

The tablet has a pair of cameras with a 1.2 megapixel fixed focus front facing one and a 5MP auto focus rear facing camera. It sports dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 with 4G LTE available as an option.

The Nexus 7 comes with two basic storage capacities, a 16GB model and a 32GB version. The company said that the tablet will be shipping in the US by July 30 with an entry level price of $229 and $269 for the high end model without 4G LTE, and then will start a global rollout.

The company has also delivered a product called Chromecast, a $35 USB dongle that enables you to stream video over Wi-Fi to smartphones, laptops and tablets. It plugs into a television’s HDMI port, you then load an app onto the receiving device and then chose what to watch. Initially Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Music and Google Play Movies are all supported.

It will be interesting to see what Apple and Samsung have in store to combat Google in terms of pricing and features when their next generation 7-inch products hit the market.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apple, Apps, Google, iPad, Microsoft, Samsung, Tablets, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

MLB Home Run Derby App has Real Prize

July 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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Leading up to the annual Major League Baseball All Star game is the Home Run Derby and the league is made alterations to its mobile game based on the event with a contest that can send a fan to the World Series.

The updated mobile game “MLB.com Home Run Derby”, produced by MLB Advanced Media, the league’s interactive arm, is a free app that is available at both the App Store and Google Play and available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and select Android devices.

The latest version now includes this years’ eight players that will participate in the event, which is scheduled for this evening as well as include all 24 players that participated in the event in the years between 2010 and 1012. The ball park has been altered so that it now is a recreation of Citi Field, the park where this years’ derby and All Star game will be staged.

However for fans playing the mobile game there is a bonus. Fans with a valid account in MLB.com Home Run Derby playing the game, up until July 18 at 11:59 pm EDT that wins five multi player matches will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes for the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip for two to Game Two of the 2013 World Series.

So see if you can have Prince Fielder defend his individual title that he earned last year at the event or if one of the seven other players participating will wrest the title from him. The other sluggers are David Wright, Robinson Cano, Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Bryce Harper, Michael Cuddyer, or Pedro Alvarez

Filed Under: All Star Game, Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Baseball, Major League Baseball Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lenovo’s 7-inch A1000 Here-Can it Challenge the Nexus 7?

July 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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Being King of the Hill means that everybody is always trying to knock you off and the latest to challenge the Nexus 7, one of the most popular 7-inch tablets is Lenovo with its A1000, a 7-inch tablet that it originally introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In many ways this has been a very slow rollout and in others a very swift one. The company quietly made the tablet available for sale this week, without the fanfare that often accompanies a major release, particularly one that is going up against well established rivals.

On the other hand it was first shown almost a half year ago, many of its details were released as it went through the FCC approval process a few months back and preorders began a month ago, so any observer knew that the day when it would be available was rapidly closing in.

The A1000, which starts at $151 from the Lenovo web site is powered by a MTK 8317 dual core Coretex-A9 processor and runs the 4.2 Android operating system. It has a 7-inch display that has 1024 x 600 resolution and includes 1GB of RAM, a 16GB hard drive and supports an additional 32GB microSD storage card.

The company touts its multimedia features and notes that it is optimized for music with dual stereo speakers, Dolby Digital Plus audio enhancement among its features. The company said that the tablets will be available within the week.

It seems that the Android developers all have Google’s Nexus 7 as the target of choice. HP’s Slate 7 is also touted as a strong rival; with most articles talking about HP’s offering all mention Google. Still it is better to be at the top fighting off competition rather than trying to fight your way there. It will be interesting to see what levels Google tries to being its next generation offering.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Tablets Tagged With: , , , ,
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