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CBSSports.com Delivers Updated Mobile App in time for March Madness

March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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CBSSports.com has updated its mobile app with enhanced features that enables avid fans of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, and even just casual observers, to follow the tournament, get insight into games and map out their bracket strategy.

This is not its first shot at delivering an app for the tournament but the company has completely redesigned the program to provide an enhanced experience for people that follow the event on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets as well as via a web site.

At the most basic level the redesigned CBS Sports mobile app provides instant access to brackets and access to insight from experts on which teams to pick, which as even the most casual fan knows is of all importance during the tournament, for bragging rights if nothing else.

However the app, available for both Android and Apple iOS device users is not just a static data program but provides a host of other features including featuring live access to all CBSSports.com bracket games (iOS users only), tweets from other game that are currently ongoing as well as updates and final scores as they are warranted.

It provides fans with several options in the area of brackets including allowing a user to enter the Bracket Challenge where a user can have as many as three brackets and competes with others who enter the event. There is also a tool called Bracket Manager that is designed to help create and manage bracket groups that you might want to form with friends or coworkers. For Users whose picking skills are similar to mine there is also something called Round by Round that permits fans to pick each of the six rounds, eliminating “busted” brackets.

For those who cannot wait for the tournament the app also provides coverage of this weekend’s Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Semifinals and Championship on Saturday and Sunday.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Basketball, CBS Sports, Contests, iOS, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NCAA Hoops, NCAA.com Tagged With: , , , , ,

Android Tablets See Growth at iPad’s Expense

March 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

The market for tablets is changing as both Android-powered devices gather additional market share and the smaller form factor tablets, sub-8 inches, are seeing extremely strong growth, according to the most recent study from market research from International Data Corp.

Overall the tablet market is strong and growing, and IDC has upgraded its forecast to reflect this trend, now estimating that there will be 190.9 million, up from its previous forecast of 172.4 million units sold in 2013. It is also expecting the market to grow at an average increase of 11% a year between 2013 and 2016, with estimated shipments in 2017 to reach 350 million units according to the company’s most recent Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.

Smaller form factor tablets, those smaller than 8 inches, now account for half of all tablet sales and it expects that this trend will continue as consumers have found that smaller tablets often work better for daily usage compared to their larger brethren.

Tablets powered by the Android operating system grew its market share to 48.8% of the market, at the expense of Apple’s iPad family which witnessed a 5% market share drop to 46% of the market. However both are expected to see continual share erosion going forward as Windows, which combined RT and Pro, will gain an estimated 4.7% of the market this year but should grow to 10.1% by 2017, according to the report.

Another loser is ereaders, which are expected to lose market share due to the growing presence of low cost tablets that can both serve as an ereader and for a wide variety of additional uses as well. IDC has reduced its forecast by an average of 14% a year between 2013 and 2016. It estimates that there was 26.4 million sold in 2011 and that number represents the platform’s peak, declining to 18.2 million the following year. IDC expects modest gains this year and next before a permanent decline sets in.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Google, iOS, iPad, Microsoft, Samsung, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

BuddyTV Seeks To Ease March Madness Viewing

March 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

MarchMadness (3)

BuddyTV, a developer that creates apps that help provide television viewers with up to date guides of what is and will be on has updated its app to help viewers looking to chart out their March Madness viewing agenda.

With conferences just finishing their tournaments the NCAA selection committee will announce its selections on March 17 and then the chaos begins, along with the grousing about how tough your teams bracket is and how weak your arch rivals’ bracket looks.

To help fans sort through the various channels and times that the games will be played BuddyTV has developed the March Madness Quick List as a tool to help fans find their way and not miss games that they want to see.
The feature, part of an upgrade to its mobile app that is available for Android and iOS devices, will list all the upcoming game air times, channels and stations in chronological order as well as the few remaining regular season games as well.

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The app will update the schedule the day after games are finished to keep it up to date for users. It also has the ability to be customized so that fans can track the teams or conferences that interest them in the tournament including adding reminders in case you forget an important starting time.

The feature is part of the latest release of the free app that now has an updated user interface, a few bug fixes and support for Apple’s iPhone 5, as well as performance enhancements that has made it a speedier app to use.

The app lists not only broadcast television but also cable such as Comcast and Time Warner as well as Dish, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon. There is also a web site that features information on the tournament as well as television news, program spoilers and other listings.

Filed Under: NCAA Hoops Tagged With: , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Here Comes Fox Sports 1, Huge ASUS Tablet Hybrid

March 8, 2013 by 1 Comment

Fox Sports is seeking to rebound to the national stage once again. While most fans see Fox for MLB or NFL games much of its sports empire is a series of regional deals, but that may change as it is once again pushing for a national sports cable presence that unifies all of its properties.

Now on Aug. 1, 2013 we will see that rebirth with Fox Sports 1, an all sports network that it will be launching. This is a direct shot at ESPN, and who knows, it might drive that network back to talking about sports rather than whatever it is doing now days.

White House supports cell phone unlocking
The recent ruling mailing it illegal to unlock cell phones and tablets may get beaten back as the White House has come out saying that unlocking phones should be legal. The practice of unlocking, which enables a user to use the phone on the network of their choice, was recently declared illegal.

A petition was filed to the White House and R. David Edelman, White House adviser on Internet, innovation and privacy, responded by saying the administration feels consumers should be allowed to unlock their phones without civil or criminal penalties, especially if the phones were purchased secondhand or as gifts. Congress is also starting to weigh in on the issue and a number of bills are being proposed that would make it legal.

Samsung Galaxy Note III to have larger screen
A report from the Korea Times, via Brighthand, says that the upcoming handset release from Samsung will feature a 5.9-inch screen and is expected to be released in the second half of this year.

The handset is seen as a replacement for the current Galaxy Note II, a handset that has a 5.5-inch display and has already sold over 10 million units since last fall.

News Corp. Enters Tablet Space with Amplify
When most people think of News Corp. they probably think of Fox News or the Wall Street Journal but you can now add educational hardware to the mix with the introduction of Amplify, a company that it has created to deliver digital products for the educational system.

The tablet is a 10-inch device that will originally be available only with Wi-Fi but a 4G LTE version is expected later. It will have a $299 price tag but also require a 2-year subscription that will be $99 for Wi-Fi and $179 for 4G. Amplify is not just a tablet but part of a larger program that will include new curriculum offerings that it claims will reinvent teaching and learning and the devices will ship with a host of programs preloaded.

Asus has huge Tablet hybrid
Asus has said that it will start shipping its huge Transformer AiO device in the second quarter of 2013. Designed to be used as either a tablet or as a PC the Transformer AiO is an 18.4-inch tablet that has 1920 x 1080 resolution.

The interesting thing is that in tablet mode it has an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor, 32GB of storage and runs the Android operating system. Attach it to a dock and it now has an Intel Core i5 processor, 1TB of storage and runs Windows 8.

Filed Under: Tablets Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sony Upgrades Tablet Offering with Xperia Tablet Z

March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

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Sony has enhanced its tablet offerings with the Xperia Tablet Z that it debuted last week at the Mobile World Congress. Somehow this one flew under the radar last week, but it looks well worthwhile to recap since it looks like Sony has made major steps towards relevancy with its latest tablet offering.

While Samsung and Hewlett-Packard seemed to grab most of the attention for their tablet introductions the Sony offering is also one to take note of, and is a move to establish the company in the 10-inch space.

The Xperia Tablet Z features a 10.1 inch display that has 1920 x 1200 resolution capable of full 1080p HD. The tablet is water resistant and is powered by Qualcomm’s quad core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor. It has 2GB of RAM and can have a maximum of 64GB storage with an optional microSD card in the Wi-Fi version.

The tablet will be available in cellular and Wi-Fi only versions with the 16GB Wi-Fi models. The company’s press release did not give prices but it was reported elsewhere that the with the 16GB Wi-Fi models would be available for $499 and the 32GB model for $599, both from a Sony Store.

The tablet runs Android Jelly Bean 4.1 and will be upgradable to 4.2. It will include a pair of cameras, a 8MP rear camera as well as a 2MP HD front facing camera. For sound it includes the Sony S-Force Front Surround 3D and Sony’s Clear Audio+ mode capability.

The tablet includes other Sony technologies as well including its One-Touch functions to transfer content from tablet to either a TV, speaker or phone by touching them together. In addition it has a universal remote feature that enables it to remotely control Sony TV’s and other Sony built devices.

A key selling point of the tablet is weight, and while that may not seem obvious just looking at the raw numbers, it could end up being a top selling point. The smaller 7-inch tablets have been making strong inroads in terms of sales over the last six months or more. Many users I have talked with state that the weight of a 10-inch device simply is too much for one hand and they do not want to use it with both in many usage scenarios.

The Xperia Tablet Z is approximately a quarter pound lighter than the Nexus 10 and 2 mm thinner. It weighs 495 grams or 17.5 ounces and is 6.9 mm thick, thinner and lighter than the most recent iPad as well which is 9.4 mm thick and weighs 652 grams.

It seems like it will be much better accepted in the market than the unique Tablet S that Sony previously released. However there are tablets that have better features in individual categories such as display resolution, so a user will still have to make tradeoffs when purchasing one. However it appears that Sony has pushed itself into the space where it will be considered with other top offerings.

Filed Under: Tablets Tagged With: , , , , ,

MLB adds Mobile Ticket Upgrade Feature to At Bat

February 28, 2013 by 2 Comments

mlbats

Major League Baseball expands its mobile ticket program that allows for seat upgrades from four teams to 13 as it continues to be at the forefront of utilizing mobile technology to connect with fans.

Last year we reported that Major League Baseball had adopted Apple’s Passbook Ticket technology, a mobile ticket option that enables fans to upgrade seats. At the time MLB was rolling the program out in four ballparks across the nation as a test program.

In its most recent release of MLB AT Bat the ability to support Passbook, first available in Apple’s iOS 6 release, has been expanded to 13 teams. The basic gist of the app is that a fan can use it to get a seat upgrade via a paperless ticket while at the ballpark.

It was initially rolled out at the end of last year with four teams participating: the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals. Additional teams that will now provide the service include the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A’s, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs.

MLB executives, speaking at a fan event yesterday in New York City said that additional teams will be added during the season. It is also working to further integrate its teams with Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Last year’s push with Instagram is an example of that.

Each team will handle the upgrades on an individual basis, allowing for differences in how teams want to upgrade fans. I suspect that this will also help spur teams to enhance their existing wireless infrastructure to handle this type of transaction.

As most fans know the wireless experience at sporting venues is often very unsatisfactory, with slow and dropped connections a commonplace event. The effort to build, maintain and expand a network is complex, but teams are increasingly making the effort due to how necessary it is now in a connected world.

While it has been reported that Apple’s iOS users represent 70% of all MLB At Bat users, MLB recognizes that it will need to support the growing users of Android and other mobile operating systems. Its support for the BlackBerry this year is a sign of that but right now there is no announced cross platform support for this app.

Filed Under: iOS 6 Tagged With: , , , ,
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