San Jose Sharks Enlist Wayin for Twitter Hub

sjsharks


ESPN’s deal with Twitter
the other day was an expected development as there is a growing desire to hook into social media by sports franchises and broadcasters and another that is following on that same path is the San Jose Sharks Hockey team.

The Sharks have teamed with a Denver-based startup called Wayin using that company’s social media engagement hub to create a Twitter hub for fans of the team and of the National Hockey League.

The Shark’s Wayin hub, called the Sharks Game Day Hub, is more than just a central depository for all of the twitter activity that naturally follows a team when it is in the playoffs. It serves the fans a central site where they can gain a degree of control over what they are following.

The hub features both team generated content as well as a variety of other information including tab on Tweet volume, Twitter activity from players, coaches, broadcasters and Sharks staff, imbedded broadcast video interviews, and fan Tweets. The hub also supports Instagram so that fans can also follow along on images and photos posted by others.

While the casual fan may not have heard of Wayin, in part because it’s a startup and secondly by being located in Denver it is off the beaten paths for most new tech companies. However it has a prestigious foundation starting with co-founder and Chairman Scott McNealy, former top honcho of Sun Microsystems. Anyone from the Bay Area could tell you that McNealy is a huge hockey fan and that once for April Fools played hockey with former pro hockey players with Sharks players in attendance.

It will be interesting to see how a hub such as this will compete with the emerging class of apps that put fans in connection with athletes. A number have emerged over the years in the app space but none seem to have caught the attention of the mainstream. By bringing a team into the mix fans might be able to connect more directly with players using this type of hub.

Friday Grab Bag: New Tablets, Hybrids ahead of WMC

Rumor has it that Google may be taking a page from Apple’s playbook and plans to open a real brick and mortar line of retail outlets to sell Nexus and Chrome products in a manner that enables the buying public to touch and try the devices prior to purchase.

Currently it is already possible to test drive some of Google’s products at retail but as its lineup of tablets and notebooks grows, and with the possible inclusion of smartphones as well, the company has reportedly been planning a retail move for some time, according to 9to5Google, as relayed by Intomobile.


Instagram coming to BlackBerry 10 OS, indirectly

It looks like users of the spanking new BlackBerry 10 will get a shot at using Instagram on their new devices, however it also appears that it will not be an app that is written from the ground up to run on that platform.

All Things D is reporting that the app will simply be a port of the Android version rather than a native creation. Still the appearance of the popular app will be welcome on the platform as it continues to fight for a bigger share of the market.

LG expected to show a hybrid Tablet/Ultrabook next week
LG has said that it will be displaying its hybrid tablet/ultrabook next week at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona. The Tab-Book Ultra Z160 operates with the Windows 8 operating system and is powered by Intel Core processors, according to Gizmag.

The device, first talked about last month at CES is expected to have two different processor configurations. One will have a 1.8GHz Core i5 chip while the other will be running a 1.8GHz Core i3 chip.

Asus debuts low cost tablet
A new player in the 10-inch tablet space comes from Asus with its Memo Pad Smart ME30, which has apparently already been released in some countries, according Android Authority. The tablet is expected to have an official unveiling next week in Barcelona.

Among the details that have been made available is that it is running a quad-core 1.2GHz Tegra 3 processor and will have 1GB RAM and 16GB on board storage with a microSD slot for additional storage. It is expected to have a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

Google’s Chromebook Pixel now available
Google is moving its Chromebook upscale, at least in price with a $1,300 offering that comes in a Wi-Fi only model as well as an LTE equipped model that will be a about $150 more. It is equipped with a 12.85-inch 2560 x 1700 resolution display.

It will be powered by a dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 chip and will feature 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Other features include an SD card reader, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0.

Indy 500 Will be Coming to You via Instagram

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has entered into a deal with social media management company Venueseen to have photos taken at the venerable brickyard to be used in a marketing campaign. As part of the program Venueseen will open its API for the marketing campaign, a possible sign of things to come.

The marketing program, which centers around a sweepstake called Indy500orBust that asks fans to upload photos to Instagram using the hashtag #Indy500orbust. The sweepstakes have not officially been launched and the rules were not up on the site yet but according to a piece in Ad Age the winner of the contest will receive a VIP race experience.

The uploaded images will be given a geotags so that they can be plotted on an interactive map that can be seen at the www.indy500orbust.com site. According to the interview at Ad Age that site will be the only place that the photos will be used.

Move comes at a time when users fearful how their store images will be used

No doubt you have heard about Instagram’s change in its Terms of Use that caused a huge outrage among its users a few weeks ago when users were concerned that the photo sharing site was now declaring that it had the right to use all of your photos. A number of prominent users said that they were pulling their images from the site for fear that they would be used in a manner that they did not approve of or because they did not feel that Instagram had a right to profit from their images.

It only took the company one day to recant that position and go back to its older TOU. However there has been a number of stories since that claim that the site has started to lose appreciable numbers of users due to that misstep, claims that Instagram denies.

Be that as it may, this move could reopen that can of worms. Venueseen claims that its open API will enable other developers to tap into the huge photo catalog and use the images for campaigns, claiming that the images are in the public domain.

It is too bad that this fight has to go on because I like what the Indy 500 is doing and think it will be interesting to track fans and see some of their posts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months, with the race slated for late May as usual.

Mobile Sports Report Grab Bag: MLB Man Cave, Red Bull Crash

Last fall ESPN rolled out a new stat that it claimed would be the be-all and end-all in quarterback ratings called the Total Quarterback Ratings or (QBR). The company said that it went much further than other rating systems by adding in such important features as how clutch the performance was.

Now fast forward a year and use of the number has fallen off a cliff at ESPN. A good look at this is provided by The Classical which provides a good overview of the inner workings of how QBR is figured. I guess they can put this next to the last attempt at creating its own stats – Productive Outs in baseball.

Samsung wins another round vs Apple
A Dutch court has ruled that Apple’s multitouch patent was not infringed on by Samsung last week. The Court of The Hague ruled that the patent that describes technology that prevents smartphone users from pushing two on-screen buttons at the same time is not the same as the technology that Samsung does use in its Galaxy products.

As part of the ruling the court has ordered Apple to pay Samsung court costs, which are in excess of $422,000, according to CIO.com. Where this leaves the overall case, with each player winning and losing versions of it around the globe is anybody’s guess.

MLB taking applications for 2013 Fan Cave
If you think that the Fan Cave contest is a waste of time consider the case of Ashley Chavez, Ricardo Marquez and Kyle Thompson who are all at the current World Series and one will be declared Fan Cave Champion.

Sound interesting? Well it is too late for this year obviously but MLB is accepting applications for 2013 to be part of the “Fan Cave.” After the application process is closed there are elimination rounds and then a final lineup of nine fans. Did I mention they also went to the All Star Game this year?

Miscellaneous earnings reports
Earnings reports were in and it was a very mixed bag. HTC reported sales down 23% from previous quarter to $2.4 billion and said that it expects a weaker Q4 at approximately $2bn. Samsung however saw a huge spike in sales of its Galaxy that helped it set a new all time highs in sales and profits, driven by an estimated sale of 56 million smartphones in the quarter. It had net profit of$ 5.9 billion.

Apple reports 24% increase in earnings at $8.2bn and a 27% increase in revenue at $36bn, and disappointed Wall Street. The company said that it shipped 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter and was still heavily backlogged. Amazon when back into the red for the first time in four years when it reported a $274 million loss on sales of $13.81bn. The company took a $169 million write down on its stake in Living Social, a daily deal site.

Cost of Instagram deal drops
When Facebook purchased Instagram for an estimated $1 billion in April quite a few in the market were astounded at the price tag. Now that the dust has settled, and the deal paid for, the price tag has dropped quite a bit.

According to a filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission Facebook’s final cost for the deal was $715 million that consisted of $300 million in cash and 23 million shares of stock. The original price was based on Facebook’s estimated $30 per share stock price, pre-IPO.

Looking for a great crash video? Red Bull has the answer
Here is a video taken from the helmet cam of extreme mountain biker Cam Zink taken during an attempt to cross a 68-foot canyon. Guess how he fared.

Is RIM, among others, doomed?
Digi Times is reporting that due to mounting losses Research in Motion may be broken up and sold to other high tech companies. This is not that really surprising if it happens, its management has said in the past that all options are on the board and the company’s losses continue to mount.

What is surprising is that the article goes on to say that both Nokia and Motorola may also be on the chopping block for exactly the same reasons, even though Motorola is now owned by Google. I suspect that Google will want to keep the patents at the very least.

Google Snaps up another Top App Developer-Nik Software

Nik Software

Google has acquired smartphone image app developer Nik Software giving the company an alternative technology to offer users that will compete with Facebook’s Instagram. Google has not disclosed what it has paid for the company.

Nik is an established player in the mobile and desktop photo editing market and develops both for the general user space as well as having products that are targeted for the professional space as well. It was founded in 1995.

The company has won a number of awards for its programs including the 2011 International Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Best Photo Software for its Complete Collection of professional photography products, which includes Color Efex Pro, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, and Dfine.

However it is likely that the app that caught Google’s attention is Snapseed, the first one that Nik released for the mobile space. Released last year it has already gained over 9 million users and won the iPad App of the Year from Apple’s App Store last year. This year TIPA awarded the app as winner in the Best Mobile Photo App category. Google has not laid out what it is planning on doing with the company.

Google has been a very aggressive player in the merger and acquisition space over the past few years with 119 deals so far in the company’s history. This year it has now acquired 10 companies counting Nik Software. Others include Meebo, QuickOffice, Sparrow, Frommer’s and VirusTotal.

Sports Illustrated and Instagram team up on NFL Preseason Camp Photos

Peter King interviews Andrew Luck

Ever wonder what a preseason NFL camp looks like? There are always plenty of reports on the players but if a photographer accompanies a reporter there may be two photos, at most, to accompany the article.

Now Sports Illustrated has taken a step in providing a better image for fans by promoting images, 20 in all, along with columnist Peter King’s report from the camps in the Aug. 20 issue according to a piece in Mashable.

The interesting thing about the idea is its origin. The magazine noticed all of the great shots that reporters down at the camps were posting to their personal pages, and apparently the little light bulb went off at corporate headquarters.

I am surprised that this type of idea has not occurred earlier, I imagine that professional photographers must take hundreds of photos at camps and very few ever see the light of day in SI or anywhere else. Instagram is an image viewing venue that is increasingly well known and so a n

atural place to display this type of work.

NFL fans are avid for news about their teams including individual players, and a host of photos on them would be a magnet to many fans, increasing traffic to the web site as well as sating fans needs.

Sports Illustrated’s official Instagram page is a great place to stop, particularly if you are an older sports fans. It has a number of new images from the camps as well as baseball and other current sporting events. But it also runs some of its iconic older covers and older articles.

MLB has had something Instagram going for its teams and you can visit sites that have team supplied photos and while not all of the teams are on-board the program, the plan is to have them do so in the near future.

Athletes themselves have realized the power of the platform as well with a shining example of the use of both Instagram and other social media coming from the recent Summer Olympics. Kevin Love gave a great insider’s view of the US basketball team. Hopefully this is just the start and we see this as a standard operating procedure for all teams and many athletes.

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