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Pickmoto Moves NFL app to iPad, Preps for NBA Season

October 2, 2012 by

Pickmoto, a startup app developer seeking to firmly establish itself in the growing market for social betting has expanded its offerings by adding a version for the iPad. Currently the app runs on iPhones, with an Android version “coming soon.”

The latest move is a welcomed one because while the app works well on a smartphone, a tablet simply provides additional viewing space and so makes that app easier to view and simpler to use.

The game follows the same procedure as with a smartphone including picking winners with no spread, playing friends one on one, or random opponents. You can win trophies, climb a leaderboard and play in preseason, regular and post season as well.

The company is moving pretty fast for one that was just established earlier this year and it already has its sights set on expanding to additional sports. With hockey an obvious no-no due to the lockout it has targeted the National Basketball Association and said that it expects that it expects to have a sports betting app out for the NBA by the opening regular season tip-off.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, iOS, NBA, NFL, Pickmoto, Sports Betting, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wednesday Wi-Fi Whispers: New Networks for Bobcats, Patriots and Vols

September 12, 2012 by

Wi-Fi gear supplier Ruckus Wireless has racked up another stadium win, this time as the technology behind a new Wi-Fi network at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C., home of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.

The new network was live just in time to supply attendees at last week’s Democratic convention with a signal much stronger than cellular. According to a report by John Cox in Network World the new network uses Ruckus’s specially designed stadium antennas and uses the better-performing 802.11n Wi-Fi protocol. Doug Sabo, product manager for micronetworks at Time-Warner Cable, said the cable giant (which supplies Internet and video back-end services) is talking with “many of the venues in our service area” to gauge their needs or desires to install or upgrade their stadium Wi-Fi operations.

Patriots Expand Network, Pick Local Firm Enterasys for Wi-Fi Gear

Fans of the New England Patriots can now enjoy Wi-Fi access throughout Gillette Stadium, thanks to a new network put in place by the team and Enterasys Networks, an Andover, Mass., supplier of networking gear. This Boston Herald report details the new network, which will provide free Wi-Fi service to all fans at the Pats’ NFL games.

Previously, wireless gear supplier Xirrus had helped the Patriots bring Wi-Fi services to Gillette Stadium’s extensive luxury suites and clubs. No word yet on whether the Xirrus installation will remain, or whether the Enterasys deal will usher Xirrus out.

Tennessee Vols get DAS at Neyland Stadium

One of the most orange places on earth, the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium, has a new Distributed Antenna System (DAS) installation in place to help improve cellular coverage. Raleigh, N.C.-based Longent is behind the installation, using DAS gear from Solid Technologies. Verizon Wireless will be the first cellular provider to use the DAS system, which improves cellular coverage by placing small antennas throughout the facility.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, DAS, NBA, NFL, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: 30 on 30 Returns, Arena Bowl Tonight

August 10, 2012 by

Avitae Arena Bowl XXV

The Arena Football League will crown a champion this weekend when the Arizona Rattlers take on the Philadelphia Soul in New Orleans at 10:30 ET on Aug. 10 for all of the marbles.

Philadelphia reached the championship game by decisively defeating the Jacksonville Sharks 89-34 while the Rattlers reached the final round with a much closer victory over the Utah Blaze, 75-69. The Rattlers will be playing in their second consecutive championship and seventh overall, quite an accomplishment in a 25-year-old league.


What do the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA have in common?
Apparently it is an extreme hatred of a new sports betting lottery game that has been long talked about in New Jersey. The bill would permit gambling on both pro and college sports, and that is something that has the said sports leagues very upset.

From a look at the discussion at ProFootballTalk it looks like New Jersey has a very tough challenge ahead of it. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, relies on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, and the window that would enable New Jersey to allow gambling has long since closed. In addition the state of Delaware has already tried this and lost.

It seems that if the bill does make it past the courts the NFL will retaliate by “punishing” New Jersey by not allowing it to host another Super Bowl. I wonder if a win would open the floodgates to other states also allowing sports betting and what the NFL will try and do about that?

Apple expected to exclude YouTube in iOS 6
Apple is expected to no longer include the popular video viewing app YouTube in the next version of its mobile operating system iOS 6 when that OS is released. The app has been a standard feature included with Apple’s products for the past five years.

Apple said that its license to include the standalone version of YouTube app in its operating system has ended. It can still be used via the Chrome browser and Google is working on a version for the App store. What will the world do without its morning fix of cute animal videos?

Will NBA backpedal on Under-23 rule for Olympics?
NBA Commissioner David Stern had advocated that future Summer Olympics only allow players that are under 23 into the competition. This move would have the affect of saving the NBA’s team owners the angst of worrying about their star players’ health prior to the start of the season.

However it appears that there is a great deal of pushback from the rest of the basketball playing world. It seems that many nations want to send their best athletes, not just the ones that are convenient for the NBA. Who would have guessed?

Anyway it now sounds as if the NBA may just leave well enough alone, at least until a new commissioner replaces Stern, who is running out his term as commissioner.

AT&T Shared data plan on the horizon
AT&T has said that it will launch its mobile share plans, which allow a user to have a data plan that can be used with multiple devices, eliminating the need for a separate plan for each device, on Aug. 23.

The plans will range in size from 1GB to 20GB each and requires at least one smartphone with a unlimited talk and text plan as part of the overall bundle. A user can have a maximum of nine devices on a single plan.

ESPN re-ups 30 for 30 for second season
ESPN’s 30 for 30 series will make a reappearance this year as the sports giant has a new slate of topics that will get a full blown film treatment. The series is scheduled to start on Oct. 2, 8 pm ET with an episode entitled “Broke” about athletes who have burned through their fortunes. The series will run through December and you can head over to ESPN to get the synopsis for the fall offerings.

Google to add voice activated services
Google is once again firing a shot across Apple’s bow as it launches a voice activated service that will run on Apple’s iPhones and so directly compete with Apple’s Siri. The company will also be pushing the app, called “voice search” on the Android platform.

The company expects to release the app for iPhones within the next few weeks and then it will release it for the Android at a later, unspecified date.

Instagram on your camera?
It makes sense on the face of it. You might have a camera that has much greater capabilities compared to the one in your smartphone. Now at least one camera manufacturer is working to deliver both Android in its cameras, but Instagram along with the operating system.

Mashable has reported that Nikon is working on just this solution in its next generation cameras and that one could be available soon. While the vast majority of apps would be relatively worthless, unless the camera is a hybrid of some sort, image apps such as Instagram should find an instant home.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Arena Football League, Basketball, ESPN, Facebook, FIBA, Google, Instagram, iOS, iPhone, Major League Baseball, Mashable, NBA, NCAA Football, NFL, Nokia, ProFootballTalk, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The NBA Draft is Tomorrow but ESPN Starts Tonight

June 27, 2012 by

The NBA draft is upon us once again and in some ways it has not achieved the overall hype level that the NFL has achieved, but it also often makes for a much better viewing spectacle as there is often a host of wildcards.

The official draft begins Thursday night at 7 pm ET and will be hosted, as it has for the last decade, by ESPN. A predraft show will be aired tonight at 7 pm ET for those of you that want to get an advanced look and see if you should despair or be elated over your following day prospects.

ESPN’ has said that it will have a specific focus for part of its broadcast that will be on the themes of determination and achievement and “climbing the ladder” to success. I think that this could be very interesting. It often seems to me that players that were stars in school and then disappear in the NBA, and NFL for that matter, are often the victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Getting stuck with a coach that does not use a players skill in his offense or defense, and yet when traded seem to bloom as their supporting cast improves, or their skills are used in a much better manner by the team.

The NBA’s 66th annual draft, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., will feature a horde of ESPN personnel and is hosted by Rece Davis along with and college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy, NBA Insider Chris Broussard, college basketball reporter Andy Katz and NBA reporter Ric Bucher.

It does not appear that the network is taking its arguers in chief Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith on the road for the event, something they did do for the NBA Finals. I was hoping to once again hear the chants of ‘cheese doodles’ ringing from the rafters.

However ESPN is pulling out all of the stops with live news feeds from 15 cities to get head coaches and general managers’ feedback on selections, with live reporting from New Orleans, where the league owned team has the #1 choice and a reporter in Charlotte where the #2 pick resides.

ESPN will also be providing coverage over a wide range of its other media properties including ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV and streaming live via WatchESPN on ESPN3.com. You can also look for NBA on ESPN Facebook page for updates of you are so inclined.

Filed Under: Basketball, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, NBA, NBA Draft, NFL Draft Tagged With: , , ,

Is an Enhanced World Cup of Basketball on its Way?

June 20, 2012 by

The NBA is looking to alter the current World Cup of Basketball in a manner that will enable it to gain increased revenue from the event that is held every four years and is next scheduled to be played in 2014, according to a Yahoo Sports report.

The push is tied into an effort to discontinue sending star players to the Summer Olympics. While the Dream Team is one of the biggest broadcasting draws the NBA does not reap any revenue from the event and sees no reason to allow its stars to participate in an event where they might get injured.

For those who do not follow international basketball, there has been a World Cup tournament for some time, since 1950 to be exact, that is held every four years (with a few exemptions) and is played by the men’s national teams of members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The U.S. is the current champion, winning in 2010.

The idea appears to be that by partnering more with FIBA the NBA would bring its marketing might to the event and its superstars and in return, would get a piece of the financial pie, and a big slice at that. Yahoo reported that some owners want a new World Cup that is entirely controlled by the NBA.

It will be interesting to follow this, as I imagine that the loss of the dream team in the Olympics will likely mean a loss of any chance to win a gold medal, or possibly any medal, and so will result in a lot of pressure to start including the players once again. That was the reason the concept started in the first place.

Filed Under: Basketball, NBA, Olympics Tagged With: ,

Friday Grab Bag: Replacement Refs, Sports Conspiracy and Windows 8 Coming

June 8, 2012 by

NFL’s contract talks with refs breaks down
The week started off with some bad news as it appears that the NFL and its referee’s union have not been able to come to a meeting of the minds in regards to the next contract for the refs. The most current one expired on May 31.

The two sides apparently met with a mediator to try and reach an agreement but that has not panned out and according to ESPN the talks have completely broken down. The league is now actively looking for replacement officials and will seek former officials and ones from smaller collegiate leagues but it is reported that it does not plan to raid BCS officials.

Apparently the NFL’s decision to hire backup refs does not sit well with the NFL Players Association, which has derided the hiring of ‘scab’ officials. Who would have guessed that these two would not get along.

Two trade associations seek to represent crowdfunders
You knew this was coming due to the growth of the number of crowd funding sites and the still undefined role that they play in providing funding for startups looking for a cash infusion. Now there are two lobbying groups vying for the crowd funding sites support.

The two are the National Crowdfunding Association and the Crowdfunding Professional Association both want to be the force for these companies in Washington D.C. This is still in its infancy since neither has yet hired a staff or leased offices, but you know it is coming.

Apple publishes guide on iOS security
With the growing concern about data security, especially on mobile devices Apple has moved to try and ease the concern about data on devices that run its iOS operating system by publishing a guide to how it implements security. Macnn has a nice breakdown here.

Window app numbers continue strong growth
The number of apps submitted to Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace has now topped 100,000, double what it was just five months ago, according to a piece in Endgaget. For those of you scoring at home this is slower that Apple’s App Store but faster than the Android Marketplace.

One of the big differentiators between the rival Apple and Android apps has so far seemed to be that the Android apps are too often one size fits all, good for tablets and smartphones while for Apple there tends to be a clear differentiation. I wonder how this is panning out for Windows and will we see most of these apps available, unchanged, for Windows 8 tablets?

NFL concussion lawsuits consolidated
A large number of the many lawsuits now pending in a number of courts across the United States have been consolidated into a master complaint against the league. In all it looks like approximately 80 cases have been brought together in this effort.

The suits contend that the NFL both glorified violence and downplayed the damage that concussions had on players. The NFL contends that it always has the players safety at heart, well that and an 18 game season.
Windows 8 in two weeks?

Microsoft is reportedly going to make pubic a preview of Windows 8 on June 20th, according to a report in Digital Trends. The move will make it an interesting month for operating system fans since Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference is next week and should have some interesting updates while Google’s Google I/O event is at the end of the month.

The Windows Phone 8 preview is expected to happen at a Microsoft event called the Windows Phone Summit, billed as a sneak peak of the future of the Windows Phone.

The Greatest sports conspiracy story ever told
For years I have heard that the 1985 NBA draft was rigged so that Patrick Ewing would go to New York. Never paid any attention to that, and for that matter really do not to this day. But Patrick Hruby goes to town on the issue and a host of others in the piece “The Truth is out there: From the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery to the Olympics to Game-Fixing…”

It s all here, frozen envelopes, mafia controlling NFL games, IRS and FBI documents carefully redacted and so much more. I enjoyed it a great deal, but was not sure if it was one long rant or a very clever tongue in cheek piece. Bonus conspiracy flow chart here.

YouTube to broadcast Olympics
We have long talked about how YouTube can position itself as an almost independent sports network and now it looks like it is taking that next step. The site will be providing live webcasts of the upcoming London Summer Olympics to viewers in Asia and Africa.

The plan is to provide ten channels that will feature high definition video of a variety of events including the medal finals of all 32 sports. In all it will broadcast a total of 2,200 hours.

FTC claims import ban on Microsoft& Apple could hurt competition
The Federal Trade Commission has said that Google’s efforts to ban Xbox imports by Microsoft and Motorola/Google’s efforts to stifle Apple’s iPhone sales based on patents that Google owns and claims the two have violated could harm competition. It will be noteworthy if the FTC puts some muscle behind this comment as it does appear that patent lawsuits are going to stifle both competition but also innovation

Filed Under: Android, Apple, BCS, FTC, Google, Microsoft, NBA, NFL, Olympics, Startup, Windows 8, YouTube Tagged With: , , ,
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