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Tablet or iPad + Wi-Fi = Mobile Sports Nirvana

March 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

One of the interesting features of the new Apple iPad it its inclusion of a 4G LTE communications chip, which will let the device connect directly with the high-speed wireless networks now being built by Verizon Wireless and AT&T in the U.S. While that’s great news for tablet users who want more power on the go, for mobile sports fans a Wi-Fi connection is going to remain the wireless link of choice going forward.

Why? Because data rates for 4G LTE are still too high to make cellular-only usage an option, especially if you want to give the tablet a regular full-game workout. There’s no set way yet to measure exactly how much cellular data you use when you are viewing live video because the answer depends on a lot of variables, including video resolution rate, your distance from the nearest cell tower, and the strength of the signal. But the bottom line for sports fans is that if you want to use the tablet exclusively for sports consumption, the smart move is to find a Wi-Fi signal whenever you can.

And since more stadiums are now putting Wi-Fi inside, bringing your tablet or iPad to the game is going to become as much a no-brainer as “buying peanuts on the outside,” to coin a phrase you hear outside Wrigley. Within the next few years we are guessing that most teams will start to implement some kind of “stadium app,” which delivers custom content and in-stadium-only goodies like multiple camera angles or replays. The old days of people wringing their hands over whether or not devices should be at games are over. The new future is folks bringing a tablet or iPad and taking it out to watch an occasional memorable replay, or to look up stats. Or to order a cold one, and have it waiting at an express window.

On the couch, the tablet is going to become as ubiquitous as the remote — hell, it might even replace the remote at some point in the future when cable providers like Comcast get their act together. Though the live streaming of the Super Bowl this year wasn’t a tremendous experience, we are betting that this year’s Masters coverage online will really move the ball forward when it comes to having a complementary viewing option. And the tablet format — big enough screen to be exciting, small enough to carry around easily — is just going to keep getting bigger, with or without a 4G LTE connection.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apple, AT&T, Super Bowl, Tablets, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Video Streaming Tagged With: , , , , ,

Toshiba Delivers Excite 10 LE Tablet as Market prepares for War

March 6, 2012 by 4 Comments

Today marks the official start of the ‘Is it an iPad killer’ season, spring edition. Toshiba has the honor of kicking off this event with the release today of its Excite 10 LE tablet, beating Apple’s latest iPad announcement by a day.

Now I do not believe that a tablet has to be an iPad killer, look at the success of both the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Amazon Kindle. Now some might argue that they are e-readers and not really tablets but so what? They found a market segment and are thriving.

There is undoubtedly a huge market segment that is currently underserved by the tablet market in the 10-inch space. Not because Apple’s iPad is not a great product but because not everyone wants an Apple iPad. Some want an Android; some may just not like Apple.

It does not really matter, the issue to date has been that no one has really tapped into that market successfully yet, but that day is nearing. Expect to start seeing available for purchase tablets that were announced last year, at this year’s CES and last weeks’ Mobile

Back to Toshiba, it has a stellar offering in its latest design, originally announced at CES, that at least of today is the lightest 10-inch tablet available and is available in two models starting at $530.

It features a backlit 10.1-inch color display with 1280 x 800 resolution made with Gorilla Glass to help prevent scratching. It is powered by a Texas Instruments 1.2GHz dual core OMAP 4430 processor and is only .3-inch thin (or 7.7mm) and weighs in at 1.2 pounds.

While it currently runs Android version 3.2 operating system the company has said that when Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) is available the tablet will be upgraded to that OS. The Wi-Fi enabled tablets are available in a 16GB version for $530 and the 32GB version for $600.

The tablets feature a 2MP front camera and a 5MP rear facing camera as well as featuring the ability to record 1080p video. It features a variety of interfaces including microUSB, microSD and HDMI ports. Toshiba said that the 10 LE will have an expected battery life of 8.5 hours.

It is interesting to see how much Toshiba has changed its design philosophy from its last generation Thrive models, which compare very poorly to the 10 LE. It is probably that the company simply rushed the delivery of the first generation and would have been better served to sit back and wait to deliver a better product and let others make the mistake in delivering poorly designed ones. Ah hindsight is such a wonderful thing.

Now that Toshiba is out, with the iPad tomorrow and a number of others expected in the following weeks the drum beat will start about iPad killers rather than asking the more important question of which tablet meets your price range and meets your usage needs.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Barnes & Noble, iPad, Kindle, Tablets, Toshiba, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , ,

Mobile World Congress Wrap-Phones Galore!

March 1, 2012 by 4 Comments

The Mobile World Congress which started earlier this week in Barcelona is finally wrapping up, with thousands of press releases, a dozen or so keynotes and lots of gossip, rumors and even a brief appearance by Occupy Wall Street Protesters.

We are only interested in a few categories of products of the many that were unveiled, primarily the smartphone and tablet platforms as well as some of the programs and apps that have been introduced, so we will only be giving a brief overview of all of this week’s action.

Tablets
Asus has kept its foot to the accelerator and has added another tablet to its growing lineup, this time the Transformer Pad Infinity. The highlight of the product is the 10-inch Super IPS+ touch screen display that has 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and a 178 degree viewing angle.

It will be available with two different processors powering the Android 4 device- e available running Qualcomm’s 1.5GHz dual-core S4 processor for the 3G/4G configurations or NVIDIA’s 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 CPU in the Wi-Fi only models. The company also added the Transformer Pad 300 to its lineup as well.

Samsung led off with a pair of tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Tab 2 10.1. The Galaxy Note brings the company’s S Pen stylus to the big screen 10-inch display while the Tab 2 10.1 looks like it will be an entry level offering.

Huawei has delivered what it touts as the first 10-inch quad-core tablet, the MediaPad 10FHD Entertainment tablet that is powered by a Huawei 1.5GHz quad-core processor, runs Google Android 4.0 operating system and has a 10-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS high definition display screen. It has an 8 megapixel rear automatic-focus camera and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and memory storage of 2G RAM.

Smartphones
One of my favorite items is not even new. Introduced last year, but not delivered and now upgraded in regards to features is the Asus PadFone. I like it because it really seems to adequately serve as two different products, a smartphone and a 10-inch tablet/ small PC computer.


It comes with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon dual core processor, 1GB RAM and an 8 megapixel rear camera. It is its docking ability that separates it from the crowd. T can dock into a -10-inch tablet that resembles the company’s Transformer lineup of tablets, and the resulting tablet in turn can be docked with a keyboard. It seems to have it all. No pricing has been announced but it should be available in April.

Huawei has also moved its quad core processor into the smartphone field with the Ascend D Quad offering that features a 4.5-inch display also running Android 4.0 operating system and using the company’s proprietary power management technology to give it 30% longer battery life.

LG was of course present and making itself known with the quad core LG Optimus 4X HD. Using a Nvidia Tegra processor the phone features a 4.7-inch display (remember when smaller was better in phones?). The company also said that it will be delivering a stylus style phone that will compete with the Samsung Galaxy Note.

Want 3D without needing to wear glasses? Then LG has the phone for you in the Optimus 3D Max which has the ability to record video in 3D. It features a 4.3-inch display with a 1.2GHz dual core Snapdragon processor and a 5 megapixel camera.

Samsung also expanded its offering here with the Samsung Galaxy Beam. The highlight of this phone is in its ability to serve as a projection device, it has a nHD projector capable of projecting an image with a maximum of a 50-inch diagonal.

Intel has gained an ally in establishing its technology in the smartphone space with a partnership with Indian startup Lava. Lava has launched its first Intel-powered smartphone, the Xolo X900. The first two phones in this lineup will use lower end Intel chips including the Atom Z200.

The company, which entered the market as a budget phone provider will move to a higher tier later when it uses Intel’s 1.6GHz Z2460 processor in future offerings. Intel also revealed that Orange will be offering phones powered by Intel’s Atom processors to its United Kingdom and French customers.

Back in the thick of things is Sony, looking to reestablish itself as a player in this space with out its former partner. It had a pair of dual core offerings, the Xperia P and Xperia U. Both are running Android OS 2.3 but should be upgraded in the near future. They have the ability to connect to Sony’s Entertainment Network and are designed for power graphics.

Nokia has been all over the place at the show, with a total of five different phones. The two that we will mention are the Lumia 6100, a mid-market Windows Phone device and one running its soon to be cast off Symbian operating system, the PureView 808, that features a 41 megapixel camera sensor. Aside from the other three entry level phones the company also had a range of new apps for its handsets.

ZTE had a pair of phones, a Windows Phone in the ZTE Orbit and an Android powered ZTE Era.

Elsewhere at the show

In other news Microsoft has teamed with Good Technology have entered into a strategic partnership in an effort to move the Good for Enterprise app from Good onto Windows Phone devices. The program helps ensure security when accessing corporate data by encrypting email.

Nokia, a key Microsoft partner in the smartphone market has already said that it will support Good for Enterprise solution on its Lumia phones that run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 operating system.

Microsoft also released the consumer preview version of Windows 8, which is available now as a free download. There are plenty of new features including the ability to store settings and files in the cloud, has a feature to speed navigation and a new user interface. Microsoft has also opened its Window Store for apps.

Other security players were also present at the show. Symantec made a big push with a range of announcements including new versions of Symantec Mobile Management, Symantec Data Loss Prevention for Tablets and Symantec Data Managed PKI Services. The company is looking to enhance its position in the Windows Phone, Android and Apple iOS markets.

The show set a new attendance record with 67,000 visitors and 1,500 exhibitors and will be forced to move to new, larger quarters next year.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, HTC, Samsung, Smartphone, Sony, Tablets Tagged With: , ,

LTE iPads, More Mobile Data: Who’s Going to Pay for All This?

February 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

Two stories in the news today — the potential of LTE-enabled iPads and new projections for mobile data growth — seemed to me to be closely related and both lacking a final explanation: Who’s gonna pay for all the new toys and bandwidth?

As sports fans know, the Apple iPad and its imitators are great devices for watching sports on the go. The screen is big enough to approximate a TV experience, and the device is light enough to not be a bother. And the 4G LTE networks from Verizon Wireless, AT&T and soon from Sprint will make mobile video better thanks to faster download speeds and overall better behind-the-scenes technology.

But my question again — who’s going to pay for all this? At what point do we decide we’ve got enough devices, and that we’re not going to pay premiums just to get content whenever we want it? Are the devices and services so alluring that consumers will simply find a way to budget for them, or are they giving other things up from their disposable income buckets? Or will we see a backlash soon?

For all the heat the two stories have generated in the tech news world, my guess is that both are slightly overrated. Since LTE data contracts still remain fairly expensive — right now Verizon is charging $80 a month for 10 GB of data, its highest plan for tablets — I think folks might buy an LTE-enabled iPad for the convenience but will probably go for the lower-priced plans and use Wi-Fi whenever they can, especially when watching things like sports. Some smart guy already reported that Verizon’s 4G LTE phones aren’t big sellers because there isn’t anything compelling enough to make people pay a premium for the service. I think the LTE iPads will follow a similar lukewarm adoption curve.

On the mobile-data projections there are already some signs that Cisco’s predictions have shot past reality; AT&T, for example, said that its most recent figures showed data use growing more slowly than previously predicted. With cellular services prices expected to remain constant or rise even higher, my guess is that people may want to consume mobile data at the rate Cisco predicts but budgetary pressure will keep it from happening until lower-cost Wi-Fi networks reach out to more places than coffee shops and airport waiting lounges.

What will be really interesting to see is what happens if the LTE iPads fly off the shelves and crowd the networks, bringing back the original iPhone network jams. Think that won’t happen? Want to bet on it?

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apple, AT&T, Cisco, iPad, iPhone, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Super Bowl’s Social/Mobile Angles Don’t Move the Needle

February 5, 2012 by 5 Comments

My quick post-game take on the whole “social Super Bowl” angle is that I don’t think any of the ad campaigns really moved the social-networking needle. Though I missed part of the first quarter I didn’t see any ads that asked for an online audience interaction, which might have been fun. And the mobile game platforms, both NBC’s website broadcast and Verizon’s NFL Mobile app, were so far behind the live action they were useless as a “second screen” for viewers also watching the television.

A quick kudo to Twitter for not crashing in what was probably the most-active day ever on Twitter (which is kind of a meaningless stat since every big event for the foreseeable future will become “the biggest” as Twitter becomes more mainstream and adds more users). But I have to give a conditional “fail” to NBC’s online broadcast of the game, which was anywhere from three to four plays behind the live action, even showing commercials while the “real” game was live.

Though I understand why technically the online show might be slower, the wide gap made it impossible to keep the laptop (or tablet) open while watching the game on TV, eliminating the whole “second screen” thing that the online broadcast was supposed to enable. Plus I was underwhelmed by NBC’s multiple-choice camera views — they were uninteresting and pretty much blah compared to the rapid-fire screen switching you get from watching professional broadcasters produce a game live. So maybe that whole viewer-choosing-the-camera thing is overrated.

And Verizon’s NFL Mobile app, while glitch-free over in-house Wi-Fi and a 4G cellular signal, was still anywhere from 23 to 28 seconds behind the live action, also rendering it useless except maybe for trips to the bathroom. But with all the commercial breaks that’s hardly a concern during the Super Bowl. Maybe these alternative platforms will be more important for events with multiple things happening at once, like the Olympics or a golf tournament like the Masters. And maybe advertisers will become more bold and try more live interactive ads in the future. But for right now the “Social Super Bowl” didn’t live up to its advance billing.

UPDATE: As we thought, the Twitterers were out in force:

In the final three minutes of the Super Bowl tonight, there were an average of 10,000 Tweets per second.

February 5, 2012 8:43 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
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Filed Under: Facebook, iPad, Live sports via mobile, NBC Sports, NFL, Super Bowl, Twitter, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Who’s Going to Get the Tablet Rights for NFL Games?

January 31, 2012 by 3 Comments

We all know by now that the Super Bowl is going to be streamed live by NBC, and also to Verizon Wireless smartphones via Verizon’s NFL Mobile app. It will be interesting to see what the viewer metrics are after the fact. But the bigger item on the horizon is who will snag the tablet, aka iPad rights for NFL broadcasts going forward?

I was thinking about this potential conflict earlier today when I read a report from my ex-GigaOM collegue Liz Gannes who was covering a talk with ESPN president John Skipper at the D: Dive Into Media conference. Skipper’s crew seems like it has clear vision on what the Worldwide Leader needs to do with mobile, which as we heard yesterday is the prime platform ESPN develops for.

Inside the industry ESPN is unique since it not only is a network, it is also a content creator as well as a clearinghouse for overall information. The latter is mainly SportsCenter, its enormously popular highlights show that dominates the sports world. But more recently ESPN has become a content creator/provider by bidding for broadcast rights to games themselves, across all major sports and a lot of minor ones too.

While finding broadcasts on TV is fairly easy — you just look up to see which network is broadcasting the game — on digital devices the access has been murky. Verizon does have an exclusive deal to show live games on phones, but that’s only covered Monday Night Football, Thursday night NFL Network games and the Sunday NBC games. ESPN, meanwhile, retains MNF rights for tablets but won’t show the games on phones because of Verizon’s deal. DirecTV Sunday Ticket customers this year could opt for a package that gave them access to the Sunday Ticket via mobile — an interesting twist but as a subset of a subset not really a mass-market solution.

The big question still out there is who will get tablet rights for NFL broadcasts going forward? Right now Verizon can’t offer NFL Mobile on an iPad, which would seem to be a bit of a no-brainer except it isn’t. The tablet market, aka iPad, is getting bigger every moment and it will be interesting to see how the tablet rights get broken out, or whether they are bundled into the overall broadcast rights for a hefty increase in fees. According to Liz’s report, ESPN won’t buy rights without all platforms included:

Since 2005, ESPN has made sure that all its content deals include rights for every device. As Skipper put it, “We don’t cannibalize ourself, we use those platforms to cross-promote.”

After several digital stops and starts ESPN seems to have crystalized its mobile thinking behind the WatchESPN idea, where you download an app and have access to all ESPN programming — so long as you also have a contract with a qualifying cable provider. This is a smart move because it keeps the people paying ESPN the big bucks happy, while giving the cable customers the kind of access that is commonplace for all other kinds of media.

Maybe sometime in the future ESPN will offer a non-cable-customer price to access all its content digitally, but for now it seems content to keep its window open only to those customers willing to pay.

Here’s the link to Liz’s story again. Good stuff, wish I was at that conference.

Filed Under: Apps, ESPN, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Monday Night Football, NFL, NFL Mobile, NFL Network, SportsCenter, Super Bowl, Tablets, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: , , ,
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