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San Francisco 49ers unveil the first in-stadium 8K replay system
Starting next week, the San Francisco 49ers home field will have the first 8K instant replay system in sports, allowing for crystal-clear zooming in on important plays.
TSA Precheck will let you into some NFL stadiums faster
TSA's Precheck clearance isn't just useful for getting around the security theater at airports. Idemia has started making deals with NFL teams to use Precheck as a "fast pass" for stadiums, starting with the San Francisco 49ers' Levi's Stadium and the New York Jets' MetLife Stadium. You can even enroll on the spot and use that pre-screening the next time you're flying. Levi's Stadium will also use Idemia's biometric scanning to "assist in fan experience and security" in the near future, although the company hasn't elaborated on what that means.
Amazon Prime Now delivers supplies to tailgaters at 49ers games
Amazon's one-hour Prime Now deliveries were already available to customers in the San Francisco area, but the company is going a step further for football season. The online retailer is teaming up with the San Francisco 49ers to deliver supplies to tailgaters at Levi's Stadium during this year's slate of NFL games. This will certainly come in handy when fans run out of game-day essentials and can't easily drive out of the lot to go on a grocery run.
NFL fines 49ers' Colin Kaepernick for wearing Beats over Bose (update)
Less than a week after the NFL confirmed that players would no longer be allowed to wear Beats headphones during interviews, the league is already handing out fines for noncompliance. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was fined $10,000 for opting to wear pink pair of Dr. Dre's wares over the NFL-approved Bose cans for his post-game press conference last week. After the Bose deal to become the official headphone and headset of the NFL this spring, the league confirmed last weekend that players couldn't wear another brand during interviews -- including those before, during and up to 90-minutes after a game. As we mentioned before, Beats was also banned on match days and at media events at the World Cup this summer, too. If you'll recall, Kaepernick was one of the main players in Beats' "Hear What You Want" commercials during last year's NFL season. It's also worth mentioning that the NFL makes a big push for players to wear pink gear in support of breast cancer awareness during the month of October every year. [Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
The 49ers' new stadium is a temple of football and high technology
Looking for a metric of how far technology has come in recent years? Take a look at your local sports team's home field and compare it to Levi's Stadium, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers. It's a shiny new stadium, sure, but it's also a coliseum designed to cater to a generation of fans that carry tiny computers in their pocket. With over 400 miles of cable and more than 1,200 WiFi access points throughout, Levi's Stadium is an arena made for smartphone users -- though the jury is still out on the team's app-supported fan experience. So, what does it take to deliver WiFi to tens of thousands of fans simultaneously? We dropped by the Santa Clara stadium to find out. Check out the gallery below to see what we saw.
The 49ers' high-tech fan experience falls short in first real test
When an NFL team builds a brand-new stadium, it's usually packed with the latest tech to ensure a flashy introduction. The Dallas Cowboys have absurdly large video screens over the field and the Arizona Cardinals can move the entire playing surface outdoors to soak up some rays. This season, the San Francisco 49ers moved from Candlestick Park to Levi's Stadium: the first of the NFL's venues to be LEED certified, thanks in part to a solar collection system that will power all 10 home games. To enhance the fan experience, there's a smartphone app that sorts tickets and concessions, and wrangles instant replay. In fact, you can use it to scout the line at the nearest beer cart or place an order in advance for pickup or seat-side delivery. As you might expect, this past weekend's first game action put the new system to the test, and as is common with most new large-scale tech, fans felt the bugs pretty quickly.
Facebook alumni plan WiFi network to support 68,500 fans at 49ers' stadium
The 49ers may not have won the Super Bowl, but at least fans will have something to look forward to during the 2014 season. The brand new Santa Clara Stadium, which boasts 68,500 seats and an estimated $1.2 billion construction cost, is expected to pack the country's most powerful WiFi network. The new installation is being overseen by two Facebook IT alumni, and is expected to feature roughly one terabit of overall capacity. According to an Ars Technica feature, every attendee will be able to connect to the network simultaneously, without bandwidth restrictions. That figure is dependent on more devices offering 5GHz compatibility, which seems reasonable considering that the stadium won't open until late 2014. And, if arena-grade equipment is ready in time, the network will be 802.11ac compatible, though it will also support 802.11n, along with 11a, 11b and 11g, regardless. Such a network is a key component of any modern structure, and if the team pulls it off, they might want to consider taking on some consulting gigs -- as Samsung has proven time and again, the company can't manage to keep press conference attendees online during major launch events, despite months of planning and unsurpassed budgets. Cellular signals will be boosted as well, with support for all carriers, just in case customers opt out of the free WiFi offering. For a more in-depth look at how the 49ers might pull it off, check out the Ars piece at the source link below -- it's a solid read for sports fans and infrastructure junkies alike.
Comcast's extra ads ruin NFC championship game conclusion in some areas
It wasn't just RIM that had designs on the limelight during the football action last night. Comcast commercials appeared over the NFC Championship game last night, thoughtfully playing over the climax of the match 'twixt the Giants and the 49ers. Frustrated fans who missed out on parts of the fourth quarter and overtime promptly began voicing dissent on the company's support forums. The Washington Post has a quote from spokesperson Amiee Metrick indicating the problems were due to a possible "equipment failure" at a local Fox affiliate, WTTG, resulting in the ill-timed ads reported in Washington D.C. We've heard that of customers receiving a $10 credit and an apology, but it seems unlikely to soothe the brow of those -- like the person who recorded video of the incident you can see after the break -- thinking of switching to FiOS. Update: We've received a response from Comcast (included after the break), and updated the post to clarify the apparent breakdown was at local Fox affiliate WTTG.[Thanks, John]
