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MLB to use iOS 7's iBeacon for pointing out sights (and seats) in stadiums
Major League Baseball is becoming very iPhone-friendly: it gave iOS 6 users Passbook ticketing this season, and it's now planning a treat for iOS 7 users. A 2014 update to MLB's At the Ballpark app will use iOS 7's iBeacon feature to guide sports fans as they pass by low-power Bluetooth transmitters in the stadium. Enter the ballpark and you'll get seat directions; visit specific points and you may get coupons or highlight videos. Only the New York Mets are testing the feature at Citi Field, but the league believes that other teams are likely to follow suit.
MLB.com At Bat gets iOS 7 support, multi-camera postseason video
We know you've likely had your fill of app updates for iOS 7, but bear with us -- this one's likely worth your attention. Major League Baseball has updated the MLB.com At Bat app to both support Apple's new software and introduce host of postseason-friendly features. Sports fans can now watch live Wild Card games, division playoffs and National League championships from multiple camera angles. The updated app also brings a full suite of postseason info, complete with dedicated news and stat sections. If you're worried that you'll miss a crucial game on the road, you'll want to grab the new At Bat release from the source link.
MLB.com updates At Bat iOS app with All-Star goodies, new iPhone UI
Even the most ardent baseball fans have to admit it's a long season. So it's perhaps wise that MLB.com has just trotted out an update for its At Bat iOS app just before the All-Star break, all the better to get you in the mood for the more interesting second half. First off, it'll let you access the All-Star week hoopla like the home run derby and the game itself. You'll also get new tweaks like in-progress game highlights and custom MLB news push notifications, while iPhone users will see a brand new UI and real-time game day data. All that should carry you into the playoff stretch and the next update, assuming MLB.com follows form from last year -- at which point, hopefully your team's still in the mix.
Twitter reveals 'Twitter Amplify' as its video program, signs up MLB and a slew of other partners
Twitter announced Twitter Amplify this morning, the official name of its program to partner with video creators to embed video directly into the company's social stream. Knowing that a name simply isn't enough to get our blood pumping, the company also revealed a variety of new content partners to bolster its already strong relationships with the NBA and ESPN: A&E, Bloomberg TV, Major League Baseball, and Warner Music are just a few of the many new partners signed up for Twitter Amplify. And yes, we should all expect more Amplify partner announcements in the coming months, as Twitter's actively seeking said partnerships. A video is worth a whole lot more than 140 characters, eh?
YouTube now offers more MLB highlights and full archived games
YouTube just keeps adding quality content. Last week it was comedy, and this week it's bulking up on its sporting chops with a Major League Baseball partnership. Always among the most tech-savvy of major sports leagues, MLB has beefed up the offerings on its YouTube channel to include highlights from every game of 2013 (two days after they've occurred), and a vast archive of full games from as far back as 1952. Plus, should you reside outside the US, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, you'll get to watch two live games every day during the regular season for free. So, seamheads, head on over to the MLB.com YouTube channel -- your digital field of dreams awaits.
Five apps to help you follow the 2013 baseball season
Major League Baseball kicked off its 2013 season last Sunday and we are entering our first full weekend of games. If you are ready to fill your iPhone or iPad with apps to follow every home run, then check out our list of some the best baseball apps available for iOS. MLB.com apps [iPhone or iPad; varies] You can't talk about baseball apps without mentioning MLB.com's suite of outstanding apps. The list includes At Bat 2013, At The Ballpark, Beat The Streak and Full Count. At Bat's most compelling features (game audio and video) require a $19.99 in-app subscription for the season or $2.99 a month, but MLB.TV Premium participants get the app's full suite of options for no additional cost. Team Stream [iPhone; Free] Team Stream is a sports news aggregator that lets you set up personalized streams about your favorite teams. It supports notifications so you will be alerted with breaking news of trades, injuries and the like. Baseball Outs [iOS Universal; Free] Baseball Outs is a a mini-fantasy baseball game that makes watching a baseball game with friends even more enjoyable. You can create a game, draft players and compete against your friends. Fantasy Baseball apps [iPhone or iPad; $4.99 or less] The baseball season gets more involving if you're competing in your fantasy leagues against your friends. You can manage fantasy teams using the official ESPN Fantasy Baseball app or the official Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball app. If you use both leagues, then you might want to check out Fantasy Baseball '13 for ESPN/Y from Bignoggins Productions. Bignoggins also makes Fantasy Monster Pro, which supports ESPN baseball, Yahoo baseball and several different sports. MiLB [iPhone; Free] MiLB is for the minor league baseball fans in our audience. You'll get complete stats, schedules, standings and the latest news for every Triple-A and Double-A team. Like At Bat 2013 and the other titles above, the MiLB app is sold by MLB.com.
MLB stamps partnership with Qualcomm, hopes it leads to improved connectivity at ballparks
Companies like Cisco have tried lending Major League Baseball a hand in its quest to serve better internet connectivity to game attendees, but Bud Selig & Co. know that a little more has to be done if the proper results are to be achieved. Now, through its own MLB Advanced Media branch, the league is teaming up with Qualcomm Technologies (a subsidiary of the chip-maker) to launch a collaboration that'll "survey, plan and optimize network connectivity for fans at supported MLB parks." According to the terms of the partnership, Qualcomm engineers will provide a detailed plan and assessment on how to improve wireless access at baseball fields, and that's taking into consideration 3G, 4G and, of course, WiFi. Here's to hoping the MLB / Qualcomm alliance plays out well for the sake of those who enjoy an IRL version of America's national pastime -- because we all know how important it is to be able to quickly share that "I can see Rudy Giulani from where I'm sitting" tweet.
MLB polishes At Bat 13 on iOS and Android ahead of Opening Day, brings app to BlackBerry Z10
With the 2013 season looming just around the corner, it's only natural for Major League Baseball to make sure its various applications on different platforms are all ready to go come this weekend. And as it did with MLB.tv on Xbox Live a couple days ago, MLB's now also updated the At Bat Android and iOS apps, leaving behind the spring training features from last month and making room for ones that are tailored for this year's Opening Day and forward. For subscribers, this means things such as multi-platform live audio, more video highlights, a virtual archive of classic games and a revamped news section within the apps. What's more, MLB has kept its promise of bringing At Bat 13 to the BB10 crowd, giving BlackBerry Z10 owners the ability to download the app starting today. Clearly, it's that time of the year again, that time where your Yankees-cheering friends tell you all about how A-Rod, when fit, is the best player in the game. Or, if they're Giants fans, how they really, really, hope the tale of Samson's hair won't apply to Tim Lincecum.
Breakfast NY's Mission Control Center merges MLB info with NASA-flair, uses 20 feet of switches and screens
The team at Breakfast NY never leaves us hungry when it merges the digital and physical worlds -- and this time it's created something that hits it out of the park for the start of this year's US baseball season. Here at the Major League Baseball Fan Cave in downtown NYC, the team has just unveiled its space program-inspired Mission Control Center. As creative director and co-founder Andrew Zolty explained, "The idea is try and pull in pretty much everything you can possibly imagine that's going on during the 2013 MLB season, and do it in a way that feels reminiscent of NASA's control room: Mission Control." The 20-foot-long installation houses 30 screens measuring roughly eight inches each. The displays are grouped into two sets of 15 (one side for American League teams and the other for the National League), separated in the middle by a large LCD and a consumer-grade webcam. Below the screens you'll notice a plethora of switches with LEDs, info lights and a trio of gauges. Both sides feature three rows of five screens, each pertaining to one of the 30 MLB teams and their stadiums. At the flick of a switch, the screens display real-time connected data like recent Foursquare check-ins, weather, Facebook Likes and Instagrams, along with team stats, facts and more for each stadium at once. %Gallery-183916% Those smaller screens, by the way, are actually physically modded Android-tablets -- unfortunately, Breakfast wasn't at liberty to tell us exactly which kind they are. Essentially, they are all running custom apps, with support from MLB.TV to pull real-time, live streams from each stadium in the league. In total, we're told that 13 APIs and seven software languages work in conjunction to make up the Mission Control Center. The setup will also allow players visiting the Cave to have live chats with roughly 10 fans at a time who participate from MLB's site (sort of like Google+) -- of course, the chats allow an essentially unlimited number of spectators. Curious for more of the nitty gritty? Join us past the break.
Passbook ticketing available in 13 MLB stadiums this season
Major League Baseball and Apple's quest to banish paper ticketing received a boost last night after the former revealed that 13 stadiums would offer the latter's Passbook integration this season. Seven teams, including the Oakland A's, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins are signed up, with a further three to be announced separately. How long will it take before the duo hit it out of the park and get a grand slam of all 30 MLB teams? Hopefully long enough for us to learn some more baseball slang.
Apple's Passbook: Helping to make baseball tickets extinct
According to a post on MarketWatch today, Major League Baseball would love to stop selling paper tickets. It turns out that Apple's Passbook might very well help them to accomplish that goal during the next year. Traditional ticket sales have been dropping quite a bit anyway -- from 55 percent in 2011 to less than 33 percent so far this year -- as fans are picking up tickets from MLB and other outlets (most notably StubHub) in digital formats. But Passbook was apparently a huge hit in a test run during the final two weeks of the 2012 regular season. Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advance Media, told MarketWatch that during the test with four teams, 1,500 e-ticket buyers -- or about 12 percent -- chose delivery through Passbook. Said Bowman, "That adoption rate really floored us -- there is no question our fans want digital tickets. Fans can use the tickets, forward them to a friend, resell them or even donate them to charity -- and they never get lost or left at home." If you happen to attend an MLB Playoff or World Series game this fall, hold onto your physical ticket if you get one. It may very well be a collector's item in the near future.
MLB.tv Premium for Xbox 360 now live in 18 more countries, CinemaNow adds rentals in the US
Feels like it was only yesterday that the MLB.tv app was landing on Xbox consoles in North America, and starting today, the application will be available to more baseball lovers around the globe. As Major Nelson notes (again), the Major League Baseball service is now live in Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, South Africa, Spain and the UK, among a few other nations. Naturally, if you're hoping to catch any ball games via MLB's Premium goods, you'll have to shell out a subscription fee along with having a fancy Xbox Live Gold account. In other 360 news, CinemaNow has made the switch from being a locker-only application to now offering TV show and movie rentals to folks in the US. You can check out what other countries made the MLB.tv cut at the Major Nelson site, link is down below.
MLB Network launches Strike Zone all-highlights channel on four providers
For football fans the NFL Red Zone and ESPN Goal Line Channels have streamlined game day viewing by focusing on switching between scoring opportunities from simultaneously airing games and now Major League Baseball has its own version (there's already a web edition dubbed Full Count). The MLB Network Strike Zone went live Tuesday night on Bright House Networks, DirecTV, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable, airing live look-ins on league games and highlights without any commercial breaks. Although there are baseball games throughout the week, Strike Zone will only broadcast on Tuesday and Friday nights during the regular season. We're not entirely convinced this will work as well as baseball or cause people to sign up for the sports tiers it seems to mostly be placed on the same way its football counterparts have, but it might be just the thing for baseball fans that can't stand following just one game at a time. Check the press release after the break for channel lineup details, and let us know if you've had a chance to check it out yet.
Pro baseball players and staff eager for new iPad
Major League Baseball spring training is well underway, and the 2012 season starts up in less than two weeks. We're anxious for the first pitch on opening day, but USA Today is reporting that MLB players and staff are excited about today's "season opener" for the new iPad. USA Today interviewed Ron Coughlin of the Cincinnati Reds. Coughlin, the manager of video scouting for the team, noted that just about every Reds player has an iPad that they can use to watch video and prepare for games. The Reds have installed high-definition video cameras at Great America Ballpark this year to capture game footage, and Coughlin thinks the new iPad will be the perfect companion device. "With the '3,' now you're going to be able to see the grip on the baseball, perhaps even the rotation of the baseball and be able to (better) break down mechanics. A decade ago (the latest) was VHS tapes, then the quality of video improved when everything went digital. Now, the next step is getting everything in high definition. The clearer the picture, the clearer you can see what the pitcher is trying to do." The Reds aren't the only team embracing the iPad and anxious for the newest device. USA Today talked with Philadelphia Phillies catcher Brian Schnieder, who noted that the Phils' video team loads imagery of pitchers in the upcoming series onto iPads before the team flies to its next road stop. Schnieder also uses FaceTime to talk with his three kids. Players and staff aren't allowed to use the devices in the dugout or bullpen, but it appears that for our favorite boys of summer, the new iPad will be a useful tool off the field for work and play. [via Gizmodo]
MLB at Bat 2012 app out for iDevices and Android, brings in-app monthly subscriptions to iOS
It's that time of year when the hot stove league gives way to spring training, and people start talking less about things like El Hombre's move to LA and more about batting averages and home runs. Thus, MLB has unleashed the MLB At Bat 2012 app to keep you up to date on your favorite squads and stars, and unlike previous iOS iterations, this time it's free. That gratis version gives users limited info (scores, standings, news, and team content), but those willing to drop $14.99 get full access for the year, which includes audio game casts, live game video look-ins and the game of the day. Additionally, there's a $2.99 monthly subscription option if you find forking over for the full season distasteful. Unlike the iOS version, Android users currently only have the $14.99 option, though the same interface is present in both apps to provide a consistent UX. Subscribers of MLB.tv get all of what At Bat 2012 has to offer for free, with Android users gaining access through the existing At Bat Lite app. Sound good? Head on down to the source and get your download on.
MLB simplifies iPhone, iPad app pricing for MLB TV subscribers
For baseball fans, there's no happier day than Super Bowl Sunday, since we know that means that in a few weeks catchers and pitchers will be reporting for early Spring Training. Well, the pitchers and catchers are warming up and now another sign of spring has appeared -- news about pricing of Major League Baseball's MLB At Bat 12 app for iPad and iPhone for MLB TV subscribers. If you subscribed to MLB TV in the past or plan on subscribing to a year full of baseball games, you're in luck -- MLB At Bat '12 will be available for free. That's a nice little bonus, since the MLB TV subscription plan costs US$124.99 for the 2,430 game baseball season ($119.99 if you subscribed last year). In the past, subscribers had to pay for the iPad and iPhone apps separately, which could add about $30 to the tab for baseball fans. The apps will be available on February 29, 2012 so that you're able to start watching streaming video of games on your iPad or iPhone as the Spring Training season begins. There's no word, however, on what content (if any) the free apps will provide for baseball fans who don't want to pay the MLB TV subscription fee.
How the iPad is changing baseball
Baseball is undergoing a digital revolution thanks to the iPad and the iPhone. Sports fans, management and even players are using the iPad to improve America's favorite game. Fans can watch every Major League game on their phone or tablets. Managers can keep track of their rosters and players can analyze both their own performance and that of their competitors. Companies like Baseball Info solutions have embraced this trend. The service compiles the statistics for every player in the Major Leagues and makes it available to all thirty MLB teams. Sports professionals are not alone in this move to a digital future. Recently, we took a look at Extra Innings Mobile Instructor, an app which lets coaches and parents record and analyze the technique of both hitters and pitchers. And baseball isn't the only sport being transformed by the iPad. Recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handed out iPads to all its players and management to replace the paper-based playbook.
Apple Stores receive more visitors than Major League Baseball stadiums
The old saying "as American as baseball and apple pie" may have to be amended to include Apple and its retail stores. According to an article by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Apple may be more popular than America's favorite pastime. Before you roll your eyes and dismiss the idea, take a look at the financials of the Cupertino company and compare it to Major League Baseball. DeWitt points out that Apple is more profitable than Major League Baseball -- Apple reported revenue of US$65.2 billion in 2010 compared to the $7 million reported by the MLB. Apple stores alone even beat out baseball with $9.8 billion in FY2010 revenue and four times the foot traffic of all the Major League Baseball stadiums combined. While Apple's revenue streams are increasing, MLB's revenue from ticket sales and advertising is sliding. So what do you think, should we start working on some new words to the old tune Take me out to the ballgame?
MLB At Bat 11 apps for iPhone, iPad now available
With the wintry weather that seems to be hitting a lot of the U.S. today, most people probably aren't thinking about the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season. There are two sure signs of spring today -- the MLB players started playing Spring Training exhibition games today, and the MLB At Bat 11 apps for iPhone/iPod touch and iPad are now available for sale in the App Store. At this point you'll be able to watch about 150 Spring Training games through a free preview of MLB.TV, and listen to available radio broadcasts of Spring Training games. Like the 2010 version of the app, you can get a close-up batter's view of every at-bat, breaking news, schedules, rosters, and players stats. The description of the app notes that additional features and functionality will be released for Opening Day on March 31. Major League Baseball apparently didn't listen to user complaints from last year, however. The iPad and iPhone apps are still separate apps, and each costs $14.99. On top of that insult, the league advertises in articles found in the app. Once the MLB season begins, you'll be able to watch one free televised game per day and listen to as many games on Internet radio as you'd like, but there's no way to purchase a package to watch all games for a specific team in the app or beam the games to an Apple TV via AirPlay. Early reviews on the App Store are saying that the performance of the MLB At Bat 11 app does seem to have improved over last year's iteration, which was notable for slow loading of articles and videos.
Safari extension highlight: MLB.com Toolbar
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website over the last few days, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. I'm a baseball fan, but other than my beloved Colorado Rockies and the rest of the NL West, I don't follow a lot of other teams. While it would be nice to have a browser window open to MLB.com all the time, my screen is just too cluttered with work for me to be able to keep an eye on what's going on in Major League Baseball and get work done. So what's a Mac-lovin' baseball fan to do? One of the first Safari Extensions I downloaded was the MLB.com Toolbar. Written by the staff at MLB Advanced Media, it adds a tiny toolbar to the top of your Safari page, as well as an icon emblazoned with the unforgettable MLB icon. The extension displays scores of games in progress as well as games that are completed. As with the example above, you can see that the team logos are nicely rendered, the score is easy to see, and the winning (Ubaldo Jimenez 16-2!) and losing pitchers are listed. Each score remains visible for 5 seconds before fading away and being replaced with another. A control on the right side of the toolbar allows you to stop the parade of scores and "fast-forward or rewind" to the next or previous score. If the scores are getting too distracting, you can make the toolbar disappear with a click on the MLB icon. Want to bring it back? Click again. This extension is a perfect example of what a Safari extension should do -- add functionality without being too distracting. Let's hope that the NFL follows the lead of MLB with a well designed and executed scoreboard extension.
