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FIFA will test limb-tracking offside tech at the Arab Cup
The system could be used at the 2022 World Cup.
Professional cyclists will compete in a virtual Tour de France
The virtual tour will have a side event for amateurs called the Virtual l’Etape du Tour de France. Zwift and ASO, the real-life Tour de France organizer, want the event to have a celebratory atmosphere. Enter Zwift. Will Zwift racing ever supplant the real-life Tour?
Amazon UK will show its free Premier League matches on Twitch
Amazon is serious about becoming a destination for sports.
Without soccer, fans and teams are turning to FIFA
Soccer, like almost every other professional sport, has ground to a halt in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. The most-watched and prestigious leagues, including the English Premier League, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 have all been suspended in recent weeks. European club competitions including the Champions League and Europa League aren't happening, either, and Euro 2020 has been pushed back to June 2021. The Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which includes an oft-forgotten soccer tournament, is looking less likely with each passing day, too.
Klipsch’s next true wireless earbuds will include AI and gesture controls
For the second year in a row, Klipsch is introducing new true wireless earbuds at CES. Last year, it offered the first glimpse of its T5 True Wireless earbuds. Now, the company is expanding its lineup with three more true wireless models.
Jaybird's Tarah wireless sport earbuds are half off
If you don't want to spend $150 to $230 on workout earbuds that will inevitably end up at the bottom of your gym bag, Jaybird has a deal for you. Today, its Tarah Wireless Sport Headphones are on sale for half off. You can get a pair for just $50. That's the lowest price we've ever seen on these earbuds.
AI developed a whole new sport
Many existing sports have their roots in hundreds (if not thousands) of years of human tradition. But what if you asked computers to create a sport? You now know how that can turn out. The design agency AKQA has introduced Speedgate, reportedly the first sport envisioned by an AI. The event has six-player teams competing on a field with three open-ended gates. Once you've kicked the ball through a center gate (which you can't step through), your team can score on one of the end gates -- complete with an extra point if you ricochet the ball through the gate. You can't stay still, either, as the ball has to move every three seconds.
Amazon launches pre-game show for 'Thursday Night Football'
Amazon is launching a new Thursday Night Football pre-game show. Nothing too unusual about that, except this one, The Drive, will be hosted by two women -- a move some will sadly consider surprising, even in this, the year 2018. Charissa Thompson and Rachel Lindsay (pictured) –- who both boast impressive sports broadcasting resumes -- will interview two opposing players both on and off the field as they gear up for their Thursday Night Football game. One interview will take place during the player's daily commute, the other at their home, or team's training facilities.
Bosch unveils a rugged sport e-bike computer
There's seemingly endless choice when it comes to monitoring tech you can wear on your body, now Bosch have come up with an equally useful bit of kit that can be attached to an e-bike. The Kiox on-board computer monitor is designed for sporty e-bikers, providing riders with data on speed, personal performance, cadence and even their heart rate (via a wearable sensor).
Garmin's latest golf tracker helps you choose the right club
You can already get golf watches that show hole data and track your swing. Let's be honest, though -- ideally, they'd give you some insight as to which club is best for that tricky dogleg or sand trap. Garmin, at least, thinks it can provide that helping hand. It's now shipping an Approach CT10 tracker that fastens to the top of your clubs and provides insight on a club-by-club basis thanks to automatic syncing with supporting Garmin watches. You'll ideally know which club to choose based on your actual performance and situation, rather than picking one based on arbitrary expectations. A 9 iron may be a better choice than a pitching wedge, for instance.
Facebook will broadcast live Premier League games in Asia
Facebook made clear its intentions to move into sport earlier this year, when it hired Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton to lead negotiations for worldwide live sports streams. Hutton's been earning his keep, because the company has just agreed a £200 million broadcast deal with the Premier League.
The BBC will stream the World Cup in 4K and VR, but not to all
The BBC is finally embracing live 4K. After a run of very limited tests back in 2014 and the recent FA Cup Final, the revered broadcasting institution plans on proving its mettle by showing the FIFA World Cup live to audiences in Ultra HD and virtual reality. It'll be the first time the Beeb has shown a live tournament in this way, and it's a heck of a tournament to start with.
YouTube TV will soon include MLB’s streaming service
Baseball fans looking for a way out of cable TV's clutches might finally have their answer: MLB.tv is coming to YouTube TV. MLB and YouTube are expanding the partnership that began in 2017 to include a bunch of sponsorship extras, which largely just means a load more promotional activity before and during games, but the deal also includes bringing the MLB Network to YouTube TV from today, and getting MLB.tv on board in the near future. Launch details are vague -- no timeline has been given -- but we do know that it will involve an additional fee. Currently, MLB.tv costs an eye-watering $90 a year for a single-team or $116 a year/$25 a month for all teams, so if it can rival these prices it could definitely stand a chance of drawing fans away from cable. Still, it may well be the case that both parties are waiting to see how the MLB Network performs before making hard and fast commitments about MLB.tv, but it's a win for YouTube TV's baseball fans regardless.
NBC's Winter Olympics VR streams will work on almost any device
The Winter Olympics is getting a virtual reality makeover. NBC will present over 50 hours of VR coverage from the games in South Korea next month, using Intel True VR technology to create 360-degree immersive environments. It's the same style of tech that's been adopted by BT Sport, MLB, UFC, PGA and NBA, and it made an appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, but it's the first time the Winter Games has been given the treatment (they only happen every four years, after all, and VR has only taken flight in recent times).
ESPN looks to reinvent itself with a SportsCenter for Snapchat
More than three years ago, ESPN opened a 194,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art production facility known as Digital Center 2. That space was built to house five studios, including the home of its flagship show SportsCenter, which has been airing on TV since 1979. The goal from the beginning was to make the show futureproof, by laying the foundation for its studio to support incoming technologies like 4K and 8K content. It was also set up to handle the rise of social media, what with a wall made of 56 screens giving the anchors' the ability to interact with Twitter or Facebook posts from athletes in a real-time 3D environment. The Digital Center 2 brought SportsCenter into the 21st century.
Zepp's tennis sensor now includes a highlight camera
Unless you've got a professional coach on hand, it can be tricky to determine how good your tennis skills really are -- simply not slamming the ball into the net doesn't count, unfortunately. But for those looking to up their game, sport sensor creator Zepp has a new gadget that could help you serve your best match yet. The Tennis 2 Swing and Match Analyzer, which looks not unlike a tennis ball, fits on the bottom on your racket and measures stroke type, spin, ball speed, ball spin and accuracy, then relays the info to its iOS or Android app via Bluetooth.
BMW adds a performance version of its electric i3 for 2018
For 2018 BMW is lightly reworking the style that made us call its i3 "a long-range concept car you can actually buy" and it's expanding the lineup with the i3s. A new performance version, it upgrades the standard i3's 170 horsepower / 184 pound-feet of torque electric motor to a high-output version capable of 184 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque. A sports suspension drops the i3s 10mm lower, widens its track by 40mm, and connects to new 20-inch rims.
Lucha Libre will stream 'Triplemania XXV' on Twitch
Triplemania turns 25 this year, and in keeping with its adrenaline-pulsing theatrics you'd expect it to do something pretty special to celebrate, which is why fans will be able to bypass pay-per-view and watch the whole thing live on Twitch. Showcasing what is arguably the match of the decade, between Dr Wagner Jr and Psycho Clown, Triplemania XXV will be broadcast with commentary in English and Spanish, with a "best of" Triplemania marathon leading up to the main event. Viewers can play with wrestling-themed emojis, and the sport's biggest stars will take to Twitch's chat function to rile up their fans.
BT Sport to stream its Saturday footy results show on Twitter
Twitter has recently been the forum of choice for many weird, wannabe-viral transfer announcements, but BT will soon be taking to the social network for more serious football coverage. Just as we start digging our teeth into the new Premier League season, BT Sport will begin livestreaming its news, analysis and footy results show "Score" on Twitter for any Brit to watch for free.
Amazon snatches ATP tennis rights from Sky
After winning numerous awards for its TV and movie originals, Amazon has set its sights on adding coverage of various popular sporting events to its Prime subscription. In the US, the company has already wrestled Thursday-night NFL game streams away from Twitter, but has been slow to lock in similar deals on the other side of the Atlantic. According to The Guardian, Amazon has now finally made a move, outbidding Sky and ITV to secure the UK rights to tennis' ATP World Tour for the next five years.
