MariaSharapova
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US Open exhibit pits you against Maria Sharapova in VR
From real-time match updates to performance analytics and the Hawk-Eye, the US Open has been upping its technology quotient over the last few years. This year the two-week grand slam tournament is opening its hard courts to virtual reality with the "You vs. Sharapova" experience. If you have a ticket to watch the live action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, you can swing by one of the three VR stations and strap on an HTC Vive to be Maria Sharapova's opponent.
Maria Sharapova models Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson prototype dress
Sony Ericsson's official spokesperson, Maria Sharapova, was on hand recently to unveil a student-designed prototype of a Bluetooth-enabled dress. The iridescent scales that run up one side of the dress move and light up when the phone rings, enabling its owner to know about calls even in noisy places (so says the dress's maker, Georgie Davies). Yes, it's just a prototype for now, but it's a pretty cute dress, so hopefully we'll see these hit the streets at some point in the (nearish) future.[Via Switched]
Sony Ericsson officially announces Maria Sharapova's fave phone, the T707
Sony Ericcson's just officially announced the T707 we caught sight of in a slide not too far back. The clamshell, as expected, has a 2.2-inch, QVGA external display, plus a 1.1-inch internal monochromatic OLED display (128 x 36 resolution), 100MB of internal memory, and a 3.2 megapixel camera. It will be available in Mysterious Black (black), Spring Rose (pink), and Lucid Blue (blue) when it's launched in "selected markets" during Q2. No word on pricing yet. Check out a few more shots (sans Sharapova) after the break.
Maria Sharapova and Canon to give away diamond-clad SD1100 ISs
Maria Sharapova has already had her greatness spread over a number of Motorola handsets, but now the tennis queen is partnering up with long-time associate Canon in order to make five lucky individuals extraordinarily happy. As part of an elaborate marketing scheme, Canon and Maria (but mostly Canon) are cranking up a contest in which five Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS's are given away. But these aren't just any SD1100 ISs -- these are diamond-encrusted editions worth around $12,000 apiece. No word on whether Maria will actually touch the cameras before they're shipped out, but a boy can dream.[Via Luxist]
Sony Ericsson, Maria Sharapova release accessory line
Like a dagger through Motorola's heart, we're sure, Sony Ericsson's collaboration with tennis superstar Maria Sharapova is starting to pay dividends with the Maria Sharapova Design Collection of custom phone accessories. Launching in the third quarter, wares include the "Courtside Case," Excercise Case, Travel Wallet, and "Party Bag" -- at least three of which we weren't aware we needed -- but the custom branding should push at least a few of these out the door. One word of caution, though: Miss Sharapova assures us in the press materials that "I am looking forward to using the collection with my Sony Ericsson T303," and if her phone of choice is seriously an EDGE-less slider with a 160 x 128 display, we're forced to cast her good taste into serious doubt.[Via Engadget Spanish]
Sony Ericsson scores Maria Sharapova as "global brand ambassador"
We guess tennis phenom Maria Sharapova has decided to permanently retire her PEBL and move on to greener pastures. Sony Ericsson has announced that they've picked up Miss Sharapova as its "first global brand ambassador" with the intention of bringing awareness to the brand using a superstar athlete in a sport that transcends nationality perhaps more than any other. She'll be more than just a pretty face with a Sony Ericsson phone in her hand, too -- she'll apparently be working with the company's design peeps to cobble together some to-be-named products and accessories, though the extent of her involvement hasn't been disclosed.[Thanks, quxjox]
Motorola intros white PEBL through contest
For some odd reason, Motorola always seems to pull off new colors of existing handsets with an amount of fanfare other manufacturers can only dream of. We don't suppose it has something to do with the Maria Sharapova tie-ins, could it? Much like the Sharapova-endorsed magenta RAZR before it, the white PEBL offers nothing its more colorful siblings don't -- except exclusivity to the tune of 50 examples in total, all of which will be won via contest. Of course, no one would be surprised to see Moto turn right around and start pumping out white PEBLs en masse just as soon as the contest ends, but they wouldn't be printed with Maria's signature, rendering them all but useless to us.[Via Yahoo Tech]
This is SportsCenter in HD?
ESPN's This is SportsCenter series of ads have long been hilarious fictional looks at the behind the scenes of ESPN's nightly broadcast, I just didn't notice they had switched to high definition. The last new ones I noticed were one of the anchors stealing LeBron's throne from his desk at the ESPN office, Dwyane Wade editing his own highlight, and the Crocodile Hunter taking down the Florida Gators' mascot. It is entirely unlikely that I noticed the extra visual quality present in this spot due to the presence of tennis star (& sometime model) Maria Sharapova. Nope, no chance whatsoever. Did they only switch recently or have I just been missing the extra details?
