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NBC will finally air all of the Olympics live, across time zones
Today NBC announced that for the 2018 Winter Olympics, it will finally back off of its hated policy of tape delaying significant portions of the games. In 2016, it streamed much of the competition live, but segments like the Opening Ceremony and each day's prime time programming got the tape delay treatment on TV. In a world connected in real time by phones, Facebook and Twitter, splitting up viewers makes less sense than ever, and NBC is finally acknowledging that instead of just pointing to the ratings or encouraging that viewers "move back east."
Tokyo's Olympic medals will be crafted from old gadgets
Tokyo's olympic planning committee has a novel idea for crafting new medals: old technology. Instead of relying on mining companies for new gold, silver and bronze, it's turning to the public and its swathes of unwanted, forgotten gadgets. You might not realize it, but your smartphone and household appliances contain small amounts of these precious materials. Starting in April, public offices and more than 2,400 NTT Docomo stores will offer collection boxes in Japan. The initial target is eight tons of metal, which will be whittled down to two tons and then, hopefully, used to produce 5,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals.
Google's 2016 was defined by 'Pokémon Go,' Olympics and Trump
Google's Year in Search summaries have a knack for capturing the cultural zeitgeist, and that's truer than ever in 2016. The company has published its top search trends for the year, and it clearly mirrors a tumultuous 12 months defined by the unexpected, the tragic and the rise of technology. Notably, the biggest global search trend was for Pokémon Go -- yes, the wildly popular mobile game did more to captivate the world's attention than political upheaval or sports triumphs. Apple's iPhone 7 was the runner up, followed by President-elect Donald Trump.
Russian hackers leak health data from Olympic athletes
A Russian hacker group known as "Fancy Bears" has accessed and leaked medical files from some of the most popular Olympic athletes, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has confirmed. Venus and Serena Williams, as well as gymnast Simone Biles, were among the targets. The attack isn't all that surprising, considering that WADA recommended banning all of Russia's Olympic contenders this year after it discovered a long-running state-run doping program. Ultimately, more than 100 Russian athletes were banned from this year's summer Olympics.
Sony and Panasonic partner to sell 8K TVs by 2020
NHK boldly declared it would broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8K (also called Super Hi-Vision), but that's just four years away now and the grand total of 8K TVs on the market is ... one. To get things jump-started, the Japanese broadcaster has teamed up with Sony and Panasonic to develop the tech necessary to get more sets on the market, according to Nikkei.
Olympics GIFs got someone temporarily banned from Twitter (update)
You may have heard that the IOC placed a ban on media outlets using unlicensed footage from the Rio Olympics to make GIFs for their social media channels. Of course, since it's 2016 and people have Twitter, that didn't stop some from trying. One of the more popular clips on social media showed Katie Ledecky destroying her opponents in the women's 800m freestyle race, providing enough time for Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana to reach "Man it's a hot one" before another competitor even finishes. While the IOC did have that video pulled, its poster's account remains active. Meanwhile, Jim Weber posts on LinkedIn that after posting three GIFs of Olympic action, his account ended up permanently banned.
Japan may forge Olympic medals from recycled smartphones
If you caught Japan's teaser for the 2020 Summer games in Tokyo, you know the nation is planning to lean hard on its pop-culture icons -- but Tokyo may also use the Olympics to make a statement about sustainability. According to a report from Nikkei, the organizers of the 2020 games are thinking about using recycled electronics to forge the next summer games' Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals.
Tokyo 2020's Olympics pitch: Mario, Pac-Man and co.
In case you didn't notice, the Olympics is wrapping up in Rio, and sports fans now have an endure a whole three years and 11 months until the next one, which happens to be in Tokyo. Japan's Olympic committee decided to highlight that fact by transforming the country's Prime Minister into Mario (naturally), showcasing its distinctive skyline (swoon!), showing some of its athletes you've probably never heard of (sorry!) and a bunch video game and anime characters. It's all backed by a punchy jazz soundtrack, and is likely to give you goosebumps, although I wonder why the creative team wasn't able to book Pikachu in time.
McDonald's pulls plug on Happy Meal activity trackers
McDonald's Happy Meals might be beloved for their included toys, but the food inside is just as unhealthy as most of the menu at the Golden Arches. As the Rio Olympics approached, the franchise hoped to reverse its kids combo's poor nutritional reputation by including an activity tracker in place of a normal toy. Unfortunately, reports of possible skin irritations prompted the chain to end the promotion early.
Adidas rewards its medal-winning Olympians with 3D-printed shoes
It's too early to tell whether 3D-printed footwear will ever be more than a gimmick. Still, you have to give credit to sportswear brands for trying something new, even if in some cases 3D printing is only used to make outsole prototypes. Last year, Adidas began showing the potential of the technology with concepts like Futurecraft 3D, a running shoe made partially out of 3D-printed materials. And now the company's taking that one step further: it created a ready-to-wear pair for its sponsored athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics. As its name suggests, though, the "3D-printed Winners Shoe" will be limited to those who win a medal in Brazil.
The Engadget Podcast returns!
In 2014 we said the Engadget Podcast was going on hiatus to "retool." Well, we haven't been sitting on our laurels. Over the last two years we've rethought our editorial mission, completely redesigned the website and, now, we're launching a new and improved podcast.
ICYMI: Hop on a bike and tour the world
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A British man was the first to bike the length of the UK, all within the world of Google Maps and his virtual reality headset. If you're intrigued, his blog is really the best place to get the details.
This Olympics photo was brought to you by a robot
At every major swimming event, the competitors aren't the only ones in the pool. In order to bring you footage from the various races, cameras from various news and photo agencies litter the bottom of pools. Traditionally, these have been remotely triggered, but a photographer had to guess where the swimmer would be when placing their camera. This year, photo agency Getty has a new piece of tech. Photographers Al Bello, Clive Rose and Adam Pretty are all in Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games, and have been using a robotic rig that gives them far greater flexibility.
Why the Olympics need GIFs
The 2016 Olympics kicked off last Friday in Rio de Janeiro, and there have already been a slew of exciting moments. But if you were hoping to catch a GIF of, say, Simone Biles' jaw-dropping floor routine, well, you won't find it from the media. That's because the International Olympics Committee has explicitly banned the press from releasing animated GIFs as well as short Vine videos from the event. The idea behind this policy is seemingly to force folks to watch the clip from an official media site like NBC, where people will be forced to watch ads with their sports. But this ban is woefully behind the times.
Watching Olympics coverage in VR is fun, but TV is still better
Many people complained about the tape delay and excessive ads for NBC's Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony coverage, but there was another option. If you had a Samsung Gear VR headset and were willing to wait a day, you could watch it in 360-degree video as if you were at Rio's Maracanã Stadium. That's what I did, and it was indeed pretty cool: You're immersed in the event and can look at whatever grabs your eye. The execution and technology are still lacking, unfortunately, which degraded the experience, but it's easy to see how it could one day be a spectacular way to view live events.
Google sneaks Olympic-themed minigames into its mobile app
The 2016 Rio Olympics officially kicks off today with the opening ceremony, and Google's already got the fever. In addition to peppering search results with easy-access schedules, stats, highlights and other pertinent info, big G wants to indulge our competitive sides, too. The 2016 Doodle FruitGames is a collection of seven colorful tap-and-tilt titles playable within the Google app for Android and iOS until August 21st, when the Olympics draw to a close.
Olympic Committee bans press from releasing GIFs
The Olympics is a GIF gold mine, thanks to athletes' superhuman feats of strength, agility and speed, all the crazy fans and the hilarious moments in between. This year, though, the International Olympic Committee will make it harder to find them: it has prohibited the press from releasing animated GIFs and even short videos like Vines.
BBC to show the Olympics live in 360-degree video
Watching the Olympics on TV? That's so 2012, apparently. The BBC is launching an "experimental" service on Friday that will broadcast the action in 360-degree video instead. It's not a complete replacement -- only 100 hours will be shown throughout the tournament. But it's more than a token gesture, with one live event and a highlights package planned for each day. They'll be accessible through a new BBC Sport 360 app for iOS, Android and Samsung's Gear VR headset. Coverage will also be available through BBC Taster, a website for the BBC's off-the-wall projects.
Nike used 3D printing and Olympic sprinters to design its new track shoe
When Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce competes in the women's 100m and 4x100m relay at the Olympics this month, she'll do so wearing what Nike claims is one of its most advanced track and field shoes yet. The 29-year-old Jamaican, who is favored for gold in Rio, actually helped Nike design her new spikes, the Zoom Superfly Elite. In the years leading up to the 2016 summer games, she worked with Nike's Sport Research Lab to figure out the ideal performance for a sprinter silhouette. Among other experiments, she test-3D-printed prototypes of the spikes, which were tailor-made based on captured data that measured her speed on the track and, most importantly, off the blocks.
Twitter's Olympics coverage includes live Moments and Periscope
Much like Google, Twitter is going all-out to make itself a one-stop shop for summer Olympics coverage... and this year, there's a distinct focus on live action. The social network has revealed that there will be an Olympics-specific Moments section (shown below) that will help you keep track of your home country or individual sports as they happen, one tweet at a time. There will also be an Olympics-oriented Periscope channel -- no, you probably won't see someone broadcasting an event from their phone, but you may just get a feel for Rio de Janeiro from someone who's there.
