winter olympics
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A health-monitoring app for Olympic attendees reportedly has glaring security issues
Researchers said passport details, voice audio and other data are vulnerable in the MY2022 app.
Peacock will stream all of NBCUniversal's Winter Olympics coverage
But you'll need to be on the Premium plan to watch it.
Five apps to help you follow the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi
The Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games start later this week with the opening ceremony slated for Friday, February 7. To keep track of the epic wins and the disappointing losses, you should check out one or all of these five apps below. NBC Sports Live Extra [iOS Universal; Free] The NBC Sports Live Extra app will provide a live stream of the games that covers all 15 sports and all 98 medal events. Some live streaming content on NBC Sports Live Extra will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite and telco customers via TV Everywhere. NBC also has a dedicated Olympics highlights and results app if you don't have time for the full stream and only want a brief synopsis of the results. Sochi 2014 Guide [iOS Universal; Free] The Official Sochi 2014 Guide may not have a live video stream, but it has everything else you need to follow the Olympic games, especially if you are there in Sochi. The app includes coverage of the Olympic Torch relay, venue information and breaking news. The app also has an event scheduler that you can customize with the competitions that you want to watch. The Games 2014 [iOS Universal; $2.99] The Games 2014 will help you follow the Olympic events and plan your viewing schedule. The app has information on the stadiums, events, sports, dates and medal winners. Each sport is easy to find and follow. There's also a handy feature that allows you to send your favorite events to your calendar. Sochi 2014 Results [iPhone; Free] This is the official Sochi 2014 Results application and, as such, it provides full details of the events of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games. Follow the medal races in real time and get quick access to the competition schedule and results. 2014 Team USA Road to Sochi [iOS Universal; Free] Read about the contingency of athletes the US is sending to Sochi to compete in the Winter Olympics. The app features biographies, results and performances for each athlete and a customizable feed that can be filtered to show only news from your favorite athletes.
Battery maker Ener1 files for bankruptcy, tied to Think Global's bumper
Nobody was that surprised when EV maker Think Global drove off into the Chapter 11 sunset, but now it's towed an even bigger company along with it. Ener1 invested heavily in Think and also manufactured the lithium-ion batteries for its cars, but all it got in return was a lethal $69 million hole in its balance sheet. The company was de-listed from Nasdaq last month and now it's seeking bankruptcy protection to restructure $81 million in debts. If it fails to get its finances in order, organizers of the 2014 Winter Olympics may need to look for another power source.
NBC Universal wins Olympic broadcasts through 2020, promises all events live starting in 2014
We've got some bad news if you're not a fan of how NBC covers the Olympics because the IOC just announced NBC Universal has won the rights to broadcast the Games through 2020 with a $4.38 billion bid, winning over rivals ABC/ESPN and Fox. ESPN and Disney had been very upfront about their desire to broadcast the games and mentioned more than once they would provide all the events live the way we prefer to see them. The good news is that according to NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus, every event will be aired live on TV or over the internet -- starting in 2014. While Comcast and NBC try to turn things around from the 2010 Games that it lost money broadcasting, we'll probably have to suffer through tape delay one more time for the London Games next summer.
Inside the giant batteries that will power Russia's Sochi Winter Olympic Games (video)
Clean and constant power is something that we take for granted here in the Americas. Sure, we've seen rolling blackouts in California before, and that outage in the Northeast back in 2003 was decidedly uncool, but those are the exception to the norm. Right now many Japanese citizens are dealing with power problems in the wake of the devastating tsunami, but in parts of Russia unreliable power is a decidedly reliable part of day-to-day life. So, what's going to happen when a couple-hundred-thousand fans from around the world swoop into Sochi in 2014, along with a flotilla of international media and all the world's greatest athletes? The Winter Olympics will happen, and the power will flow. It has to, and it will thanks to that unassuming looking shipping container above. It's being assembled at Ener1's facility outside of Indianapolis, and it's actually a giant battery holding an amazing amount of power -- enough to juice 1,000 average homes for an hour, or to act as the mother of all UPS's. Join us for a look inside and a video show how each of those packs is made. %Gallery-119744%
Research firm shocks the internet, says most viewers loved NBC's Olympics coverage
We're not sure where the Americans Q & A Research polled live, but they must not have a decent network hookup out there because they appear to represent the most silent of majorities: the ones who absolutely loved how NBC handled the Winter Olympics. Also reported was an average of 20 hours of viewing each, with figure skating, hockey and speed skating taking top spots on the most watched events list. Even though the often ridiculous tape delay strategy was one of the most often heard complaints around these parts, it only warranted a single line in summary, noting "some" found it frustrating, but that the most notable problem was actually too much studio commentary. Are we that out of touch with the mainstream, with our DVRs, HDTVs and interest in interactive and online content, or is this study just completely off base?
Canon captures your coffee in a 70-200mm telephoto lens
OK, not really, but Canon was indeed giving out these novelty coffee mugs -- in the shape of an EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens -- at the Winter Olympic's press center, and here's Microsoft's Josh Weisberg (Director of Rich Media Group) showing off his swag to the whole world. Yes, we're just a bit envious. So anyone got a spare Canon L-Series lens that we can tamper with? Or maybe that big-daddy Sigma lens if you're game with sharing coffee?
NBC turns off the tape delay, will air Men's Hockey final live in all time zones Sunday
We doubt this represents a long term shift in NBC's Olympic broadcast strategy, but it has announced it will broadcast the Gold Medal Men's Hockey game live in all time zones. That's right, even PST & MT denizens can tune into the game, originally scheduled to air later on tape delay, as it occurs beginning at 3 p.m. EST / noon PST Sunday afternoon. Still, after 16 days of continually shifting delay strategies OTA, cable and online, it's probably too little too late to wipe the bitter memories from the minds of many viewers.
How does NBC justify tape delaying the Olympics? Pretty easily
You can't throw a rock on the internet without hitting someone frustrated by NBC's handling of the Winter Olympics. ESPN and The New York Times can barely hide their giggles while posting event results hours before they air and West Coast viewers have to endure an additional delay to watch an event happening in their own time zone. Compare these quotes by NBC Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol, first in 2001, then later in 2008 posted by Deadspin and The Bastard Machine: 2001 - "A domestic Olympics cries out to be telecast live across the entire country as previous U.S. games have been," he said. "I am emphatic that delaying our primetime Salt Lake coverage is a mistake." 2008 - "...the viewers have repeatedly told us that the vast majority of them, well in excess of 80 percent, want to see the Olympics when they're available to see the Olympics. They don't want to see the key events of the day happening at 4 or 5 o'clock their time." Meanwhile NBC CEO Jeff Zucker a.k.a. the guy who keeps Heroes on the air appears completely pleased by the ratings results in this video interview with CNBC embedded after the break. Whether it's still the local affiliates who are to blame or simply a silent majority of tape delay loving Luddites, it doesn't appear NBC plans on changing course for any reason. Still, feel free to drop by their message boards and let them know how you really feel about it, and hope ESPN nabs the rights for future Games.
Panasonic's Lumix DMC-ZR1 catches Olympic fever
Well, it's Olympic season once again, and that can only mean one thing: a new round of tie-in products. One of the first to arrive on the scene is a new version of Panasonic's Lumix ZR1, which boasts an eye-catching red paint job complete with the official Vancouver 2010 logo. Otherwise, this one looks to be the same 12-megapixel point-and-shoot as before, with it packing an 8x optical zoom, a 25 mm wide-angle Leica DC VARIO-ELMAR lens, a 2.7-inch LCD, and the usual face detection and image stabilization features we've come to expect. No word on US availability for this one, but it looks like it's now available in Canada with an MSRP of $349.99 (or about $330US).
Google's Street View snowmobile takes your voyeurism to the Olympic slopes
There's something deliciously futuristic about the fact that Microsoft and Google are patrolling our roads, documenting their every nook and cranny with large multidirectional cameras strapped to SUVs. But what about the unpaved wilderness? Well, Google's after that too now, with its new Street View snowmobile it's unveiled just in time for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Sure, it's a bit of a gimmick, but also it's surprisingly thrilling to chase down the various slopes in use for the Olympics, and Google Earth even has most everything mapped out in 3D for your aerial viewing pleasure. Check out a video of the snowmobile in action after the break, or hit up that source link to "hit the slopes." If something gets in your way, turn.
Poll: Best HD sporting event this month?
Yeah we know March has laid claim to the Madness title, but for such a short month the sports lineup for February is out of control. Kicking off with Winter X Games 14 this weekend and leading into the Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and Winter Olympics there's more than enough reasons for us to stay inside and out of the cold than ever. So which event are you most excited to see? %Poll-41022%
Dropped calls, begone: AT&T expands feds' Wireless Priority Service to Canada
American carriers have had Wireless Priority Service in place for several years now, giving government officials and first responders improved access to potentially overloaded networks in the event of an emergency or high-density gathering -- but historically, that service has been restricted to American soil. With the Winter Olympics coming right up in Vancouver, AT&T figured it'd have quite a few G-Men strolling north of the border, so it has worked with Rogers this month to roll out priority access for devices roaming in Canada that are already authorized for the service. In a nutshell, that means VIPs strolling around the luge circuit will be able to get through (and stay through) if the crush of humanity gets too much for the poor, overworked cells to handle. And no, you can't sign up for it, so don't even ask.
NBC divvies up 835 hours of Winter Olympics action over TV & online, how much curling can you watch?
The Super Bowl isn't the only sporting event we'll be getting ready for next month, as NBC kicks off its multichannel coverage of the Winter Olympics February 12. It's planning 835 hours of (Conan-less) planned coverage which will all be in high definition. Check the press release for the full details of when the action will be on, divided up on NBC, USA, MSNBC (home of curling) and CNBC (Universal HD is stuck reairing coverage from USA.) We're most interested to see the updated Silverlight powered player on NBCOlympics.com that should bring more than 400 hours live competition and 1,000 hours video available on-demand (check your cable/satellite/telco provider for their various VOD and interactive TV packages) coming straight to the desktop in HD.
New in-game Winter Olympics reward discovered?
Even though Ghostcrawler promised us a moose during last week's Twitter developer chat, we haven't heard anything official or otherwise about an in-game reward for the Winter Olympics. Many people are expecting it as such a reward would follow the most recent Summer Olympics where everyone was able to earn the Spirit of Competition. Wowhead, the official armory, and other sites are listing now a Competitor's Souvenir that was added in patch 3.3. The Souvenir has an item ID number of 37298, whereas the the Gold Medallion from the Summer Olympics has an ID number of 37297. For the mathematically challenged, this new item is numerically next in line from the previous in-game Olympic tie-in. This lends credence that this Souvenir could very well give people a non-combat companion reward during this year's Winter Olympics. We don't have much of an idea of what pet the Competitor's Souvenir could give us. It's likely that the pet will be activated on the servers when the Souvenir becomes available during the Winter Olympics on February 12th, 2010. Of course, that's assuming the Souvenir really is for the Winter Olympics. It's entirely possible the Souvenir is for something else, but the evidence we've found points strongly enough in the direction that it's related to the upcoming games. *A couple people have pointed out that the Competitor's Souvenir was an item on the Chinese servers back in '06, however it still has just shown up on the US servers, just at the right time...
Samsung's former Chairman pardoned, again
You know what's awesome about being the head of a South Korean chaebol? You're untouchable. After being convicted of tax evasion netting a $110 million fine and a deferred 3-year prison sentence, Lee Kun-hee, the former chairman of Samsung Group, has been pardoned by the South Korean government -- his second presidential pardon after first being convicted in 1996 of bribing former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo. Why the reprieve? Easy, so the 67 year old can help the country pursue a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. A Korean activist group responded to the move saying, "Granting a chaebol chairman a pardon just to host an Olympics will make South Korea a laughingstock in the international community." How true.
Ready for the first all-HD Winter Olympics? NBC is
Forget Torino and its quality issues, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver promises to be a different event, and this time it is coming home shot 100% natively in HD. Watching on TV, viewers can expect a slew of coverage across NBC's networks, plus a continuously updated HD VOD package of the day's highlights, and interactive TV features to pull up medal counts, athlete bios and Team USA reports. Checking in online? NBC is back with a new iteration of Microsoft's Silverlight streaming, promising even more HD footage, with the ability to fast forward and rewind streams, plus save clips to your computer. Behind the online efforts are the encoding skills of iStreamPlanet providing 23 different video feeds, with Akamai's new HD distribution network distributing the adaptive bitrate streams directly to your PC. Remember when we were just happy to get 5.1 surround?Read - Akamai and iStreamPlanet to Power Live and on-Demand Video for NBC's Coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games
NBCOlympics.com using Silverlight 3, Smooth Streaming for Winter Olympics video
The Beijing Olympics broadcast benefited greatly from high quality streams available on the NBCOlympics.com website, and it looks like the 2010 Games in Vancouver will be no different. To that end, Microsoft's released server side enhancements like Smooth Streaming technology for adaptive streaming with Silverlight to keep the video streams moving smoothly, and even enable DVR-like features in a live stream without requiring dedicated video servers, all so viewers can get smooth 720p throughout the event. By then Silverlight 3 should be out of beta, which promises support for up to 1080p resolution, native playback of MP4 formats like h.264 and hardware graphics acceleration. Honestly we'd expect nothing less, and while word is CTV, HSN and others will be among the first to take advantage, we're waiting for Netflix to pick up the baton and deliver browser based PQ that rises to the level of Xbox 360 and other players, plus more HD.
Ice those thumbs, Sega announces Vancouver 2010
Get excited kids, Sega -- unsurprisingly -- has announced Vancouver 2010, the official game of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The game is being developed by Eurocom, the studio company Beijing 2008. We're sure the developers have already come up with new and exciting ways to mash buttons and twirl sticks, so you'd best get your thumbs prepared. Don't forget your palms either; those calluses hurt! If you'd rather waggle Wii remotes, it looks like you'll have to wait for the next Mario & Sonic because Vancouver 2010 has only been announced for PS3, 360 and Windows.Check out the teaser trailer above and the first screens below.%Gallery-47596%
