rugby
Latest
BBC will make its first broadcast into space tomorrow
British astronaut Tim Peake has already achieved a number of "firsts" while aboard the International Space Station, but his next milestone will possibly be the most entertaining. Tomorrow (February 6th), Peake and his two astronaut colleagues will view the BBC's first ever space broadcast, when it live-streams the Scotland vs England Six Nations rugby match live from Murrayfield. The BBC says it's working with the European Space Agency (ESA) to feed the game to the space station, which kicks off at 4:50pm UK time. It's obviously no surprise to Peake: he knew of the BBC's plans well before blast off -- he even had time to pack an England rugby shirt and Gilbert rugby ball in his suitcase before making the trip.
Live Rugby World Cup scores are coming to London's Tube
With the Rugby World Cup kicking off this week, Transport for London (TfL) is gearing up to play a big role in helping sports fans navigate to and from the city's three host stadia. However, that's not all it will do come Friday. The transport authority today announced it has teamed up with ITV to deliver live news, scores and results from the tournament across 180 Tube and DLR stations right through until the final on October 31st. It'll be the second time the London Underground has hosted a World Cup, after it delivered goals and updates via information boards during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The deal will generate revenue for TfL, helping it to invest more in its modernisation of the Tube network, which will include the development and rollout of new driverless trains with built-in WiFi in 2022.
Hawk-Eye to play judge and medic at this year's Rugby World Cup
Hawk-Eye is best known for being a virtual line judge in tennis, though it's used in many other sports including soccer, where it powers the goal-line technology the UK Premier League adopted a few years ago. And soon, it'll make its debut on the rugby pitch when this year's World Cup kicks off on September 18th, following successful trials of the system earlier this year. As rugby fans will know, a Television Match Official (TMO) is always on hand at big games to review broadcast footage when the on-pitch referee needs a hand with a tough decision. At the upcoming World Cup, TMOs won't have to rely solely on TV feeds any longer, with Hawk-Eye's SMART Replay tech offering multiple angles of the action and other benefits like zoom and slow-motion features.
BBC and ITV team up to keep Six Nations rugby out of Sky's hands
Bidding for TV rights to major UK sporting events has always been hotly contested, but things have really hotted up over the past year. BT Sport has done what it can to wrestle some control away from Sky's firm pay-TV grip, but now terrestrial broadcasters are enjoying some success. Having secured exclusive access to rugby's Six Nations championship, where England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy battle it out for European dominance, for the last 12 years, the BBC announced today that it's teamed up with rival broadcaster ITV to ensure the Six Nations remains on free-to-air TV for another six years.
Daily Roundup: Rugby on an Oculus Rift, Sony sells its PC business, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro for AT&T hands-on
You can't blame us for having a bit of a soft spot for rugged devices. There's something comforting about knowing you can drop or drown your phone and it wont be any worse for wear. That's the reason we keep coming back to the Rugby series. Its specs dont impress and its certainly not a looker, but its sturdy masculine design kinda gets our blood pumping. So, we just had to stop by Samsung's table at tonight's AT&T event and spend some time with the Galaxy Rugby Pro, an updated version of the Rugby Smart we reviewed earlier this year. The basic design is the same -- it's a chunky slab of thick, ribbed, soft-touch plastic and rubber, with a sizable chrome screw holding the backplate in place. The textured rubber buttons up front have been reduced from four to three, in keeping with the updated user experience of Ice Cream Sandwich. Oh, did we mention it ditches Gingerbread for some delicious Android 4.0.4 goodness -- a most welcome upgrade from the Smart. It's not exactly smooth sailing on the 1.5GHz CPU, but the lag never got unbearable in our brief hands on time. Perhaps the biggest knock against the device though, is the rather lackluster 4-inch WVGA screen. It's a Super AMOLED panel, which means top-notch contrast, but colors were definitely off and a little washed out looking. It does however mean it should be perfectly viewable in direct sunlight -- a major concern for devices such as this. The paltry 768GB of RAM and 8GB of storage aren't really anything to write home about, but at least there's a microSD slot under the battery. Along the left edge of the device is the volume rocker and a customizable key that can be used to turn on the torch or launch the camera or any number of other tasks, while the right side is home to the power / lock button. The micro-USB port is on the bottom under a tiny plastic door while the headphone jack is similarly protected at the top of the device. We can't say we're expecting much from the 5MP camera, but the extremely dark conditions at the AT&T event ensured that we couldn't get anything usable out of it. For more check out the video after the break.
Samsung Rugby Smart review
Not every smartphone stakes its claim on speedy processors, huge gorgeous screens or slim and sexy physiques. Some take a relatively modest set of specs and add a little wrinkle to make them stand out from the crowd. The Samsung Rugby Smart is one such device. Though it adds Android to what we'll now refer to as the Rugby Dumb, we can already tell you this handset isn't for the spec snobs among you. But, if you're more concerned with durability and tank-like construction, you might want to stick around a while. This AT&T-branded phone is built to mil-spec 810F standards, meaning it's shockproof, dustproof and can be immersed in up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes. If these are qualities you desire in a phone, meet us past the break to see how it stacks up against its competition.
Mad Catz takes Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge to North America
Mad Catz has recently become a publisher for new flight games and established music games. Its next baffling step into the world of game publishing sees the peripheral maker taking on sports games. Mad Catz announced plans to publish Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge on Xbox 360 sometime in September. In this game, Jonah Lomu challenges you to tell him what exactly rugby is. Okay, it actually features 93 different teams and 31 locations, with licensed teams including the New Zealand All Blacks, with whom Lomu played. An online mode will allow you to find all the other Americans who know how to play rugby -- unless they're busy playing the Rugby World Cup 2011 demo.
AT&T U-verse adds Fox Soccer Plus HD for $15 / month, 1 week free preview
U-verse subscribers looking to catch the most exclusive soccer and rugby matches now have the opportunity to do so, since it's offering Fox Soccer Plus HD on channel 1653. Like other providers, it'll add a pretty steep $15 premium to your bill, but all can check out the channel's offerings for free through this weekend. Check the press release after the break for more details before you doublecheck your Premier and Champions League broadcast schedules.
EA Sports' Moore envisions browser-based games for smaller sports
EA Sports covers nearly all the big sports: football, soccer, golf, basketball, hockey, etc. But will it ever tackle a more niche interest? Its president, Peter Moore, certainly sees that as a possibility -- just not on the current HD consoles. Obviously, the main obstacle in the path of these smaller sports is development cost. "It would be very difficult for us to justify putting a full-blown next-gen team on with all the associated costs," Moore explained to Edge. However, he does see an alternative. "Can we do a browser based version? So I think the answer's yes, but we're not there yet ... Digitize that content and provide experience for - and I don't want to call them lesser sports - but regional sports that find it difficult to scale." EA is already dabbling in a number of browser-based experiences, including FIFA Online and Tiger Woods Online. With its continued expansion in the area (see: the recent acquisition of Playfish), the future certainly holds a lot of possibilities. Who knows -- the lower barrier of entry may one day enable EA Sports to make that lacrosse game we've been dreaming up.
Australia's initial 3DTV broadcast will be delivered OTA
Australia's getting its first 3D at home OTA, as Channel Nine will have a free-to-air broadcast of three New South Wales Rugby League (rugby is all about the 3D) matches May 26. This is the first we've heard of anyone sending HD 3D over radio waves, and to accommodate things the government has apparently provided additional spectrum in the form of two bonded channels for the one-time event. Nine is looking into technology to transmit a 3D signal that's backwards compatible with 2D televisions so it doesn't need the additional bandwidth, but for now early adopters will have to retune their TVs to catch the channel when the time comes. The short term future of 3D could continue to be terrestrial only as cable and satellite providers on the continent haven't announced any tests for this year, but we'll be waiting anxiously to hear how well it works -- watching Glee in 2D just doesn't satisfy anymore.
3D Rugby coming to UK theaters in February
Rugby fans in the UK who're looking forward to the 6 Nations match against Wales in a few weeks have a new way to enjoy the action -- we have no clue what we just said there. For those who can't make it to the actual event, they can instead hit up 40 Odeon and Cineworld cinemas across the UK and watch it with other fans in 3D for about $20. If you want to get a taste of 3D sports and live nearby, this is a great way, but even if you couldn't care less about 3D, we have to say that watching sports in a theater is the next best thing from being there.
Ralph Lauren launches Make Your Own Rugby app
During the existence of the iPhone, shopping has always been the domain of Safari. Browsing web-based stores could be extremely awkward, thanks to bitty drop-down menus and inadvertent "quick views" of garments that you can't seem to click out of. No longer, my fellow clotheshorses. Today, Ralph Lauren launched a unique iPhone application integrating social media with fashion design and online shopping, called Make Your Own Rugby [iTunes link]. The app centers around Ralph Lauren's Rugby line, launched in 2004, that is inspired by the Ivy League atmosphere circa 1940 and that targets preppy college students. The company describes Rugby as "preppy meets urban," though you will only qualify for street cred through a few light touches such as embroidered skulls. The fact that the skull is embroidered on a varsity sweater probably won't do you much good in the back alleys, but you can hope.The MYO Rugby app allows the user to select a blank rugby shirt, polo, sweater, or jacket from a set of stock designs and customize it with as many distinguished crests, football-themed patches and letters as they want. You can use it to design and purchase clothing for yourself, or you can be a little more creative (and financially devil-may-care) and make designs to be displayed for browsing in the application or to share with friends.
Samsung a837 "Rugby" bows on AT&T, looking for a fight
It's not every day that AT&T launches a phone that meets military specifications for dust, water, and shock resistance -- in fact, AT&T claims it's the first time ever, despite the Motorola V365's street reputation as a tough piece -- so take note, especially if you've got butterfingers or a job that involves rolling around in a mud pit. The Samsung a837 Rugby won't win any hearts with its charming good looks, but it's got 3G data, push-to-talk support, and a 1.3-megapixel camera to take quick and dirty shots of your dangerous endeavors that'd make your average flip beg for mercy. Grab it now for a shade under $130 on a two-year activation.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
BBC broadcasting Rugby Six Nations match in 3D
Not happy letting us Yankees get away with all the 3D sporting action, the BBC plans to test a 3D HD broadcast of a Rugby Six Nations match next month. A lot like the NBA's test with last year's All-Star Game and NBA Finals, the March 8th game between Scotland and England will be captured by three camera rigs and then transmitted via satellite -- unlike the fiber connection used by the NBA -- to an audience watching a big screen with 3D glasses. Can Communicate, Inition and Axis are the companies forming 3DFirm, which is partnering with the Beeb to make the whole thing happen, including working out a new style of camera work and post production. We won't say we're waiting for a 3D broadcast of real football to get excited about these tests (we'll just think it.)
Chumby, the snuggly bedside computer
If Chumby, maker of this rugby ball-sized computer by the same name, has its way, then it will replace all of our bedside digital clocks with a stripped-down computer stuffed in a cuddly exterior case. Apparently the Chumby is designed to be a little hackable nugget that will play Flash applications (known in Chumby-speak as "widgets") that can do various other things like (you guessed it): play music, check your RSS feeds, and display your photos. Inside this little furball is a 266 MHz CPU, 32MB SDRAM, 64MB Flash RAM, 320 x 240 3-inch screen, two USB ports, 2W speakers, and WiFi. Basically, it does everything that your regular computer does (except smaller and a little slower), but it comes in a fuzzy little self-contained box so you can snuggle up to it at night and have it try to read Engadget quietly to you while you sleep. That is, when they're actually available to the public.[Via Dyl World]
