fifa world cup 2010
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Handmark and Goal.com team up for free FIFA World Cup 2010 app
With the FIFA World Cup 2010 commencing on June 11th, TUAW has been receiving a lot of info about iPhone apps for the event, including the indie effort Total Football 2010 which we'll be checking out soon. One of the most intriguing tips came from veteran mobile developer Handmark, which has teamed with huge soccer site Goal.com on a new app. The Goal.com Mobile app (World Cup 2010 edition) displays a special World Cup tab for news coverage from a team of 550 reporters, 10 of whom are based in South Africa for the finals. Features of the app include: Up to the minute top news & photos Live scores with play-by-play details Player ratings Teams with schedule and lineup details Fixtures and Results by day Group State with team standing Knockout Stage with the final tournament schedule Any of the articles can be emailed to friends or shared through Twitter or Facebook. If you're only interested in seeing how your team is doing, you can customize the app to focus on specific news feeds. You don't need to have a full-time Internet connection either; there's an offline reading mode so you can catch up on info while you're taking that long airplane flight to South Africa to cheer on your team. The Goal.com Mobile app is available in 9 languages -- English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Japanese, Turkish, and Indonesian. Time for football!
Samsung announces Adidas-branded N150 Plus netbook
The big technology news out of the World Cup this year may be 3D broadcasts, but any sporting event of this size wouldn't be complete without some product tie-ins, and it looks like Samsung has now come through on that front with a little help from Adidas. They've announced this new Samsung N150 Plus Adidas Special Edition netbook, which is apparently identical to Samsung's regular N150 netbook, with the exception of an Adidas design on the lid, and the addition of a Bluetooth 3.0 module -- not to mention a matching mouse and "gift pouch." No word on pricing or availability just yet, but we have a sneaking suspicion it will be limited to places that play "football" instead of "soccer."
Google to digitally distribute games through web-based app store
[Engadget] Former Joystiqer Ross Miller is currently on the ground for Engadget at Google's annual dev conference "I/O" in San Francisco, where the company just revealed its web-based app store for Chrome and Chrome OS. Aside from a handful of regular ol' apps and an interactive version of Sports Illustrated (paper? what's that?), Google debuted games for purchase, playable in-browser. Plants vs. Zombies and Lego Star Wars are explicitly mentioned in the piece, but we can also spot Bejeweled 2 (also by PopCap), as well as Poker Rivals, Scrabble, FIFA World Cup 2010, and Who Has the Biggest Brain? (all by EA) -- a LucasArts rep clarified for us that the version of Lego Star Wars seen is actually this already available online game. We're not sure how much the games will be going for or even exactly how it'll work just yet, but we'll let you know just as soon as we do (there's a bit more info on the FAQ page). The web store is set to go live for developers "soon," but hasn't been dated for the general public just yet.
FIFA World Cup leaves Alan in its wake on UK sales chart
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa fiercely protected its top spot on the UK all-formats weekly sales chart for the third week in a row. Alan Wake saw the light of retail with a second place premiere, and according to Chart-Track, totaled only 1,000 fewer units sold than FIFA. Lost Planet 2, which found itself in third, was 12,000 units behind Wake (an Xbox 360 exclusive), despite being on two platforms and going on sale several days earlier than the typical Friday release in the UK. Ubisoft's Wii-exclusive Just Dance tripped and stumbled to fourth place, its lowest position in seven weeks. Could this be the beginning of the end for the surefooted sales star? Unlikely -- unless every Wii owner in the region already has it (which isn't out of the realm of possibility at this point). Finally, EA's Skate 3 ollied into a fifth place debut. The complete UK top 10 can be found after the break. Source – FIFA Just Holds Off Alan Wake And Lost Planet 2 [GFK Chart-Track] Source – Latest UK Software Charts [GFK Chart-Track]
Sony and FIFA release more details on World Cup 2010 3D broadcast
Sony and FIFA have just released a list of World Cup 2010 games that'll be broadcast in 3D, with ESPN taking care of the US audience, Sogecable for Spain, and more partners to come (including eight matches for selected 3D cinemas around the world). Out of all ten stadiums, only five of these -- Soccer City and Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth -- are chosen for the 3D broadcast, which sadly leaves out Rustenberg and its England-USA match that most of us here anticipate. Each venue will have seven 3D-camera positions with three above the pitch and four on pitch level, and don't forget the two "3D Outside Broadcast" trucks that'll be busy shuffling between stadiums to process the footage for us all. If you end up totally loving the 3D experience, a Blu-ray 3D compilation disc will be available within 2010. This souvenir should go nicely with the updated PS3 by then -- we were told by Sony that its console's expecting its 3D upgrade around the same time as the launch of its 3D TVs, which just so happens to be around E3 as well. Boy, June sure going to be a fun one this year.
