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SportsManias is custom team feeds and news, nothing else
SportsManias Sports News app, available for free on the iPad and iPhone 5 in iTunes, is an app that will polarize sports fans. It is just as useful as it is flawed. I downloaded it, and after it installed, I was greeted by an app that was easy to navigate. I was prompted to choose my favorite sports teams, which I did, then I was taken to its main interface, which consisted of four tabs (Articles, Tweets, Videos, Rumors). I found that I could navigate between news stories about my favorite teams, tweets from and concerning my favorite teams and players, highlight videos, and even rumors about possible transactions. I could find the scores for my teams, as well as upcoming games. It was nice at first. It prompted me to choose my favorite teams. I picked a MLB team (Milwaukee Brewers), an NFL team (San Francisco 49ers), an NBA team (Chicago Bulls), and an NHL team (Anaheim Ducks). The other options available are NCAA, and Soccer. After setting my favorite teams, I started looking through the news articles. What I found was that it was mostly clouded with 49ers news. I scrolled down, and found mostly repeat stories with the same headline from different sources. I had to wade past about 15 49ers stories to get to a Milwaukee Brewers story (I understand the NFL starts this week, but the Brewers are in the middle of a pennant race). I didn't see anything about the Bulls or Ducks, but it is the offseason, so there isn't much happening. I moved on to the Twitter feed, and found it was dominated by Carlos Gomez (an avid tweeter, and CF for Milwaukee). It was mostly pictures he had taken with fans...not much of interest. Overall, sifting through News, Tweets, Videos, and Rumors, I found little to whet my appetite in the way of information about my favorite teams. It was later in the evening when I was checking this out, and I wanted to check scores for other MLB games. I couldn't. There is no option to look at anything outside of the teams you pick. This app is useful, but it limits itself. I do think it's nice that the twitter feeds, the team based articles, and the video highlights, etc. are easily accessible in one place, and it's very easy to use, but I would rather stick with my familiar ESPN SportsCenter app, or even league specific apps (Such as MLB AtBat or NFL Mobile) to find up to the minute news, social media posts, scores, and roster updates. SportsManias Sports News is good for diehard fans who don't care about the world outside their team, but if you would like to stay informed about rivals, or attempt to keep up with your fantasy team, look elsewhere.
NFL Mobile updated for 2014 Season with new Fantasy Football features, NFL Now integration
The NFL today updated its NFL Mobile app for the upcoming 2014-2015 football season. The app allows you to watch live games, receive up-to-the minute NFL game scores and follow the latest football action from your iPhone and iPad. The latest update brings the app to version 11.1.0 includes the following new features: Integration of NFL Now national and personalized video feeds Live stream of "Fantasy Live" now available for all users Ability to share articles and VOD via Facebook and Twitter Additional social content added to News section Access to NFL Network Schedule Optimization to reduce app crashes The NFL sweetened the deal for Verizon customers -- offering free live video of local Sunday CBS and FOX games for MORE Everything AND Premium customers. Verizon MORE Everything customers also now have the option to upgrade to NFL RedZone content for $1.99 per month. The NFL Mobile app is available for free from the iOS App Store and includes in-app purchases for a month-by-month subscription or premium Season Pass access. NFL fans looking for a more personalized experience with customized video streams and no Verizon Wireless integration should look at the NFL's newest NFL Now app.
Super Bowl to be streamed online and to Verizon phones for the first time
It looks like you'll have a few more viewing options than usual at your next Super Bowl party. The NFL announced today that the Super Bowl, plus wild card Saturday and the Pro Bowl, will all be streamed online for the first time on both the NFL's and NBC's websites. Mobile users will also be able to get in on the act, albeit only if they have a Verizon smartphone with the NFL Mobile app. What's more, those broadcasts will also give viewers access to quite a bit more than old-fashioned TV watchers have access to, including multiple camera angles, in-game highlights, and live stats. No word if the streams will include ads.
NFL Mobile apps bring the draft to you live tonight on iPhone, iPad and Android
The first round of the 2011 NFL Draft kicks off around 8 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall but if you're not one of the players collecting racks on racks of cash (assuming there is a 2011 season of course) you can still get live updates via the NFL's apps for iOS and Android devices. The NFL GameCenter apps that have been kicking around for iPhone/iPod touch and Android phones have been updated for the 2011 season in Lite (free) and Premium ($1.99) forms, and should be able to ply on the go users with live updates and information on each pick. The couch companion intended iPad app (pictured above, no Honeycomb love this go-round) is making its NFL Draft debut and adds on to the smaller format versions by including live NFL.com video streams both from within the auditorium and from the studio, video highlights and interactive features. Check out the screens for a better look at the UI or just click the source links below to download the free app of your choice -- you'll have to find the apps for tomorrow morning's Royal Wedding on your own.
Verizon's Galaxy Tab won't have Skype, NFL Mobile, or V Cast video apps at launch
Looks like that plan to bring NFL content Verizon tablets is on hold, at least for now -- we just got Big Red's employee training materials for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and they explicitly say that Skype Mobile, NFL Mobile, and V Cast Video won't be available on the seven-inch tablet at launch. That's disappointing for a variety of reasons -- particularly the loss of Skype, which would have made up for the lack of voice calling ability -- but we're hoping the holdup is mostly due to app-compatibility issues and not corporate politics. We'll find out, we suppose. Hit the gallery for the rest of the training docs.%Gallery-105942%
NFL Mobile comes to Verizon with livestreaming RedZone channel
We'd heard that the NFL would be bringing the RedZone channel to phones this season, and it looks like Verizon was the highest bidder: NFL Mobile will launch on Big Red next month with the draft, complete with live streaming video of the event, on-demand video analysis from NFL Network, a pick-by-pick draft tracker, and other content. Once the season starts, customers will get RedZone, live streams of Sunday night and Thursday night games, on-demand video highlights and analysis, live home and away radio broadcasts, fantasy info, and the usual nasty ringtones and graphics. That's a ton of content, and it certainly makes Sprint's NFL package seem a little light in comparison -- we'll have to see what pricing is like and what devices this'll run on closer to launch, however. Bring on the draft! Update: We just confirmed that NFL Mobile will be exclusive to Verizon for the next four years, which means Sprint customers are out of luck. Verizon paid a pretty penny for the rights: the Wall Street Journal values the deal at $720 million.
Sprint prepares to phone-cast entire NFL games, starting tonight
The National Football League and Sprint have been tied up in one form or fashion for years now, but the relationship is finally rounding third and heading for home. All mixed analogies aside, what we're saying is that the feature you've been clamoring for has finally arrived, and beginning tonight, select Sprint subscribers will be able to watch the entire Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos tilt on their handset. Obviously, you'll need a Sprint TV-capable handset and an Everything Plan (or a $15 per month add-on) in order to tune in, but tonight's game -- which kicks off at 8:00PM ET on the NFL Network -- will be the first of eight games (televised solely on that network) to air via Sprint. Whether or not The Now Network can keep up with the action, however, remains to be seen.
NFL refs to carry Sprint devices on field for weather updates
Never mind the fact that these guys have to spend sixty-plus minutes every Sunday running up and down 100 yards of Astroturf, risking life and limb standing mere feet away from gigantic men pummeling one another for a little piece of inflated pigskin -- heading over to the sidelines to check the weather is apparently too much trouble for the men in the black and white stripes. Sprint has announced an agreement with the NFL to offer "wireless devices" of some sort to refs preloaded with a WeatherBug-driven alert app to warn them of incoming severe weather during games. You know, tornadoes and the like -- things that are liable to get a game postponed or canceled. That's cool and all, but if they get a Motorola Q9c before we do, we're gonna lose it.
Motorola Q officially launches on Sprint, gets reviewed
Those of you patiently waiting for Sprint to officially launch (and make available) its rendition of the Motorola Q can finally breathe a sigh of relief, but you'll still have to wait just a bit longer to actually grab one. Slated to hit webstores "around mid-January" and retail outlets the month after, Sprint's Q isn't quite available to the masses just yet, but LAPTOP Mag got their palms around a pre-production release and promptly threw it on the testing block. Mimicking remarks we made earlier, reviewers noticed the lack of upgrades aside from the Sprint splash screen, logos, and unique "dark grey" hue, and they also found the "less rubberized" feel compared to Verizon's black version less enjoyable to handle. Noting the possibility of including a dedicated volume switch (as on the BlackJack), the crew was also let down by the omitted backlight underneath the keyboard, which Verizon's unit is blessed with. Additionally, surfing the web proved quite a bit slower when compared to Verizon's flavor, but Sprint suggested that "finalized units" wouldn't suffer the same fate. Nevertheless, not all was doom and gloom, as they did take note of the exclusive NFL Mobile functionality as well as the bundled Handmark application -- dubbed On Demand -- that loaded up "news, weather, directions, and other information optimized for the Moto Q's screen within seconds." Overall, this Q proved to be a bit of letdown considering what it could have been, and if only Sprint would've taken the time to add support for its Sprint TV and Music services, at least something would've stood out from the competition. As it stands, however, the Q still isn't a bad choice, and it was noted that Sprint's cheap unlimited data could swing contract-less buyers in its direction, but if you were hoping for a revamped, refreshed offering from big yellow, you'll be sorely disappointed.Read - Motorola Q officially launches on SprintRead - LAPTOP Mag reviews Sprint's Motorola Q
Sprint-Nextel adds NFL Mobile to normal data subs
For those anxiously awaiting that beloved kickoff in September, Sprint-Nextel has put together an excellent off-season deal that will save you $5.99/month. For those in the know -- and those still curious about this pigskin obsession -- NFL Mobile has not been bundled in with the Vision and Power Vision data plans in the past. All that changes for the 2006-2007 season as any normal data customer can now access all the functions previously reserved for paying fans. You'll get (almost) up-to-the-second updates of scores, stats, injuries, game-changing alerts, and even video highlights from in-game and post-game content. If you're an NFL fan and aren't tied up in one of those pesky multi-year contracts with some other provider, now would probably be a good time to break off a couple defenders -- like your significant other, for starters -- and take advantage of the signing bonus. [Via MobileTracker]
NFL draft on Sprint could indicate new trend
Because missing even a second of this year's football draft could wreak havoc on your performance in the coming season's fantasy leagues, Sprint is thoughtfully broadcasting the "action" live to subscribers of their Sprint TV NFL Mobile package. While this news in and of itself is rather mundane (especially to us non-football fans), the fact that Sprint has exclusive wireless rights to the draft while Monday Night Football rights-holder ESPN is barred from streaming the broadcast to its Mobile ESPN subscribers is rather interesting, and could be indicative of future trends. Although the demand for mobile TV is still definitely up in the air, might there be a day when enough rabid football fans have 3G-enabled cellphones to make it profitable for wireless carriers to bid against traditional networks on the games themselves, and broadcast them exclusively to a mobile audience?[Via Moco News]
