NFL fans, boxing fans and  sports fans in general, rejoice! The official HBO PR twitter account tweeted out fantastic news: next year HBO will offer a streaming HBO service, but this time without a currently required cable/satellite connection. In a matter of weeks,  you will — at least if you live in the United States — be able to see the award winning Hard Knocks, fights and of course other shows and films.

Given the success of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus, it really was only a matter of time until HBO joined the ranks of standalone online streaming companies. The announcement was made at a Time Warner  Inc. Investor Meeting where HBO Chairman and CEO Richard Plepler stated

“That [10 million broadband only homes] is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped. It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO.”

Presuming it will be the existing HBO Go, the service will give subscribers full access to all shows, sports and movies available on the TV version of HBO. Between the shows such as Last Week Tonight and The Newsroom plus the currently unavailable HBO exclusive sports coverage, in particular Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, this is an overdue but nonetheless welcome announcement.

The latest major version of Apple’s mobile software, iOS 8, gained the ability to add widgets to one’s phone or tablet. While the counterparts in the Android world have enjoyed widgets since April 2009, Apple has finally sought fit to allow widgets on their devices. As a user of both major operating systems, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see them on my iPhone. Rather than requiring manually authorization to display information, e.g. opening an app, widgets constantly update information. In particular stock, Bitcoin and sports widgets are all incredibly convenient. The first major sports widget launched on iOS8 is the free Forza Football Widget, and it is everything I could want from a soccer info center.

After the initial download, you’re greeted to a lovely welcome screen and quick start guide.

As you progress throughout the setup, you’re given the choice of which country to pick. You’re able to choose multiple countries to pick and I decided to go with the United States and add South Korea later on.

Once you’ve picked out which nation — and you can add Under-21, womens, etc. — the next set of choices becomes how many leagues would you like to follow. Unsurprisingly the main leagues are auto selected, but you can add or remove as you wish.

Now that everything is picked out, you’ll want to utilize Forza Football as the widget, not just the app. In order to add real time score updates, you’ll have to swipe down on the notification bar of your phone and select “new widget available.”

At this point you can add Forza to any current widgets you may have running.

I’m able to partake in pre-game polls on who will win, a fun feature I didn’t even realize I was missing.

Additionally the push alerts that go off when a team I’m following is great for people like me who tend to be a bit forgetful.

Forza offers a superior football experience. I’ve previously touched on and even praised other soccer apps such as MLS Matchday and Fox Soccer 2Go, however I can’t see myself using those apps with Forza on my phone. For a brand new widget I can’t imagine anything else I’d really want.

Injuries are an unfortunate byproduct of sports. Be it the growing concern of concussions, Tommy John surgery or the more normal strains and pulls, every professional and collegiate — and most high school — sporting event has medical staff on the sidelines. Even routine issues such as sore throats, flu-like symptoms or general knee pain diagnoses could be changed as Google is looking to expand its reach by video chatting with doctors.

Credit to reddit user jasonahoule for posting this (via imgur) of a simple “knee pain” screenshot on Friday afternoon:

Tech website Engadget independently verified Google is in fact exploring a “Helpouts-style” option to video chat from any location with doctors. Google Helpouts currently offers a video connection with experts in a wide range of fields from culinary help to computer setup, though medical assistance could be on the way.

Unfortunately a search done around 5:30 pm eastern yesterday afternoon, Google has seemingly pulled back their live chat trial. The exact same search of “knee pain” in the mobile versions of Chrome and Safari as well as Silk failed to yield any “Talk with a doctor now” options.

Chatting with a medical professional will have certain limits, as things such as MRIs, CAT scans etc. are all things that currently cannot be done with a mouse or a touch screen. That being said, there could be a day — perhaps sooner rather than later — where on-field diagnosis for pains, strains and sprains become a part of our everyday lives.

(Header image via NEC)

At least as far as online sports media goes, GIFs make the world go round. We use them to show bloopers and Peyton Manning faces, home runs and butt fumbles. Many writers and analysts use GIFs to help show pitching mechanics, football plays, and any other subjects that can benefit from some video evidence. It’s a useful tool, but one that’s around two decades old. Technology has better offerings now, and one of the bigger players in the GIF game is making a big change. Online hosting giant Imgur has made their intentions clear: it’s time to move on from the GIF.

The demand for higher quality and longer GIFs have surpassed the ability for the file type to keep up with us. Instead of constantly relying on the older GIF — technology has improved a bit since the 1980’s where it was first introduced — Imgur has decided to alter course and go with a much newer technology, MP4s. The media hosting site announced plans to convert all old GIFs to HTML5 compatible MP4 videos, labeling the files as the all new GIFV file type.

The new files are smaller, creating less strain on Imgur, load faster on mobile devices and are able to viewed on any platform. Another hosting site, Gfycat, has been using HTML 5 for months now and their home page even sports how much bandwidth they’ve saved using HTML 5 rather than GIFs. There is a worthy debate going on as to why Imgur decided to go with the MP4 format rather than WebM and the probable answer is compatibility. At the time of writing. WebM is not available on any iOS version without downloading a free video player, unless you choose to jailbreak your device. Rather than force a large user base to download compatibility apps, Imgur has taken a shorter and faster route to replace the GIF.

For a comparison of GIF vs HTML 5, look no further than Gfycat’s FAQ page. The length and quality — not to mention the ability to pause, rewind or view frame by frame, it’s an MP4 video, remember? — are identical and the HTLM 5 is much smaller than the GIF.

Don’t expect GIFs to disappear overnight, they’re too well established for that, but anticipate more and more websites moving to the MP4 or GIFVs. They’re superior to GIFs in every way and are compatible on all devices. If WebM becomes the new standard video type then perhaps Imgur will once again change, but for now their strides to replace the GIF are already underway.