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The NFL has been gracious enough to stream the draft itself for the past few years and 2015 is no different. The stream for the draft is an NFL.com exclusive and they are boasting a record setting 53 hours of coverage between April 30 – May 2, though not all of their content is available online. Owners of an XBox One can access the draft through the app, however authentication is required. On the NFL Youtube channel, the first round picks will be uploaded, but if you’re looking for more information before the first pick is announced, there is no shortage of other sources.

For standard coverage such as pre-draft boards and predictions, the normal Sports Illustrated, Fox, ESPN, Yahoo! and CBS sites do the job, however for someone who is looking to put something on in the background, 120 Sports is the place to go. We’ve taken a look at 120 Sports in the past, however they warrant another go with their impressive schedule of events. The 120 Sports site is already indexed with videos of player information, evaluations and look-ins. Their full press release can be found here, though the following are some of the highlights.

– Beginning on Sunday, April 26 a mock draft sets the tone for the rest of the week as the four-hour event will have insight from former players, scouts and experts.

– The next event isn’t until Wednesday, April 28, however it should be worth the wait as at least five NFL prospects will have exclusive interviews. Some of the scheduled interviews are projected first-rounder Dorial Green-Beckham as well as Ameer Abdullah and Devin Gardner.

– Once the actual draft kicks off, 120 Sports continues to offer programming as a second screen to the NFL.com broadcast. Pre-draft as well as backstage interviews with players are on the docket throughout the three day event as are fan interviews.

Available on mobile for iOS and AppleTV as well as Android and Chromecast, 120 Sports offers plenty of ways to stay up to date on the draft for those without a cable subscription. Seeing such an extensive amount of programming from a non-TV entity is perfect for cable cutters. Hopefully they’ll do the same with the upcoming MLB draft.

The tale of two mobile carriers could be at an end. For years Verizon and AT&T have flip-flopped between the being the largest domestic carrier, though not for lack of competition. Soon, perhaps today, Google will announce they’re joining the ranks, but it seems they will be partnered with existing carriers T-Mobile and Sprint. For now it seems as though the Google service will have data priced based on pure usage rather than paying for a set data plan. Still just a rumor at this point and limited to the Nexus 6 phone on T-Mobile and Sprint, Google appears set to dip their toes in the wireless provider market.

For example, the alleged data plan would not require agreeing to anything resembling current 3GB data plans where if you were to go over said agreed data plan, you’d be hit with overages. Both AT&T and Verizon offer data calculators, however  watching five hours of video (maybe two baseball games) with no emails, tweets etc. account for almost 2 GB. Verizon is partnered with NFL Mobile, but on their calculator the same 300 minutes of streaming the NFL Mobile is counted at 625 MB, barely one third the data usage of the 1750 MB 300 minutes of 4G usage tallies.

In select AT&T and Verizon plans a $15 overage for as little as 250 MB can be applied to your monthly bill. If price is a concern in for your next phone, and it is for just about everyone these days, you may want to avoid Verizon as they don’t even want your business. According to Bloomberg and chief financial officer Francis Shammo, Verizon lost about 138,000 postpaid accounts — a standard account and not prepaid — over the past three months, but Shammo didn’t pull any punches on his thoughts during the quarterly earnings call:

“If the customer who is just price-sensitive and does not care about the quality of the network—or is sufficient with just paying a lower price—that’s probably the customer we’re not going to be able to keep.”

Give how well poorly Verizon’s attempt at a tech blog went, the big red telcom could be out of touch with much of its user base. Perhaps if robots were penning the stories, something Verizon apparently wanted due to strict limitations of news coverage, the site would still be up. Whether they’re alienating their consumers or not, as recently as Q4 2013 Verizon was the biggest carrier in the US, though the latest numbers have them tied with AT&T at 34% of the market each. The table below, powered by Statista, displays carrier market share as far back as the first quarter of 2011.

Google is pushing, or more accurately in some cases dragging, the web as their extensions will soon no longer be compatible with older website designs and now YouTube apps are no longer compatible with many older devices. The advances Google is bounding forward on in web development will hopefully be mirrored on the wireless phone service side of things.

HBO, despite attempts to draw a larger consumer base via the still-new HBO Now streaming platform, seem set on alienating some of those very same new consumers. As stated in the terms of service, HBO NOW is available and designed strictly for United States residents, though numerous Canadians, European countries and Australia have circumvented the geo-locking HBO has placed on their product. At least until a few days ago, when The Sydney Morning Herald reported receiving emails from HBO warning of the potential for service to be cut off as soon as tomorrow. Rather than get payment in exchange for a service — a pretty basic concept — HBO seems to prefer receiving nothing.

From the above link, the following is an email sent to an Australian HBO Now user:

Using a virtual private network (VPN) to trick the HBO NOW service into believing the the customer is located within the U.S. is apparently akin to pirating. If HBO is threatening to punish people who already pay for their service, it is curious to see them complain about online leaks when they take away a viable option for people to lawfully watch their shows.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Netflix, who also has strict terms of service regarding location, but is yet to actively target consumers. The streaming giant did limit the mobile — specifically Android — based geo-locking tricks, however Netflix spokesman Cliff Edwards said as long as the consumer can be verified in the correct location, they company will not block legitimate VPN usage. In an email Edwards wrote “There’s been no change to our VPN policy.” In a separate appearance, Edwards claimed “Detecting VPN usage is like playing a game of whack-a-mole.By their very nature, it’s difficult to tell how many people are bypassing geofilters.”

HBO NOW’s launch was disappointing even before this with their initial exclusive Apple partnership, but to see them go after paying customers, despite being out of the country, is shocking. If a foreign cord cutter isn’t allowed to pay for the standalone HBO programming, only one option remains and it involves the consumer getting what they want with HBO receiving zero payment.

(Image via HBO)

Yesterday the Google Chrome team launched Chrome 42. The latest version of the popular browser has made some noteworthy changes to the behind-the-scenes things we take for granted. Arguably the biggest change is what will work with Chrome 42 in the near future, as Google plans to phase out old Netscape Plugin Application Programs Interfaces (NPAPI) such as Java and Silverlight extension compatibility entirely by September of this year.

Back in 2013 Google whitelisted many existing NPAPI extensions, meaning they continued usage and compatibility, though they did drop the whitelist of approved NPAPI’s in January of this year. While not blocked yet, the older NPAPI’s were no longer on by default in Chrome. To quote Google:

“In fact, many modern web platform features—including video and audio support—first saw mainstream deployment through NPAPI-based plug-ins. But the web has evolved. Today’s browsers are speedier, safer, and more capable than their ancestors. Meanwhile, NPAPI’s 90s-era architecture has become a leading cause of hangs, crashes, security incidents, and code complexity. Because of this, Chrome will be phasing out NPAPI support over the coming year.”

Google is a company that takes change seriously, as they have a developer timeline and clearly want to stick to it . Unfortunately for the consumer, many major websites still require use of Java or Silverlight for graphics or videos. For example the NBA website specifically recommends Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox.

MLB is no different as it lists Java as a needed plugin, however at least baseball does cite Chrome in its recommended browsers.

Similarly, the NFL initially lists only Explorer and Foxfire for their Game Rewind subscription service, though some digging did reveal Chrome 12 is listed as a minimum requirement.

Even watching a movie or show on Amazon Prime’s streaming service pops up a recommendation to stop using Chrome and switch browsers.

Google is recommending users and developers switch over to a HTML5 or proprietary system such as their Native Client to load graphics packages. As previously noted, HTML5 is far superior to GIFs in quality and size, as well as loading time. Additionally, HTML 5 is friendly on mobile operating system browsers such as Android,  Safari on iOS, Silk on Fire OS and more. While it does seem like Google is bullying websites and consumers alike, it is being done in the name of progress. The ends don’t justify the means, but the rapidly changing pace of technology requires companies, developers and consumers to push forward. A specific quote from Brad Pitt while portraying Billy Beane in Moneyball comes to mind.

(Header image via Wikipedia)

Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV is the longest running streaming sports platform of its kind. The mobile version, MLB At-Bat has been tasked with keeping up with new versions of Windows, Macs, and most types of mobile operating systems (sorry Windows Mobile users). It is no easy feat and MLB Advanced Media deserves some recognition. The streaming service has had its flaws, but MLBAM just sent out an update to their apps, including compatibility with the upcoming Apple Watch. Released yesterday, MLBAM was gracious enough to give a free two day trial on the Android, Fire OS, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. No signup or auto-renewing fee, just a simple choice of which game(s) you’d like to watch.

The features new to this year’s version are things such as pre-game lineup notifications — strictly on the iPhone for now though — which is great for daily fantasy players, as well as a much needed revamp of the Android and Fire widgets. The full list of updates and additions can be found directly on the MLB website, however another feature worth highlighting is for 7-inch Android or Fire tablet owners being able to feature your favorite team. By selecting a specific club the app will showcase scores, news and video. If any of you are fans of multiple teams, the condensed game option is also available during the trial so you can catch up on each game’s signature events.

For those on the fence about purchasing MLB.TV for the first time — or even renewing it as last season there were major bugs early on — this is the perfect opportunity to preview the system at no charge. Each operating system’s apps are compatible with Google’s Chromecast,  Amazon’s FireTV and Fire Stick for straight forward broadcasts from your device to the television. With 24 games to choose from and zero sign up required, watching live baseball has never been easier.

(Header image via MLB)

As incredible as GIF(V)s and HTML5 videos are at capturing highlights, sometimes video alone does not do a moment justice. When an occasion calls for audio and video, Vine has filled that niche very well. Until today all Vines were recorded in 480p, however now iOS devices are able to record in 720p. The blog states an Android app update will follow shortly, however no word on Windows devices just yet.

After partnering and covering the NBA so successfully — the NBA Vine account has over 381 million loops — with both regular season and All-Star game coverage, at least one league is embracing the technology. On the other hand, arguably the best soccer league in the world, the Premier League seems set against sharing goals and highlights. In an interview prior to the season, Dan Johnson, director of communications for the Premier League was quoted

“You can understand that fans see something, they can capture it, they can share it, but ultimately it is against the law. It’s a breach of copyright and we would discourage fans from doing it, we’re developing technologies like gif crawlers, Vine crawlers, working with Twitter to look to curtail this kind of activity. I know it sounds as if we’re killjoys but we have to protect our intellectual property.”

Killjoys indeed. It is worth noting while the Vine official blog post does have a Premier League goal in it, Chelsea versus Crystal Palace, it is from the 2013 season and takes place before Johnson’s remarks.

Despite 720p not being particularly earth shattering on mobile devices these days, seeing Vine working to improve their overall user experience, is good for everyone, particularly sports and esports fans.

(Header image via Facebook)

For tablets with data plans — and thus excluding Wi-Fi only variants — Compass Intelligence released numbers for the five largest wireless carriers from last year. More than 19 million tablets were sold with wireless activations in 2014 according to the information. For overall tablet numbers it should come as no surprise to see Verizon and AT&T lead the way, with 35.1% and 30.4% of the activations respectively. Sprint and T-Mobile are nearly tied, with U.S. Cellular and other companies rounding out the chart.

Tablets have certainly found more than just a niche fan base over the years and their sales as well as usage numbers have climbed. Sports leagues and networks have taken notice, particularly as the second screening experience grows more popular. Statista released a survey conducted about second screening in June of last year. A reported 44% of sports fans utilized another screen last year for live scores of other games currently being played, and 1-in-5 fans watched clips or highlights or was talking with a friend about the games. Somewhat surprisingly fewer than 1-in-7 claimed they utilized their screens for social networking or watching a separate live game.

Currently in the midst of March Madness, four games are slated today, however two games will overlap each other. Tip off times for 7:15 and 7:45 eastern as well as 9:45 and 10:17, thus ensuring those without multiple TV’s will be forced to either swap between channels or utilize a second screen. With baseball season just around the corner, games happen concurrently every day, though MLB.TV does allow watching four games at once with their picture-in-picture feature. Similarly, NFL Sunday Ticket allows the user to view eight games simultaneously

Presuming the tablet market continues to grow, something the trends suggest would be a safe assumption, count on seeing even more sports fans make the jump to second screening. Already broadcasts are inundated with suggested hashtags, plugs for apps and commercials displaying the best features of online subscriptions. Eventually sports broadcasts may reach the point where second screening is the norm.

(Header image via Digital Trends)

ScoreMore Baseball’s main tagline is “Moneyball for all.” Grand words for a baseball scorekeeping app, but if you’re in the market to dominate the little league fields, this could be the app for you. It is available for Android, iOS and Blackberry systems and in addition to the standard hitting statistics such as batting average and on-base percentage, ScoreMore calculates Runs Created.

Unfortunately the app lacks any advanced pitching metrics, though given the necessary league numbers, statistics like FIP or SIERA are unattainable. As their tagline suggests, the phrase “Moneyball” is thrown around quite often within the app. There is a Moneyball Dictionary where terms ranging from slugging percentage to Runs Created are described — though no formulas are revealed, which is curious given that RC is a fairly straight forward one — and even a Moneyball Lineup.

Within the Moneyball Lineup option it describes each of the first six batting positions. Notably written under the first batter section is the sentence “Regardless of a player’s physical attributes, the primary criteria for the leadoff batter is to get on base more than anyone else on the team.” They are not “selling jeans” in the app.

The demo shows the optimized lineup — with seven out of nine starting players OPS above 1.000 I sure like the demo offense — but let’s see how it stacks up against a different lineup optimizer, one available at Baseball Musings.

For a difference of .013 runs per game, the ScoreMore Moneyball lineup (outlined in red) stacks up just fine against a different one. Curious that the Baseball Musings optimizer did find find four better lineups, but rounding to the hundredths of runs is beyond splitting hairs.

A nice feature in addition to the standard score keeping is the ability to chart balls in play, though any spray chart wouldn’t be anything more than an eye-based guess. While scoring a game, you’re given the standard option of on base or out, and within the on base options there is everything else you’d expect.

Say Andrews hit a double, of the line drive type, then you’re taken to a screen to confirm the hit location by tapping where the ball landed. Imprecision, the new Moneyball!

For a free scorekeeping app ScoreMore does the job adequately enough. The lineup optimizer, while not perfect, is a nice feature as is the ability to chart balls-in-play, but the imprecision is something to be expected. If nothing else just charting ground balls, fly balls and line drives by color makes for a fun spray chart for people to look at, however this app shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

(Header image via ScoreMore)

Winter is finally starting to release its grip on the U.S., but temperatures are still below average and there are several feet of snow on the ground across the northeast. However, golfers can still work on their game without trudging through the snow thanks to simulators like the OptiShot2.

OptiShot is a small company based out of Traverse City, Michigan (2015 snowfall: 89 inches). Their golf simulator allows users to play a full round indoors using every club in their bag*. Even in the summer, the simulator can still come in handy: since there’s no walking or hunting for balls, users can play a full 18 holes in under an hour.

* – While you can use real golf balls with the OptiShot, you might want to consider using their foam practice balls — or no balls — if you’re actually playing inside.

The heart of the OptiShot system is a row of sixteen infrared sensors embedded in a practice mat. The sensors track the club tens of thousands of times per second, sending data via a USB cable to a laptop. There, the OptiShot software computes the speed of the club head, club face angle, and swing path. Of course, the system also computes the trajectory of the shot, projecting it onto three-dimensional replicas of famous courses from around the world. For added realism, the software also includes penalties that limit the range of shots out of the bunker and rough.

But OptiShot CEO Russell Edens says the company’s user base is what sets the OptiShot apart.

“We have the largest user base on the planet,” Edens said. “You can play against other golfers around the world online, and we hold events for people to play against each other.”

To keep its customers happy, OptiShot is constantly digitizing new courses, releasing the Riviera Country Club simulation (pictured above) last month. The device ships with 15 courses, replicas of the courses that host the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and Ryder Cup; additional course simulations are available for purchase online. OptiShot’s course designers rely on high-resolution photos and detailed three-dimensional data “that maps every contour, dip, and bump” of the famous courses, Edens said.

OptiShot trained its system using launch monitors (like TrackMan) that track a shot’s speed and trajectory, and Edens is proud of the system’s accuracy.

“Frankly, the accuracy of OptiShot for the price point is shocking,” Edens said. “When it come to sidespin, we are often better than most simulators on the market.”

Edens said the touring and teaching professionals OptiShot has worked with to design and test the system were impressed by the system’s ability to capture their game.

“The reaction is nearly always the same,” Edens said. “They hit a shot, nod their head and say, ‘Yup, that’s my shot.'”

If you’re a fellow cord cutter then no doubt you’ve been just as giddy as myself at the thought of a standalone HBO service — dubbed named HBO Now — ever since it was announced it was in the works. Catching things like Last Week Tonight, Real Sports and more all without paying a premium cable television bill seemed too good to be true. Today HBO may have shaken me out of my dream scenario as today the company announced at an Apple event that the service will debut next month…specifically on Apple TV.

To their credit, HBO Now will be able to be streamed from any web browser, but only with Apple TV will the customer be able to see the premium programming on their televisions. No Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV or other service will be available at launch. CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter reported the HBO/Apple exclusive deal will last three months though that is yet to be confirmed by either company. On the hardware side of things, Apple is reducing the price of Apple TV from $99 down to $69,

Statista shows Apple TV holds a clear lead among streaming services, nearly double the share of the second place Roku.

With almost 60% of the streaming market shutout of utilizing HBO Now to its full potential or be forced to make an additional upfront hardware purchase, I’m struggling to maintain my previous enthusiasm.

(Header image via HBO)