Sports

Apple ‘frustrated’ by streaming TV challenges, says ESPN President

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple is frustrated with the many challenges it has faced in trying to build its streaming TV service, reports The Wall Street Journal. The outlet recently sat down with ESPN president John Skipper, who said the iPhone-maker is finding it tough to create something that works for both them and programmers.

"They are creating a significantly advantageous operating system and a great television experience and that television experience is fabulous for sports," Mr. Skipper told the Journal. "We are big proponents of believing it would be a fabulous place to sell some subscriptions. We have ongoing conversations."

Apple in talks with NFL to live-stream next season’s London games

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple is in talks with the National Football League regarding streaming rights, reports Reuters. Citing two sources familiar with the situation, the outlet says the iPhone-maker is among a group of tech firms pursuing the opportunity to live-stream 3 NFL games next season.

More specifically, the companies are looking to buy the rights to conduct live streams for all three of the NFL games to be played in London next year. Yahoo hosted a live stream of a single London-based game this season, and by most accounts it was a success for both parties.

CBS to stream Super Bowl 50 and other NFL games to Apple TV

Cody Lee ∙ September 2, 2015

CBS Sports announced on Tuesday that it will be streaming an expanded schedule of NFL coverage this year to a wide range of devices, including Apple TV. The new schedule features two regular season games, four playoff games and Super Bowl 50.

This will be the first time ever CBS offers free live streams of regular season NFL games. Coverage begins with the New York Jets and Miami in London on October 4, and continues with the Carolina Panthers vs. the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.

Apple TV’s NFL Now channel revamped, rebranded and enriched with Game Pass subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Right on cue, the official NFL channel on the Apple TV got updated with support for Game Pass subscriptions, as first noted by MacRumors. The new Game Pass service has replaced NFL's Game Rewind. With Game Pass, sports fans can subscribe to premium NFL content directly on their Apple TV set-top box.

Game Pass subscriptions are also available through the NFL Mobile app on the iPhone and the iPad. In addition to supporting Game Pass on the Apple TV, the updated NFL Now channel has been rebranded as just NFL.

Misfit and Speedo partner up for a new lap counting tracker for swimmers

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2015

Misfit, the maker of wearable activity trackers, and swimwear company Speedo today announced they partnered up to create a new Shine activity tracker designed to count swim laps, because step counting is so 2014.

The all-new 'Speedo Shine' is basically a special version of the company's 'Shine' fitness tracking wearable which caters to swimmers. Waterproofed to 50 meters, the device uses proprietary lap counting algorithms with “industry-leading accuracy” and launches on September 1 exclusively through Apple Stores.

Redesigned NFL Game Pass service coming to Apple TV with on-demand broadcasting

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2016

For the first time ever, the National Football League (NFL) will offer its Game Pass service to U.S. users on the Apple TV with on-demand broadcasting of games, according to an update on the Game Pass micro-site Monday.

Regular season, playoff and Super Bowl game broadcasts won't be available as live streams but rather after they air on television. In addition, the organization will retire its existing Game Rewind service on July 31. Available to iOS, Android and Windows users in the United States, Game Rewind provides access to on-demand games after they air on television.

Spotify delivers ‘Discover Weekly’ personalized playlists and deep Nike+ Running integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Following Apple Music introduction, Spotify has doubled down on music discovery and third-party integration, the two areas where it hopes to outsmart competition, with Monday's announcement of a Discover Weekly feature and deep integration with the Nike+ Running mobile app.

Unlike Apple's human-curated playlists for various activity types, Spotify's Discover Weekly playlists are entirely driven by algorithms and personalized to each user's listening habits, as per Re/code on Monday.

MasterCard accepting Apple Pay for 2015 MLB All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 10, 2015

MasterCard on Friday announced it'll enable Apple Pay at Great American Ball Park in time for the 2015 MLB All-Star game. Fans attending the game in Cincinnati will be permitted to pay for on-site food and merchandise with their iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch during the week-long festivities, the card issuer has said.

Realized through partnership with Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the initiative will bring NFC contactless payment acceptance to the 2015 MLB All-Star Week festivities so owners of NFC-enabled Android handsets may be able to make on-site purchases with their phones.

NBA Jam by EA Sports selected as IGN’s free iOS game of the month

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 25, 2015

It took a little longer than usual, but IGN's free iOS game of the month is finally here. Though the promotion is valid only in the US, UK and a few select markets, readers overseas can use an anonymizer service like SmartHide Online Anonymizer to visit IGN’s deals page as if there were accessing it from within the US and redeem the game.

Released in the App Store back in February of 2011, NBA Jam by EA Sports has never been free so this is your chance to grab the game and save five bucks right off the bat.

Apple TV gains CBS Sports and USA NOW channels

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 5, 2015

As first spotted by Joe Rossignol over at MacRumors, owners of the $69 Apple TV set-top box will find two new icons on their Home screen later today: CBS Sports and USA NOW, the latter featuring content from the USA network. The channels have been added via a silent over-the-air update, without intervention on your part.

If you don't see them yet, however, simply restart your Apple TV or manually run Software Update in the Settings interface of your box. Keep in mind that the new channels should appear for everyone in the United States within the next few hours as these things typically take some time to propagate.

Apple TV gains NBC Sports Live Extra channel

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 27, 2015

Apple's $69 set-top box has gained yet another content source with Monday's addition of the official television channel from NBC Sports Live Extra. It arrived just in time for Saturday's 141st Kentucky Derby and during the first round of the National Hockey League's playoffs.

NBC Sports Live Extra for Apple TV, much like the existing iOS app, delivers “thousands of live sporting events that air on NBC, NBCSN and Golf Channel,” in addition to live video, at no cost.

No cable or satellite subscription is required to enjoy some content, but you'll need to create an account with the NBC Sports in order to take full advantage of its features. Also, NBC Sports Live Extra users may want to provide their cable subscription details in order to enjoy the vast majority of the more than 3,000 live stream events per year.

Popular golf arcade game ‘Golden Tee’ coming to iOS this summer

Cody Lee ∙ March 3, 2015

Golden Tee fans rejoice, Incredible Technologies is bringing the popular arcade golf game to iOS this year. As noted by TouchArcade, the team has been quietly showing off a demo version of the game at this year's Game Developers Conference (or GDC).

For those of you not familiar with Golden Tee, it's the golf game you've seen in the corner of virtually every bar ever. It's an in-depth golf game with beautiful graphics, easy-to-learn controls and the arcade version utilizes a track ball for swing/ball direction.