Victory celebrations are easily one of the most popular aspects of the multiplayer free-for-all blaster Fortnite: Battle Royale, and Epic Games wants to add a new player-created dance move to the repertoire.
The post Everybody dance now! If you can boogie down, ‘Fortnite’ wants your best moves appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2Ifx6GL
Tesla reported that repeated Autopilot warnings were ignored prior to a fatal crash in a Tesla Model X in Mountain View, California. The vehicle crashed into a previously crushed safety barrier.
The post Tesla says warnings ignored from engaged Autopilot in fatal California crash appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2pT95yo
Looking for a new show to binge? Lucky for you, we've curated a list of the best shows on Netflix, whether you're a fan of outlandish anime, dramatic period pieces, or shows that leave you questioning what lies beyond.
The post The Best Shows on Netflix Right Now (April 2018) appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2szbRYG
At last, a use for that industrial knitting machine you bought at a yard sale! Carnegie Mellon researchers have created a method that generates knitting patterns for arbitrary 3D shapes, opening the possibility of “on-demand knitting.” Think 3D printing, but softer.
The idea is actually quite compelling for those of us who are picky about their knitwear. How often have we picked up a knit cap, glove, or scarf only to find it too long, too short, too tight, too loose, etc?
If you fed your sartorial requirements (a 3D mesh) into this system from James McCann and students at CMU’s Textiles Lab, it could quickly spit out a pattern that a knitting machine could follow easily yet is perfectly suited for your purposes.
This has to be done carefully — the machines aren’t the same as human knitters, obviously, and a poorly configured pattern might lead to yarn breaking or jamming the machine. But it’s a lot better than having to build that pattern purl by purl.
With a little more work, “Knitting machines could become as easy to use as 3D printers,” McCann said in a CMU news release.
Of course, it’s unlikely you’ll have one of your own. But maker spaces and designer ateliers (I believe that’s the term) will be more likely to if it’s this easy to create new and perfectly sized garments with them.
McCann and his team will be presenting their research at SIGGRAPH this summer.
from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2J77fls
When Facebook loses, who wins?
That’s a question for startups that may be worth contemplating following Facebook’s recent stock price haircut. The company’s valuation has fallen by around $60 billion since the Cambridge Analytica scandal surfaced earlier this month and the #DeleteFacebook campaign gained momentum.
That’s a steep drop, equal to about 12 percent of the company’s market valuation, and it’s a decline Facebook appears to be suffering alone. As its shares fell over the past couple of weeks, stocks of other large-cap tech and online media companies have been much flatter.
So where did the money go? It’s probably a matter of perspective. For a Facebook shareholder, that valuation is simply gone. And until executives’ apologies resonate and users’ desire to click and scroll overcomes their privacy fears, that’s how it is.
An alternate view is that the valuation didn’t exactly disappear. Investors may still believe the broad social media space is just as valuable as it was a couple of weeks ago. It’s just that less of that pie should be the exclusive domain of Facebook.
If one takes that second notion, then the possibilities for who could benefit from Facebook’s travails start to get interesting. Of course, there are public market companies, like Snap or Twitter, that might pick up traffic if the #DeleteFacebook movement gains momentum without spreading to other big brands. But it’s in the private markets where we see the highest number of potential beneficiaries of Facebook’s problems.
In an effort to come up with some names, we searched through Crunchbase for companies in social media and related areas. The resulting list includes companies that have raised good-sized rounds in the past couple of years and could conceivably see gains if people cut back on using Facebook or owning its stock.
Of course, people use Facebook for different things (posting photos, getting news, chatting with friends and so on), so we lay out a few categories of potential beneficiaries of a Facebook backlash.
Messaging
Facebook has a significant messaging presence, but it hasn’t been declared the winner. Alternatives like Snap, LINE, WeChat and plain old text messages are also massively popular.
That said, what’s bad for Messenger and Facebook-owned WhatsApp is probably good for competitors. And if more people want to do less of their messaging on Facebook, it helps that there are a number of private companies ready to take its place.
Crunchbase identified six well-funded messaging apps that could fit the bill (see list). Collectively, they’ve raised well over $2 billion — if one includes the $850 million initial coin offering by Telegram.
Increasingly, these private messaging startups are focused on privacy and security, including Wickr, the encrypted messaging tool that has raised more than $70 million, and Silent Circle, another encrypted communications provider that has raised $130 million.
Popular places to browse on a screen
People who cut back on Facebook may still want to spend hours a day staring at posts on a screen. So it’s likely they’ll start staring at something else that’s content-rich, easy-to-navigate and somewhat addictive.
Luckily, there are plenty of venture-backed companies that fit that description. Many of these are quite mature at this point, including Pinterest for image collections, Reddit for post and comment threads and Quora for Q&A (see list).
Granted, these will not replace the posts keeping you up to date on the life events of family and friends. But they could be a substitute for news feeds, meme shares and other non-personal posts.
Niche content
A decline in Facebook usage could translate into a rise in traffic for a host of niche content and discussion platforms focused on sports, celebrities, social issues and other subjects.
Crunchbase News identified at least a half-dozen that have raised funding in recent quarters, which is just a sampling of the total universe. Selected startups run the gamut from The Players’ Tribune, which features first-hand accounts for top athletes, to Medium, which seeks out articles that resonate with a wide audience.
Niche sites also provide a more customized forum for celebrities, pundits and subject-matter experts to engage directly with fans and followers.
Community and engagement
People with common interests don’t have to share them on Facebook. There are other places that can offer more tailored content and social engagement.
In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in community and activity-focused social apps gain traction. Perhaps the most prominent is Nextdoor, which connects neighbors for everything from garage sales to crime reports. We’re also seeing some upstarts focused on creating social networks for interest groups. These include Mighty Networks and Amino Apps.
Though some might call it a stretch, we also added to the list WeWork, recent acquirer of Meetup, and The Guild, two companies building social networks in the physical world. These companies are encouraging people to come out and socially network with other people (even if just means sitting in a room with other people staring at a screen).
Watch where the money goes
Facebook’s latest imbroglio is still too recent to expect a visible impact in the startup funding arena. But it will be interesting to watch in the coming months whether potential rivals in the above categories raise a lot more cash and attract more users.
If there’s demand, there’s certainly no shortage of supply on the investor front. The IPO window is wide open, and venture investors are sitting on record piles of dry powder. It hasn’t escaped notice, either, that social media offerings, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Snap, have generated the biggest exit total of any VC-funded sector.
Moreover, those who’ve argued that it’s too late for newcomers have a history of being proven wrong. After all, that’s what people were saying about would-be competitors to MySpace in 2005, not long before Facebook made it big.
from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2Ij7TuX
Need something to watch this weekend? Check out our list of the best new shows and movies to stream right now. On the list this week: A medieval comedy, the return of Silicon Valley, and more.
The post Best new shows and movies to stream: ‘Silicon Valley’ season 5, ‘Barry,’ and more appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2Ch6WVl
Save yourself from hours wasted scrolling through Netflix's massive library by checking out our picks for the best movies there, whether you're into explosive action, subdued humor, or everything in between.
The post The best movies on Netflix right now (April 2018) appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2rJbOJY
The Red Hat Linux distribution is turning 25 years old this week. What started as one of the earliest Linux distributions is now the most successful open-source company, and its success was a catalyst for others to follow its model. Today’s open-source world is very different from those heady days in the mid-1990s when Linux looked to be challenging Microsoft’s dominance on the desktop, but Red Hat is still going strong.
To put all of this into perspective, I sat down with the company’s current CEO (and former Delta Air Lines COO) Jim Whitehurst to talk about the past, present and future of the company, and open-source software in general. Whitehurst took the Red Hat CEO position 10 years ago, so while he wasn’t there in the earliest days, he definitely witnessed the evolution of open source in the enterprise, which is now more widespread than every.
“Ten years ago, open source at the time was really focused on offering viable alternatives to traditional software,” he told me. “We were selling layers of technology to replace existing technology. […] At the time, it was open source showing that we can build open-source tech at lower cost. The value proposition was that it was cheaper.”
At the time, he argues, the market was about replacing Windows with Linux or IBM’s WebSphere with JBoss. And that defined Red Hat’s role in the ecosystem, too, which was less about technological information than about packaging. “For Red Hat, we started off taking these open-source projects and making them usable for traditional enterprises,” said Whitehurst.
About five or six ago, something changed, though. Large corporations, including Google and Facebook, started open sourcing their own projects because they didn’t look at some of the infrastructure technologies they opened up as competitive advantages. Instead, having them out in the open allowed them to profit from the ecosystems that formed around that. “The biggest part is it’s not just Google and Facebook finding religion,” said Whitehurst. “The social tech around open source made it easy to make projects happen. Companies got credit for that.”
He also noted that developers now look at their open-source contributions as part of their resumé. With an increasingly mobile workforce that regularly moves between jobs, companies that want to compete for talent are almost forced to open source at least some of the technologies that don’t give them a competitive advantage.
As the open-source ecosystem evolved, so did Red Hat. As enterprises started to understand the value of open source (and stopped being afraid of it), Red Hat shifted from simply talking to potential customers about savings to how open source can help them drive innovation. “We’ve gone from being commeditizers to being innovators. The tech we are driving is now driving net new innovation,” explained Whitehurst. “We are now not going in to talk about saving money but to help drive innovation inside a company.”
Over the last few years, that included making acquisitions to help drive this innovation. In 2015, Red Hat bought IT automation service Ansible, for example, and last month, the company closed its acquisition of CoreOS, one of the larger independent players in the Kubernetes container ecosystem — all while staying true to its open-source root.
There is only so much innovation you can do around a Linux distribution, though, and as a public company, Red Hat also had to look beyond that core business and build on it to better serve its customers. In part, that’s what drove the company to launch services like OpenShift, for example, a container platform that sits on top of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and — not unlike the original Linux distribution — integrates technologies like Docker and Kubernetes and makes them more easily usable inside an enterprise.
The reason for that? “I believe that containers will be the primary way that applications will be built, deployed and managed,” he told me, and argued that his company, especially after the CoreOS acquisition, is now a leader in both containers and Kubernetes. “When you think about the importance of containers to the future of IT, it’s a clear value for us and for our customers.”
The other major open-source project Red Hat is betting on is OpenStack. That may come as a bit of a surprise, given that popular opinion in the last year or so has shifted against the massive project that wants to give enterprises an open source on-premise alternative to AWS and other cloud providers. “There was a sense among big enterprise tech companies that OpenStack was going to be their savior from Amazon,” Whitehurst said. “But even OpenStack, flawlessly executed, put you where Amazon was five years ago. If you’re Cisco or HP or any of those big OEMs, you’ll say that OpenStack was a disappointment. But from our view as a software company, we are seeing good traction.”
Because OpenStack is especially popular among telcos, Whitehurst believes it will play a major role in the shift to 5G. “When we are talking to telcos, […] we are very confident that OpenStack will be the platform for 5G rollouts.”
With OpenShift and OpenStack, Red Hat believes that it has covered both the future of application development and the infrastructure on which those applications will run. Looking a bit further ahead, though, Whitehurst also noted that the company is starting to look at how it can use artificial intelligence and machine learning to make its own products smarter and more secure, but also at how it can use its technologies to enable edge computing. “Now that large enterprises are also contributing to open source, we have a virtually unlimited amount of material to bring our knowledge to,” he said.
from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2pQShY2
At some point in the not-so-distant past, April Fools was about pranks and hoaxes, but given that we apparently have enough of those on the web, the day has somehow morphed into a celebration of random jokey things. This year’s Google Maps gag is no exception.
Starting today, when you open Google Maps on your phone or desktop, you’ll see Waldo in his trademark red and white sweater, waving at you you from the side of your screen. That’s because Waldo is sharing his location with you for the next few days and he really wants to be found (or not… I’m never quite sure about what Waldo’s real motivations are…). You can also ask the Google Assistant “Hey Google. Where’s Waldo?”
Then, when you click on Waldo in the map, you get to see a standard “Where is Waldo” image and your job is to find him, as well as Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard and Odlaw.
Now if Google had wanted to make this a real April Fools joke, it would’ve announced this and then never released it or just shown you a standard “Where is Waldo” image without Waldo. That way, it would’ve driven everybody mad. But I’m pretty sure it’s for real, so head over to Google Maps and give it a try.
from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2GZOnUZ
The CEO and COO are at their desks when I knock on the door, intently assembling robots to fulfill the company’s latest order. Tapster is about as lean as startups get. Founded three years ago (on Star Wars Day), the company’s two-person staff is half the size it was at its height, but a third employee moved on, and the fourth was more of an intern, really.
It’s a humble operation headquartered in nondescript strip of stores in Oakpark, a quiet suburban village just outside of Chicago. Inside, a row of desktop 3D printers churn away on the products. Pieces of future robots are strewn about the desks, pulled from nearby shelves stocked with bins full of parts.
To their right, crumbling wooden prototypes stand as a kind of museum to the humble company’s even humbler origins. An accidental startup of sorts, Tapster formed was while Jason Huggins was working as CTO of his previous company, Sauce Labs — a Selenium testing startup.
Burned out from software, the story goes, he enrolled in a laser cutting class at bygone maker space chain, Tech Shop. With those newfound skills, he built a button-clicking robot, and then, eventually, one capable of playing Angry Birds — all the rage back in 2011.The project gave Huggins a smalll YouTube hit and earned him speaking gigs at various tech conferences.
It also managed to grab the attention of a Mercedes Benz. The luxury car maker was searching for an automated device to help test a self-parking app on its in-car touchscreen displays.
“They got a price quote from an industrial robotics company, and the quote was about $100,000,” says Huggins. “They have lots of money and they could have bought it, but they had to get like ten of them. The traditional robotics market is buying one big machine to do something precisely. We’re coming in and making the robots cheaper, so you can buy more of them.”
A few months prior to officially founding the company, Huggins began work on his order for the car maker — 10 small robots designed to automate the testing of touchscreens by repeatedly and systematically tapping the hell out of them.
“Right before they found us, they were going to buy a LEGO Mindstorm kit and have two engineers work on it for five of six months and figure out what they could come up with,” Huggins adds. “Often our competition is do-it-yourself. They’re trying to bubblegum and duct tape something together.”
Granted, Tapster’s own processes aren’t too far removed. Huggins is a former Google Tester who’s become something of a full-time tinkerer, building robots from LEGO kits and self-modeled 3D printed parts. He’s shows me a prototype of the company’s latest robot, which stands of a pair of Ronald McDonald feet.
“I couldn’t find clown shoes on Thingiverse,” he tells me, excitedly. “So I made them. If you look up ‘Clown Shoes,’ you’ll find mine.”
These sorts of automated robotics are common for hardware manufacturers looking to test touchscreens. And while Tapster’s offerings are admittedly less sophisticated that the single service industrial robotics being deployed by larger organizations, Tapster is able to deliver their highly specialized product for a fraction of the cost.
Huggins hopes to one day make Tapster the go-to product for automated touchscreen testing, but for now, it’s baby steps. To date, the startup has functioned on a combination of self-funding, product sales and $100,000 in backing from Indie.vc, a micro venture firm that invests in, “Real businesses want to stay in business, not run for the exit.”
“This is my second startup, and I’m really intentional about bootstrapping for as long as possible,” says Huggins. “I’m not anti-VC, but I’m definitely pro-having leverage. When you can walk in there say, ‘this is a train leaving the station and money can accelerate these trend lines,’ I’d like to be in that situation. That means I have to do more things longer. I’m not going out there and raising a seed round and hiring. I want to have a solid business I can hire into.”
from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2pUelkI
In just three years, NextVR and the NBA have worked together to help push virtual reality to new heights. We went behind the scenes to find out what’s in the magic hat.
The post How NextVR and the NBA are bringing VR from the sidelines to center court appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2E9Qt1h
Amazon Prime brings more perks than just free two-day shipping. Subscribers get access to a huge library of TV shows to stream at no extra cost. Here are our favorite TV shows currently available on Amazon Prime.
The post ‘Prime’-time TV: Here the best shows on Amazon Prime right now appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2pxAPJd
Amazon Prime gives subscribers access to a host of great movies, but sifting through the massive library isn't easy. Lucky for you, we've sorted the wheat from the chaff. Here are the best movies on Amazon Prime right now.
The post The best movies on Amazon Prime right now (April 2018) appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2pshplK
how can the experience be personal when you're sharing the device with family members and friends? Luckily, Alexa has a special skill that makes the user experience just a little more personalized: voice recognition.
The post Alexa, who am I? How to set up an Amazon Alexa voice profile appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2J7r6Rz
Saudi Arabia and Japan's Softbank investment holding company agreed to create the world's largest solar power generation plant. The project will move KSA toward a global economy.
The post Softbank casts ray of sunlight on Saudi Arabia’s economic shift from oil appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2pVlwZR
Have loads of treasure on your ship only to lose it to the sprouting tentacles from the depths of the ocean? Here's everything you need to know for you and your crew to survive an encounter with the deadly Kraken in Sea of Thieves.
The post Here’s how to defeat the Kraken in ‘Sea of Thieves’ appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2J7Y0S7
The Razer Phone was launched in November of last year and came with Android 7.1.1 Nougat on board, which made sense as Android 8.0 Oreo was very new at the time. Now, Razer has confirmed its plans for updating its flagship phone with the latest flavor of Google's mobile OS.
In fact the phone is skipping the 8.0 release and jumping straight to 8.1, Razer has confirmed on Twitter. Razer Phone owners should find the update rolling out to their phones at some point in the middle of April, if everything goes to plan.
Razer has also made a developer preview of the software available for download here, should you want to manually flash the Oreo 8.1 update to your handset and help Razer squash some bugs along the way. Unless you're particularly keen to enjoy the goodness of Oreo, you're probably better off waiting a few weeks.
What's on the way?
With Google's apps updated separately from Android itself, there isn't a huge list of new features you can make use of in Oreo, but better notification management (including snoozing for alerts) and support for picture-in-picture modes are included.
As we said in our review, the Razer Phone has a lot going for it, particularly if you're using your mobile for gaming or for watching movies. It was a bold move for the gaming brand to launch a smartphone of its own, but it's managed to pull something out of the hat to compete with the big boys.
And what of the Razer Phone 2? The rumors are that Razer is indeed planning a follow-up to its 2017 launch, with a processor upgrade perhaps the biggest bump in terms of specs (the well-equipped Razer Phone 1 already has a huge 8GB of RAM).
Via Phandroid
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2uzDSFr
Rather than using music streaming apps, you may want something for using playing your local music. Good news! There are some good alternatives. These are the best media players you can download for free on Windows.
The post The best free music players appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2hlBADF
By combining superheated steam and conventional radiant heat, Sharp's new Superheated Steam Countertop Oven can cook food that's both crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
The post Sharp’s new countertop cooker uses superheated steam appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2uAkGan
We check out the best wireless phone chargers, to make tangles and fiddly ports a thing of the past. Whether you have an iPhone X or a Galaxy S9, find out which wireless charging pads are worth buying, and how their features compare.
The post Charge up your iPhone or Android with the best wireless phone chargers appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2wkBYUq
Aquabionic is a new system that combines water shoes with a special binding system based on ski bindings and interchangeable fin mounts, to create a more natural and comfortable diving fin for snorkeling and scuba.
The post Aquabionic brings the first binding system for diving fins appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2J6FREk
Intel’s Next Unit of Computing, or NUC, has worked hard to miniaturize desktops over the last six years. Now, with the help of AMD’s Vega, its taking pint-sized performance to the next level.
The post Inside the Intel lab that put a legit gaming desktop in the palm of your hand appeared first on Digital Trends.
from Digital Trends https://ift.tt/2IiCyZl
All eyes might be on the imminent launch of the Moto G6 phone at the moment, but Lenovo has several other handsets planned for 2018, including the Moto Z3 Play. Thanks to a new filing at the Federal Communications Commission, we now know a little bit more about what's in store.
Inside the device you're going to find a Snapdragon 636 CPU, and that'll be coupled with 4GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of storage. Everything will run from a 3,000mAh battery which should give you plenty of time between charges.
The phone will have a 6.1-inch screen and the dimensions will match the chassis size of the current Moto Z range – which of course means you'll still be able to use your existing Moto Mods with it. Even if you upgrade your Lenovo-made smartphone this year, your modular accessories can come with you.
What's in store
All of which makes it sound like this is another solid mid-ranger to look forward to, something the Moto series has focused on in recent years. Considering the upcoming Moto G6 phones are going to target the same part of the market, it's perhaps no surprise that the Moto X5 is getting cut from the line-up.
We haven't heard much about the Moto Z3 Play or indeed the higher-end Moto Z3 so far, but we're probably looking at an edge-to-edge screen and a Snapdragon 845 for the top-of-the-line model. Face recognition might also feature heavily.
The Moto G6 line is going to be the first to break cover in 2018 but after that we can look forward to finding out what Lenovo has got in store with its Moto Z3 phones. If you're looking to get some decent-quality Android hardware at a reasonable price, they could well be worth waiting for.
Via GSMArena
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2E9uckm
If you’re a fan of horse racing or just curious about the sport, the 2018 Dubai World Cup is the event to watch.
Founded in 1996, and held on the last Saturday in March, the Dubai World Cup is not only the premiere horse racing event of the year, but also the richest, with last year’s purse coming in at over $10 million.
This year a total of 118 horses will take to the track on Saturday, March 31st to win part of the dubai World Cup 2018 prize pool. Each horse will participate in one of nine races including eight thoroughbred races and one purebred-Arabian race.
The horses to watch at this year’s race are West Coast, Thunder Snow, Talismanic, Mubtaahij and Forever Unbridled who could be the first mare to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline.
The Dubai World Cup gates will open at noon with the race set to start at 3:45pm GST (that’s at 11:45am GMT, 7:45am Eastern Time and 4:45am Pacific).
Below, you’ll find our quick and easy guide for how to watch the 2018 Dubai World Cup online from anywhere in the world. This is the racing event of the year and with our help you won’t miss it no matter where you happen to be.
1. How to watch Dubai World Cup 2018: UK stream
You can watch the Dubai World Cup in the UK by tuning in to At The Races, which will be showing live coverage of all the races from Meydan.
You'll need a Sky or Virgin Media subscription to be able to access At The Races, which can be found on Sky channel 415 or Virgin Media channel 535.
The Dubai World Cup 2018 can also be followed on the channel's ATR Player online service, which enables UK and Irish based users to watch all the action on At The Races.
The service, which costs £9.99 for a monthly pass, can be accessed by logging in to attheraces.com on your PC or Tablet or by downloading the At The Races App on your iPhone or Android phone.
Not in the UK? You'll need a VPN to watch this live stream
2. How to watch Dubai World Cup 2018: US stream
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2E8syzt
In an era where sports are competing not just with each other for new and existing fans’ attention, but also with other forms of entertainment, mobile is a key battleground.
For many competitions, television ratings are falling as younger fans move away from linear television to smartphones and on-demand services. There are even fears that sport isn’t as popular as it once was.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is acutely aware of these trends, but rather than fear them, it is embracing them as it seeks to build its fanbase not only in the US but globally too. The NBA has a diverse following, but it is more youthful than its local rivals and has a reputation for being a more progressive league that reflects this.
For example, in 2014, Donald Sterling, the owner of the LA Clippers, was forced to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer because of alleged racist remarks and the league has expressed a more permissive stance to those who wish to protest the national anthem than the NFL, which has an older, more conservative fanbase.
Going mobile
These days, its possible to watch every NBA game live on your smartphone via the official application, which is also awash with video highlights and content, while the league, its teams and its players are active on social media – including more youthful platforms like Snapchat.
The NBA’s official view is that there is nothing like attending a game in person, but the fact of the matter is many fans will never attend a match. The focus is therefore on making the remote viewing experience as similar to the one in the arena.
A 10Gbps network collected 12 camera feeds from every game to the NBA Replay Center in New Jersey, giving referees additional help that speeds up the game, but also gives the NBA multiple camera angles to sent to the mobile app. A video highlights system sees clips tagged so they can be distributed within 30 seconds and there are plans for automation.
The next step is virtual reality (VR) and 4K transmissions. Both of these will place significant stress on the network.
Youthful fanbase
Cisco has been an NBA partner for a decade and has witnessed this transformation first hand. Over the past ten years, the focus has shifted to mobile and to global expansion.
“It’s a multi-faceted partnership,” Cisco’s Chinan Patel tells TechRadar Pro. “As well as being the core technology provider for the NBA as an organization, supporting its employees and the wor kthey do, we help with events like the All Star Games and how they extend the global game. We also work with the teams, who are heavily investing in stadium tech and elsewhere to grow the fanbase.
“If you think 10 years ago, mobile phones weren’t prevalent. You might see scores, but now the NBA tells us that large percentage of fans watch games on their mobile device and never consume it on anything else. A lot of investment is in how to make that better and how you can ensure people can access it on other networks, secure it and watch it offline.
“The NBA are probably the leaders in terms of technology adoption. If you look at football and [Video Assistant Referees], then some of the sports are quite behind. There’s a lot what other sports can learn from the NBA are doing.”
However he doesn’t necessarily agree with the assumption that the NBA has an advantage because its followers are younger. Instead, he argues its because the fast-paced nature of basketball is what makes it so appealing.
“We were with the NBA at South by South West [SXSW] and the audience that came was very diverse,” he says. “A lot of age groups, a lot of demographics. It has a diverse spectrum of audience. There is a youthful base, but equally but there is a broad appeal to the game and it does span all spectrums.
“The pace at which [basketball] is played and the way the NBA engages the audience … is something they’ve cracked.”
Indeed, the NBA is one of the partners for a new Bleacher Report Live streaming application from Turner and will allow fans to pay for portions of matches. For example, if a game in the fourth quarter is heating up, fans can log on and pay 99 cents for five minutes of live action. This will extend to the official NBA application, which is essential for the league’s international expansion.
International expansion
The NBA holds a number of games outside North America each season, including one at London’s O2 – which will become a 5G testbed later this year. These are important to reach out to new fans but mobile is still the main way of reaching out to the international fanbase that can be thousands of miles away from any NBA arena. But can this ever be as good as seeing a game live?
Patel concedes this might be one step too far for mobile technology but says Cisco and the NBA are committed to replicating as much as possible.
“A lot of the work we do with them is to take the best elements of what makes going to a game so great and …the app experience, different views give you some kind of insight into what it’s like,” he says.
Smart arenas
Mobile can enhance the at-game experience too. Many fans now want instant replays on their mobile devices, while teams want to be able to offer in-game seat upgrades, merchandise and catering. Meanwhile, sensors and in-arena Wi-Fi can help improve security and fan behaviour.
Mobile ticketing is also changing the way fans attend matches, with 60 per cent of all tickets sold by the Boston Celtics sent to a mobile device.
“The phone has become ubiquitous,” Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca tells the Leaders in Sport conference. “The closer you get to the fans, the closer they want to get to the club."
Free Wi-Fi networks have been deployed in many venues to try and facilitate all these applications, and Cisco itself provides connectivity in 350 stadiums around the world. But will these network deployments be able to keep up with demand?
“Things like 5G will be welcomed because they will offer increased bandwidth,” Patel suggests. “New technologies will have to come along to deal with growth. New applications like AR and VR will require new types of capacity.”
Cisco is taking a keen interest in 5G, participating in UK trials of the technology in rural areas, and announcing a slew of ‘5G Now’ services and products at Mobile World Congress (MWC). The company’s traditional strength has been in networking, but it is eyeing up more of the telecoms market.
A perfect match?
So what’s in it for Cisco? Is it a marketing agreement or a technology partnership? Patel says it touches on a number of areas, not least attracting young talent to its Network Academy.
“As an advanced technology company, we want to make sure we want to work with organisations that are at the leading edge of their industry and the NBA is that,” he says. “We want to be able to scale something that touches a lot of people. The things we do in the NBA at the stadiums, are applicable around the world- football, cricket stadiums. It helps us engage in different countries around the world.
“As a B2B company, not a B2C company it helps us scale up like that. There’s also a big aspect for the Network academy [which is] about inspiring new generations and sport is a great way of doing that.”
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2GnYLsm