[W]hile MLB's World Series 2009 does the hitting, pitching and catching well, its lack of any substance beyond that leave it an incomplete game at best.It looks like we're still waiting for the perfect baseball game for iPhone.
Showing posts with label iphone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iphone. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New iPhone App: MLB World Series 2009
A new baseball game has hit the iPhone App Store: MLB World Series 2009. My colleagues at Slide to Play have done a great job reviewing it, so I encourage you to check it out. The key quote:
Friday, April 17, 2009
iPhone App: MLB At Bat
MLB At Bat is the big daddy of iPhone apps. It comes in two versions:
Lite - Free
The lite version is nothing more than a real-time scoreboard. It's barely worth the price (free).
Full - $9.99
The full version gives you so much more. In a word, it's awesome. Here's what you get:
- Real-time scores, including box scores and scoring summaries, of every game
- Video highlights of key plays minutes after they happen. Not just scoring plays, but key defensive grabs and other important moments.
- Live play-by-play using the GameDay engine. You get pitch-by-pitch updates and more.
- Best of all, radio broadcasts of every game. You can even choose home or away broadcasters.
How well does it work? Not perfect. I've experienced quite a few kinks in the system. Last night, for example, I wanted to listen to Vin Scully's play-by-play of the Dodgers-Giants game, but I kept getting an inexplicable error message. The Giants broadcast worked fine (and Jon Miller is the best in the business anyway, so it wasn't much of a problem), but I was disappointed in not hearing Scully.*
*In fact, listening to Vin Scully is the main reason I bought the At Bat application. He's been with the Dodgers for 59 years, but I've never lived in L.A. so I never really got to hear him except occasional TV broadcasts. This is my chance to hear him before he retires, whenever that will be.
I've used the audio over both Wi-Fi and 3G, and both generally worked. There are occasional hiccups and you'll lose the feed periodically, but in my experience, the feed comes back pretty quick (except the Scully example above).
The GameDay play-by-play is spotty at times. It doesn't always keep up with the action, but it usually catches up after a while.
Bottom Line
In spite of the hiccups, which I'm sure MLB Advanced Media is working on, getting the At Bat app is a no-brainer. The audio is rekindling my love for play-by-play broadcasting (which I used to do myself, though not very well), and I'm finding myself listening to games I don't have much interest in. The live box scores are great for tracking my fantasy players. And the GameDay updates are great for following games at lunch or on the couch.
If you're an iPhone-owning baseball fan, what are you waiting for?
Lite - Free
The lite version is nothing more than a real-time scoreboard. It's barely worth the price (free).
Full - $9.99
The full version gives you so much more. In a word, it's awesome. Here's what you get:
- Real-time scores, including box scores and scoring summaries, of every game
- Video highlights of key plays minutes after they happen. Not just scoring plays, but key defensive grabs and other important moments.
- Live play-by-play using the GameDay engine. You get pitch-by-pitch updates and more.
- Best of all, radio broadcasts of every game. You can even choose home or away broadcasters.
How well does it work? Not perfect. I've experienced quite a few kinks in the system. Last night, for example, I wanted to listen to Vin Scully's play-by-play of the Dodgers-Giants game, but I kept getting an inexplicable error message. The Giants broadcast worked fine (and Jon Miller is the best in the business anyway, so it wasn't much of a problem), but I was disappointed in not hearing Scully.*
*In fact, listening to Vin Scully is the main reason I bought the At Bat application. He's been with the Dodgers for 59 years, but I've never lived in L.A. so I never really got to hear him except occasional TV broadcasts. This is my chance to hear him before he retires, whenever that will be.
I've used the audio over both Wi-Fi and 3G, and both generally worked. There are occasional hiccups and you'll lose the feed periodically, but in my experience, the feed comes back pretty quick (except the Scully example above).
The GameDay play-by-play is spotty at times. It doesn't always keep up with the action, but it usually catches up after a while.
Bottom Line
In spite of the hiccups, which I'm sure MLB Advanced Media is working on, getting the At Bat app is a no-brainer. The audio is rekindling my love for play-by-play broadcasting (which I used to do myself, though not very well), and I'm finding myself listening to games I don't have much interest in. The live box scores are great for tracking my fantasy players. And the GameDay updates are great for following games at lunch or on the couch.
If you're an iPhone-owning baseball fan, what are you waiting for?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
iPhone App: Baseball Statistics 2009 Edition
The first app up for review is Baseball Statistics 2009 Edition, by Bulbous Ventures LLC.* Price: $1.99
This is version 2 of a formerly free application previously called "Baseball." It's pretty simple, really: it uses data from Sean Lahman's Baseball Archive to deliver up-to-date statistics for everybody who's ever played baseball. You can view stats by team and year, or you can search and view by player.
If you have the free edition from last year, the only things you're missing are 2008 statistics, plus salary data and a few other pieces of information.
Bottom Line
This is a very functional and utilitarian application, and it doesn't blow your socks off. If you're at the ballpark and you want to know the career stats for a particular player, you can do it with this app. If you don't want to pay $1.99 for a dedicated iPhone interface, you can do the same thing for free by visiting Baseball-Reference.com in the Safari browser. The no-cost method is harder on the eyes, but you can always apply the $1.99 you save toward the price of a hot dog at the park.
*Note: Link opens in the iTunes Store.
This is version 2 of a formerly free application previously called "Baseball." It's pretty simple, really: it uses data from Sean Lahman's Baseball Archive to deliver up-to-date statistics for everybody who's ever played baseball. You can view stats by team and year, or you can search and view by player.
If you have the free edition from last year, the only things you're missing are 2008 statistics, plus salary data and a few other pieces of information.
Bottom Line
This is a very functional and utilitarian application, and it doesn't blow your socks off. If you're at the ballpark and you want to know the career stats for a particular player, you can do it with this app. If you don't want to pay $1.99 for a dedicated iPhone interface, you can do the same thing for free by visiting Baseball-Reference.com in the Safari browser. The no-cost method is harder on the eyes, but you can always apply the $1.99 you save toward the price of a hot dog at the park.
*Note: Link opens in the iTunes Store.
Baseball Apps for iPhone
Now that the season has started, iPhone-owning baseball fans have numerous ways to track the sport using their miracle phones. The iTunes App Store has a helpful page linking to some of the latest baseball apps and videos. In the next few days, I'm going to test out several of them and provide reviews. Check back tomorrow and later in the week.
Friday, July 11, 2008
MLB for iPhone: A Review
A few weeks ago I blogged about the new MLB At Bat application for iPhone. I promised a review when it came out.
It came out, and it's very cool.
I upgraded my existing iPhone with the new 2.0 software (which is free for all iPhone users), and immediately shopped the iTunes App Store to find MLB At Bat. It costs $4.99, which covers the service at least through the 2008 season and post-season.
What does it do? It gives you near-real-time scores of every baseball game, every day. But that's no big deal. The cool thing is that it gives you video highlights of every game, DURING the game -- usually a few minutes after the plays happen.
So in yesterday's Oakland-Seattle game, I was able to watch Jack Cust's and Kurt Suzuki's 9th-inning home runs within a few minutes of the events occurring. It was really awesome.
Now it's not perfect. I waited and waited for the program to pick up the highlights of Emil Brown's game-WINNING home run and they never did it. Also, the performance of the video left a lot to be desired. I thought I was in a pretty good Wi-Fi hotspot, but the videos kept starting and stopping. I don't know who's responsible -- MLB or the WiFi provider -- but it can get a little frustrating.
Also, I wish the program provided more than just scores -- ball/strikes, runners on, etc. -- would be helpful. And if you want to see a box score, you have to tap a little link that opens the box score in the Safari web browser.
I would imagine that those features will be added in a version 2 of the application. Even without those features, $4.99 is a bargain.
What about next year? Continuing major league baseball's proud tradition of screwing over its most loyal fans, I would imagine that the price will go up considerably next year. My prediction is that it'll cost $4.99 per month, or $19.99 per season, with the post-season costing extra.
Until then, it's my belief that MLB At Bat is a great deal and a great reason to buy yourself an iPhone 3G. Good luck getting one.
Link: Buy MLB At Bat in iTunes
It came out, and it's very cool.
I upgraded my existing iPhone with the new 2.0 software (which is free for all iPhone users), and immediately shopped the iTunes App Store to find MLB At Bat. It costs $4.99, which covers the service at least through the 2008 season and post-season.
What does it do? It gives you near-real-time scores of every baseball game, every day. But that's no big deal. The cool thing is that it gives you video highlights of every game, DURING the game -- usually a few minutes after the plays happen.
So in yesterday's Oakland-Seattle game, I was able to watch Jack Cust's and Kurt Suzuki's 9th-inning home runs within a few minutes of the events occurring. It was really awesome.
Now it's not perfect. I waited and waited for the program to pick up the highlights of Emil Brown's game-WINNING home run and they never did it. Also, the performance of the video left a lot to be desired. I thought I was in a pretty good Wi-Fi hotspot, but the videos kept starting and stopping. I don't know who's responsible -- MLB or the WiFi provider -- but it can get a little frustrating.
Also, I wish the program provided more than just scores -- ball/strikes, runners on, etc. -- would be helpful. And if you want to see a box score, you have to tap a little link that opens the box score in the Safari web browser.
I would imagine that those features will be added in a version 2 of the application. Even without those features, $4.99 is a bargain.
What about next year? Continuing major league baseball's proud tradition of screwing over its most loyal fans, I would imagine that the price will go up considerably next year. My prediction is that it'll cost $4.99 per month, or $19.99 per season, with the post-season costing extra.
Until then, it's my belief that MLB At Bat is a great deal and a great reason to buy yourself an iPhone 3G. Good luck getting one.
Link: Buy MLB At Bat in iTunes
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