APP A DAY TV

$The 2010 MLB season kicks off today with the Red Sox taking on the Yankees at Fenway Park. This is usually when I have to decide which MLB package to choose from. I’m a Red Sox fan living in Dodger/Angels country so I’ve had to rely on a variety of ways to get my baseball fix. First it was the DirecTV MLB season pass an expensive addition to your monthly TV bill. Then i tried the MLB.TV package, less pricey at the time but you had to be a computer with a good connection to really enjoy it. Last year it was the MLB Official iPhone app which was fantastic. It allowed me to hear all the Red Sox game radio broadcasts by the Boston sportscasters. At the end of last season you could actually watch the games on your phone for couple of dollars and MLB even offered a couple of games free each day. This season there isn’t really much of a choice to make, the iPad app is out and I had to have it. The app has jumped in price to $14.99, a $10 bump from last season. That doesn’t even give you all the live games in video, that requires an MLB.TV season pass. $99 gets you all the games streamed in HD or pay $120 if you want to choose home or away broadcasts, DVR controls, and multi-game view. The video quality of the highlights has been a little iffy thus far, I’m hoping that will change once the regular season begins. It only works in landscape mode and has all the stats any fantasy baseball fan could need. It would seem to be a perfect companion for watching televised games as well. It would be nice if they included a fan chat feature like on MLB.com and ESPN.com Baseball fans can’t ignore this app especially if you don’t live in your teams television market. $14.99 for every home radio broadcast is enough for me to grab it. I’ll update this with quality reports once the season gets underway. UPDATE: The MLB App is acting a little funky during the first game of the season. The real time pitch updates are 3 pitches ahead of the audio stream. So you’ll see the hits and strikeouts before you hear them. Not exactly the kind of experience you want to have with a 15 dollar app. Also, the 3 highlights posted during the game thus far, all look like crap when you view them full screen. Let’s hope these are opening day jitters for the new app and not an indication of the performance we’ll get all season. OFFICIAL PITCH - MLB.com At Bat 2010 for iPad — A new way to experience baseball Enhanced Scoreboard: Get real-time score updates, probables, winning and losing pitchers, player stats and more Live Audio: Listen live to every regular season and postseason game, and choose home or away announcers Live Video: Watch live streaming games with portable access to your MLB.TV account (blackout restrictions apply) Gameday: Follow live with exclusive pitch-type, speed and location data, real-time box scores, play-by-play and all scoring playsIn-Game Highlights: Watch the best plays of the game moments after they occur Condensed Games: Watch the game in a fraction of the time Enhanced Video: Never miss a moment of the game, pause and rewind live games, and call up player stats and box scores while watching live video.$

The 2010 MLB season kicks off today with the Red Sox taking on the Yankees at Fenway Park. This is usually when I have to decide which MLB package to choose from. I’m a Red Sox fan living in Dodger/Angels country so I’ve had to rely on a variety of ways to get my baseball fix. First it was the DirecTV MLB season pass an expensive addition to your monthly TV bill. Then i tried the MLB.TV package, less pricey at the time but you had to be a computer with a good connection to really enjoy it. Last year it was the MLB Official iPhone app which was fantastic. It allowed me to hear all the Red Sox game radio broadcasts by the Boston sportscasters. At the end of last season you could actually watch the games on your phone for couple of dollars and MLB even offered a couple of games free each day.

This season there isn’t really much of a choice to make, the iPad app is out and I had to have it. The app has jumped in price to $14.99, a $10 bump from last season. That doesn’t even give you all the live games in video, that requires an MLB.TV season pass. $99 gets you all the games streamed in HD or pay $120 if you want to choose home or away broadcasts, DVR controls, and multi-game view.

The video quality of the highlights has been a little iffy thus far, I’m hoping that will change once the regular season begins. It only works in landscape mode and has all the stats any fantasy baseball fan could need.

It would seem to be a perfect companion for watching televised games as well. It would be nice if they included a fan chat feature like on MLB.com and ESPN.com Baseball fans can’t ignore this app especially if you don’t live in your teams television market. $14.99 for every home radio broadcast is enough for me to grab it. I’ll update this with quality reports once the season gets underway.

UPDATE: The MLB App is acting a little funky during the first game of the season. The real time pitch updates are 3 pitches ahead of the audio stream. So you’ll see the hits and strikeouts before you hear them. Not exactly the kind of experience you want to have with a 15 dollar app. Also, the 3 highlights posted during the game thus far, all look like crap when you view them full screen. Let’s hope these are opening day jitters for the new app and not an indication of the performance we’ll get all season.

OFFICIAL PITCH -

MLB.com At Bat 2010 for iPad — A new way to experience baseball Enhanced Scoreboard: Get real-time score updates, probables, winning and losing pitchers, player stats and more

Live Audio: Listen live to every regular season and postseason game, and choose home or away announcers

Live Video: Watch live streaming games with portable access to your MLB.TV account (blackout restrictions apply)

Gameday: Follow live with exclusive pitch-type, speed and location data, real-time box scores, play-by-play and all scoring playsIn-Game Highlights: Watch the best plays of the game moments after they occur

Condensed Games: Watch the game in a fraction of the time

Enhanced Video: Never miss a moment of the game, pause and rewind live games, and call up player stats and box scores while watching live video.

The first picture is the Game Day screen where each pitch is identified along with current situation. You can click on the tabs below to bring up additional info including player cards.

The second picture is the result when you click the tabs at the bottom of the screen. You can view the batting lineup and bullpen for each team and tap individual players to see their cards.

The third picture is from the highlight page. Here you see YOUK, trotting across home plate after a 2 run shot. You can tap the video to watch the highlight full screen as well.

The fourth picture is the audio menu. You can choose which feed you want to listen to from here. You can also touch the Q (I highlighted it in red) to close the app and launch the broadcast in Safari so you can listen in the background.

Mobile Air Mouse rocks the iPad!
One of my favorite apps for the iPhone has been the Mobile Air Mouse. This is the perfect solution for using your Macbook or any computer hooked up to a TV. The app allows you to use the touchscreen on your phone as a trackpad and even has a full keyboard that can slide in for typing. Over time the app was updated to include a TON of ~~great~~ amazing features and they even dropped the price and offered a FREE version. I finally installed it on the iPad and it works great in pixel doubled mode as a giant trackpad for your computer or laptop.

The iPhone version sells for $1.99 and there is a new iPad version for 3.99 but the early reviews on the iPad version are pointing out a few issues. you may be better off going with the iPhone version and putting it on the ipad since it’s got more features and works fine in double pixel mode.

Instantly transform your iPhone or iPod touch into an air mouse, trackpad, and wireless remote for your computer! Sit back and surf the web, browse your photo library or control your music player from the comfort of your couch. Our air mouse uses the built in accelerometer to translate your hand motions into mouse movements on your screen. It can also operate as a trackpad, allowing you to control your computer with a single finger. Suddenly your iPhone has become an essential part of any home theater PC and a presenter’s best friend. Using an innovative application notification system, the iPhone will always know what applications are running at any time and show the appropriate keys for that program, providing you with a single screen for controlling ALL your media and web applications.

FEATURES

· Accelerometer based mouse

· Trackpad with vertical and horizontal orientation

· Media keys with volume and eject controls

· Web keys

· Application switcher/launcher

· Application notifications

· Unlimited custom media and web remotes with scripting capabilities

· Remote keyboard with modifier keys

· Function keyboard with arrow keys

· Oversized numeric keypad

· Programable hotkeys (can be set to run a program or keyboard combination)

· Scroll pad

· Multitouch gestures (supports scrolling & right click)

· Remotely wake up and put your computer to sleep

· Password protection

· Custom sensitivity settings

· Foreign language keyboards

· Supports Bonjour or static IP

· Works over Bluetooth PAN (requires carrier support, not available on AT&T)

· No screen size limitation. Works with multiple monitors

· Works over WIFI, no line of sight limitations

· Built from the ground up for Mac and Windows

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