In the interest of killing two minutes of your time: the famous Star Wars cantina scene, as remixed by Adidas. Yes, that’s Snoop Dogg wielding a lightsaber. You youngsters may not know this, but Snoop Dogg used to be a legit gangsta. Now? /me whistles cantina song → Read More
The lead developer of the Jabulani, the ball that will be used in the World Cup, has hit back at his noisy critics. Dr. Andy Harland, who helped design the ball at England’s Loughborough University’s Sports Technology Institute, says that what many players are complaining about now, that the ball “moves strangely” or whatever, can be attributed to using the ball at altitude. The ball has been… → Read More
A little birdie told me that the World Cup begins in just a few weeks, on June 11, 2010, in South Africa. Four years prior saw Italy lift the trophy in Germany, beating France on penalties. Zinedine Zidane also headbutted Marco Materazzi that day—an immense event in Internet history. A lot of things have changed since that day in Berlin, a lot of things that will shock and amaze you. For… → Read More
Right on cue, then. ‘Twas only a few days ago that I had mentioned the grand tradition of World Cup goalkeepers complaining about the ball used in the tournament, and we now have our very first complaints (at least I think it’s the first). Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who’s probably the best goalkeeper going into the tournament (it’s either him or Júlio César, of Brazil), said after Spain’s… → Read More
Football (soccer) writers are typically terribly serious about what they do. Relax, buddy, it’s just a game. A fun game, yeah, but just a game. The Guardian’s Barry Glendenning does things a little bit differently: he’s actually good! In a column today, Glendenning prepares us all for the inevitable complaints that will surround the Jabulani‘s performance at the World Cup. It’s a time-honored… → Read More
That Nike World Cup ad I mentioned the other day has aired, I think, 800 million times over the past few days on TV. I know I saw it at least once during the Champions League final at the weekend (which Inter thoroughly deserved to win). But get this: the very first time the ad aired in the UK the final six seconds of the ad never made it on the air! Someone’s getting fired… → Read More
We’re about three weeks away from the beginning of the World Cup. You know this because I’ve mentioned it over and over again since 2008. Fancy Adidas this, super-advanced Nike that. And so on. Today’s edition: a three-minute Nike advert that was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (of “Babel” fame). Even if you have no idea who these people… → Read More
Comcast, America’s worst company, just announced that it will have indeed have ESPN 3D in time for this year’s World Cup. Comcast is the first cable provider to commit to carrying the network (while DirecTV announced the same thing several weeks ago). → Read More
Close readers will have noticed that A) I write quite a bit about soccer+technology but B) never about Team USA. Messi this, Cristiano Ronaldo that. Well that ends today! Nike recently unveiled the kit that Landon Donovan & Co. will use to get second place in Group C this World Cup. USA, USA! → Read More
A little while ago I brought news of the super-duper technology that adidas’ kits (“jerseys”) will utilize at the World Cup. We all had a good time, yes? Well today there’s news of the boot, the F50 adiZero, that the likes of Leo Messi and David Villa (soon to be teammates at FC Barcelona maybe~!) and Jozy Altidore will use to score many goals. Adidas says it’s the lightest football boot ever… → Read More
People who hate to see technology in soccer, rejoice! England manager Fabio Capello has delayed the launch of the so-called Capello Index, a Web site that would have tracked various statistical measures of England players. It was to have started with the World Cup next month and continue into the Premier League season, but the whole project has been shelved for the time being. → Read More
Will technology defeat The Three Lions (that’s England, or course) at the World Cup this year? Maybe, but then again, maybe the injuries to Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, and Wayne Bridge will have a role to play as well. There’s a fun story in the Daily Telegraph that details Algeria’s plan to use technology to defeat England at the World Cup, which begins on June 11. Incidentally… → Read More
Toshiba will give away a free laptop or TV to one lucky winner if England win the World Cup this year. I guess Toshiba won’t be giving away any TVs or laptops anytime soon! → Read More
More info on Sony and FIFA‘s plan to bring us the World Cup in 3D. It turns out that Sony will only film one game per matchday in 3D. That’s for all 25 days of the tournament, so if multiple games are played on the same day only one game, presumably the highest profile, will get the 3D treatment. → Read More
You guys have heard of Google, right? Congratulations, you’re smarter than the likes of Sonyand Adidas! A new study has found that these companies, and other prominent FIFA World Cup sponsors, like Coca-Cola and Emirates, have failed to leverage Google (specifically) and the Internet (more generally) to link themselves to the event. You’d think that after shelling out so much money to be known as… → Read More
Sony‘s full steam ahead with making sure that this year’s World Cup comes to us in glorious 3D. “Glorious” may be a stretch, but if I can see things like this goal and this goal in 3D, well, horray for everything. Not that I have a 3D TV or anything, but maybe I’ll find me a nice sugar daddy before the tournament kicks off. One can dream! → Read More
Well, well! Every single Panasonic 3D TV has been sold, meaning, I guess, that 3D TV is a hit, despite what some people think. They’re on back order now, so if you weren’t among the first to plop down nearly $3,000 for a 50-inch set you get a late slip. You’re late to the party. Last week called, and it wants to know why you didn’t buy a TV? → Read More
Sepp Blatter (left), the FIFA president, has explained why there won’t be goal-line technology at this year’s World Cup, saying he wants the sport to maintain a “human element” and that all levels of soccer, from 6-year-old kids to open-goal-missing Gonzalo Higuaín of Real Madrid, need to be played with the same rules. Whatever you say, Sepp. I hope for your sake a Spain or Italy or Brazil don’t… → Read More
There’s a myth out there that technology will ruin soccer, what Pelé (and others) once called “the beautiful game.” Let me ask you something: is this Cristiano Ronaldo free kick any less beautiful because he’s wearing the latest Nike boots? Do you have any idea how many hours are spent developing the technology that’s built into things like the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly II? Rest assured that… → Read More
Is FIFA the worst organization on the planet? I’d say so. World soccer bigwigs have concluded a meeting in Zurich, and they’ve decided against implementing goal line technology at this year’s World Cup. Yes, why would you want to introduce a legitimately helpful technology into a sport that so desperately needs it? Ridiculous. → Read More
Fortune smiled upon me a few days ago, giving me the chance to check out Adidas’ new equipment that’ll be used during the World Cup. It was fun. Nike, on the other hand? Well, apparently the company hates us for reasons I’ll never understand, so I had to find out about its new boots, also to be used in the World Cup, via some other site. I mean, come on! → Read More
Bom-dia, amigos! É Nicholas com uma conta do Brasil! Vocês sabem que A Copa do Mundo inicia em junho, mas sabiam que muitos brasileiros estam a comprar televisões especficamente para o torneio? Uma firma, DisplaySearch, diz que carragamentos dos LCD TVs vai subir 68% neste ano no país. É claro que todo o Brasil quer ver A Seleção conquistar a copa! → Read More
Will Spain repeat its Euro 2008 success? Greetings from lovely Seattle! I’m here on the West Coast for two reasons. One, Thursday was Adidas’ World Cup Media Day in Portland, and I was invited to check out all the hi-tech wonderment that the company has in store for this World Cup year. Needless to say, being a bit of a soccer fan, I was very excited to attend—I met the guy from… → Read More
So EA is bringing FIFA Online to Western countries. It’s been available in Asia for a couple years now, and players from other parts of the world will get to join in on the fun. Oh, the game: it’s a free, online version of FIFA that you play on your PC. → Read More
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640 It was established at some point that Crisitano Ronaldo, the Portuguese international who gets red cards for Real Madrid, can kick a soccer ball at around 130 km/h. People keep track of this for some reason. This here robot… thing can kick a soccer ball at more than 200 km/h. Somewhere, Mr. Ronaldo is quietly sobbing to himself, on top of a huge pile of… → Read More
Yeah, get ready for an awful lot of World Cup-related nicknacks in the coming months. We saw the official ball, adidas’ Jabulani, last week, and this week… an iPod dock. Yeah, it’s a bit of a drop off. → Read More
Poor North Korea (politics aside, of course). It finds itself in the “group of death” in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, alongside Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, and Portugal. With all due respect to the team, there’s no way it’s going to get past the likes of Luís Fabiano and Kaká, Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré, and Cristiano Ronaldo and, well… let’s just count Cristiano twice. Twitter agrees… → Read More
Happening right now (well, when this first appears on the front page) is the draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It’s a big deal, and will lead to endless debate on call-in radio shows all over the world: what’s the real group of death? Does [our country] have a chance? Can anyone beat Brazil or Spain? And so on. But the World Cup is pretty useless without, you know, the ball. So, presenting the… → Read More
Tomorrow is the big day, fellow football fans. That’s when FIFA announces the full brackets for next year’s World Cup, to be held in South Africa. Yes, there’s a tech angle here. Sony has said that it will film the entire tournament, from the very first kick-off until the final whistle of the final game in Johannesburg, with 3D cameras. → Read More
Mobile TV—that is, live TV on your cellphone—is still sorta “meh,” it’s fair to say. That’s why the news that the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is seen by some, including Nokia, as the event that will bring the technology to the forefront, is certainly welcome. After all, nothing attracts eyeballs quite like the World Cup—sort of in the same way that the 2006 World Cup in… → Read More
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