TAYLOR’S TAKE ON THE WEEK IN SPORTS TECH: March Madness is back. The annual college basketball tournament kicks off next week as millions around the country try to fill out the perfect bracket. If you’re looking to stream live games when the first round action starts Thursday — it’s certainly a work distraction — you can access NCAA March Madness Live online or via apps for iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Windows 10, Xbox, and Roku. There is also support for Chromecast and AirPlay. Here’s the full schedule of games all the way to the championship on April 2. Turner Sports and… Read More
Can a computer fill out a March Madness bracket better than humans? So far this year, it doesn’t look like it. As the Sweet 16 kicks off Thursday with four NCAA men’s basketball tournament games, we took a look at Microsoft Bing’s bracket performance thus far. Bing, which used “intelligent machine-learning technology to analyze social and search signals” to make its bracket predictions, is 34-14 so far through 48 games played. It missed eight picks in the first round, and another six in the second round. Bing also only has two Final Four teams remaining — it picked Louisville and Villanova (its… Read More
Intel is upping its virtual reality game. The tech giant today announced a multi-year deal with Turner Sports and the NCAA to stream March Madness college basketball games in virtual reality, starting with this month’s NCAA men’s national tournament. Intel is building off its acquisition of virtual reality startup Voke last year. Before that deal, Voke partnered with Turner and the NCAA to broadcast the 2016 Final Four and National Championship in virtual reality for the first time. Now Intel, with help from Turner Sports, is doubling down. Starting with this weekend’s Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matchups, the company will stream six games — including… Read More
We’re getting ready for our second annual GeekWire Sports Tech Summit that will take place on June 22 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Last year’s inaugural event featured leaders like Steve Ballmer and Doug Baldwin talking about the intersection of sports and tech, and we’re expecting an even better Sports Tech Summit this summer. This week we’re offering an early way to snag a free ticket — a test of your NCAA basketball knowledge. GeekWire is hosting a March Madness pool, and the top-finisher will win a ticket to the GeekWire Sports Tech Summit this June. The annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament kicks off… Read More
Can Villanova repeat as national champs? Is this finally Gonzaga’s year? How far will Northwestern go? Don’t ask us. If you really want help with your NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship bracket, go ask Bing. The folks at the Microsoft search engine say they use “intelligent machine-learning technology to analyze social and search signals” in making their March Madness bracket a better bet than the one filled out by your kid. After not watching a single college basketball game this season (guilty — Syracuse fan!) I’m a little apprehensive about filling out a bracket in the next several hours. But Bing sure… Read More
