They can’t step on real grass, swing for real fences or hear the cheers of real fans, but Seattle Mariners players are still getting in some baseball, albeit virtually, during a showdown that pits them against fans in “MLB The Show 20” on PS4. Sixteen fans and 16 Mariners players, selected during a special YouTube presentation hosted by broadcaster Dave Sims on Monday, began playing on Tuesday. The first round continues Wednesday through Friday. The Mariners reported on the matchups and winners on the team’s blog, and video highlights are posted below. Players including Dee Gordon, Shed Long, Daniel Vogelbach… Read More
It’s one thing to hope that your video chat for a virtual work happy hour connects seamlessly, it’s quite another to rely on the technology as a professional football team making a selection in the NFL Draft. But that’s what 32 teams did last week when they used Microsoft Teams, the tech giant’s collaboration platform, as part of the league’s tech-heavy, first-ever virtual Draft. PREVIOUSLY: With high-tech rooms at home, Seahawks ready for remote NFL draft and AWS helps power entire event In line with its ongoing partnership with the NFL, in which Microsoft has supplied Surface tablets as sideline… Read More
Sports fans missing baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer and just about anything else that should be in play right now are holding out hope for the return of football in the fall. And Amazon is right there with them, as the tech giant announced Wednesday that it will once again deliver the live digital stream for “Thursday Night Football.” The National Football League and Amazon reached a multi-year agreement to renew their exclusive partnership, which brings 11 games broadcast by FOX on television to an audience watching on Prime Video and Twitch across a variety of sites, apps and devices. Amazon… Read More
Teams across the National Football League, familiar with the dreaded prospect of dropped passes or fumbled handoffs, are hoping dropped calls and missed connections over the internet aren’t the norm starting Thursday. That’s when the 2020 NFL Draft gets underway as a completely remote experience because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seattle Seahawks and head coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider are right in the thick of prepping for the most unusual draft of their 11 years together with the team. This week they shared some of the technical hurdles they’re addressing and what kind of remote draft… Read More
Vancouver, B.C.-based startup Form raised $8.5 million ($12 million CAD) for its augmented reality swimming goggles. Founded in 2016 by tech vet and former competitive swimmer Dan Eisenhardt, Form’s $199 goggles provide real-time visual feedback such as metrics on split times, distance, stroke rate, pace, and calories. The company launched in August and shipped more than 10,000 goggles in its first four months of operation. Large family offices in the UK and Denmark led the round, which included participation from Silicon Valley Bank. Eisenhardt previously sold sports-oriented AR startup Recon Instruments to Intel. The consumer AR market hasn’t taken off… Read More
