Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re a football fan, you might have heard that Sir Alexander Ferguson has now stepped down from the helm at Manchester United football club. He’s been there since 1986 and has seen times and technologies change. Sir Alex is a much respected figure in the football community, with 13 Premier League Titles, two Champions League titles and five FA cups, why wouldn’t he be? So Nokia thought that it would be fit to honor one of the greatest managers football has ever seen with a custom Lumia 920 smartphone.

It’s a clever marketing ploy by Nokia, one that should gain substantial traction, but its also a nice gesture on their part to honor one of the most revered figure in football. To top it all off, Nokia is also offering a chance to win one custom made Lumia 920 smartphone to Manchester Utd fans. All they have to do is to retweet a tweet from @Nokia_UK. They’ve not clarified whether this opportunity is limited to the UK or if it is open for everyone around the globe. Smartphones like the Lumia 920 didn’t exist back in 1986 when he first took this job, but perhaps he might be interested in one made just for him as he finally steps down.

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This unique ball turns the beautiful game into the energy-generating game. Made by a small company called Uncharted Play, the Soccket is a football that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. In other words, you get electricity simply by playing with it.

As you roll and bounce Soccket around, a pendulum inside it cranks a small generator, which in turn is connected to a small battery.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a typical hand-cranked generator can convert energy more efficiently, but of course that’s not as fun to use as the Soccket.

The Soccket weighs 17 oz., just 1 oz. heavier than a normal football. Aside from its power generating capability, the Soccket is also water-resistant, is airless and will never deflate.

Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Soccket. As of now, the electricity stored within the ball can only be used by one device – the complementary LED lamp. But Uncharted Play did say that they’ll come up with more complementary gadgets as well as a USB adapter if Soccket reaches its goal on Kickstarter. Can you imagine if all kinds of sporting balls in the world had a generator inside? We would hate ball games. Just kidding.

If you’re familiar with the iOS version, BBC’s new sports app for Android might not pack that many surprises. But it does still house a substantial amount of sports news, with a focus on the UK’s national game, football. There’s a new section encompassing fixtures, results and updating live scores for each competition and league. There’s also live text commentaries on major sports events, plus both clips and video streaming. The app, available today, is compatible with Android devices running version 2.2 or above and while the Beeb has worked to ensure it works on the recent wave of 7-inch tablets, it doesn’t currently support larger sizes. Still, there’s plenty of time for that to happen before the next World Cup. We’ve added in a shot of its testing device pile (look, a HTC ChaCha!) after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

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Source: BBC Sport app (Google Play), BBC

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