Mar 20
This is Texas Motor Speedway’s recently-unveiled "Big Hoss." At some 12 stories tall, it’s the world’s largest HD TV, so large that you could fit nine Alamos on its surface.
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Mar 17
The Weekly Roundup for 03.11.2013
Posted in: Today's Chili 
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Mar 13
The Daily Roundup for 03.13.2013
Posted in: Today's Chili 
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Mar 13
His car was sent spinning skyward. Two tires, an engine and a cloud of other components found their way through the safety fence, injuring 28 spectators who were sitting trackside.
When all was still, Kyle Larson’s blue and white #32 Chevrolet Camaro was nearly ripped in half. This incident, which took place in the Nationwide race the day before the Daytona 500, plus NASCAR’s seemingly knee-jerk actions to try and remove user-submitted footage of the crash from YouTube, painted for many the picture of a sport woefully ignorant of the times.
The truth, however, is rather different. The V8-powered machines that circle endlessly, fruitlessly on-track are built with a flagrant disregard for, and indeed a stubborn reluctance toward, modern technology. However, the organizing body that governs those cars and will host nearly 40 events spread over 10 months this year is anything but oblivious. In many ways NASCAR is the most technologically progressive motorsport body on the planet.
Gallery: Behind the scenes at the Daytona 500
Mar 13
It was just a nice, winter’s day over at Concord, NC. This poor salesman, Steve, from Troutman Motors didn’t think much of it. Perhaps he’d make a few sales today, and then maybe he’d clock out around 5 and head home to his family. But no, Pepsi MAX and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon had a different plan in mind for the guy. Pepsi MAX disguised Jeff Gordon up to look like just an innocent customer looking to find his next set of wheels, but in reality, he was going to instill the fear of death into poor, ol Steve.
Jeff Gordon received the full 9 yards for his disguise: facial hair, make-up, and a cheek mole. He also tried to appear as naive as possible to Steve. Pretending he didn’t know that you have to unlock cars to get inside them, having to adjust to the acceleration of the 2009 Camaro, and making a couple abrupt stops just to seal the deal. Once he had thoroughly convinced Steve that he was an amateur driver, he proceeded to scare the living crap out of him. Speeding around the Philip Morris manufacturing plant, swerving around other cars, making donuts around a light pole, all of which probably would’ve made Steve pee his pants.
Of course, this was all staged, because in reality this probably would’ve given poor, ol Steve a heart attack. This was all part of a promotion to create a viral video campaign for Pepsi MAX, and it worked, garnering over 1.8 million viewers. There were cameras placed on Jeff Gordon’s glasses, his Pepsi Max can, on the car, and all through the staging areas.
Brad Noffsinger, a racer at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, did some of the driving we saw on the video. This video was produced by “Gifted You”, a division that’s part of Will Ferrell’s Funny or Die company. There have been said to be 75 people employed to shoot this video. So while it may not be real, it’s very entertaining and everyone can agree that it’s full of awesome.
[via Business Insider]
NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon pranks a poor, unsuspecting car salesman is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 08
The Daily Roundup for 03.08.2013
Posted in: Today's Chili
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Mar 08
Despite adopting new hardware like the Gen-6 car, NASCAR has been reluctant to embrace the high tech when it comes to other facets of the sport. In the latest issue of our tablet mag, we visit Daytona to take a look at the split between history and progress that dominates the sport spawned by bootleggers. Before the checkered flag waves, Eyes-On has a glance at the Wacom Intuos5 touch, Brad Molen wraps up a month with the BlackBerry Z10 and IRL returns with a look at our personal wares. Buckle those seat belts, and head to the repository of your choosing to snag a copy for your slate.
Distro Issue 81 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro in the Windows Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
Like Distro on Facebook
Follow Distro on Twitter
Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile
Source: iTunes, Google Play, Windows Store
Mar 07
Check out NASCAR HQ’s Swanky Social Media Control Room (and Then Meet Us In Houston Tonight for Cars, Beers, and Gizmodo TV!)
Posted in: Today's Chili
Last night in Peachtree City, Georgia, I got to sit in the backseat of a VW Phaeton—the cheapest Bentley I’ve ever seen—for the first time. That pleased my inner automotive cheapskate. We served pizza and beers to Jalopnik and Gizmodo readers, showed clips from our new TV show, and debated the future legality of commercial drone flights. And that was before we even had the 2013 SRT Viper GTS in hand, since Jalopnik‘s Travis Okulski was bringing it back from the NASCAR Hall of Fame, where we’d left him when the drop-off from SRT was a little late since they hit weather. More »
Nov 12
NASCAR is one of the biggest and most popular spectator sports in the nation. They sell more seats and tickets than any single sporting event, have millions of fans, go extremely fast, and the sport uses some awesome technology that often gets missed in this world of smartphones and tablets. What you see below is the FanVision Controller that makes race day even more exciting. With live video, audio, instant replays and more read on to see how impressive this race day technology really is.
The FanVision Controller is the ultimate companion for any race fan for the sheer amount of options, data, and video it provides. For more details you’ll want to check out our previous coverage and interview with a VP from FanVision. Previously if you want to listen to commentary during a race while watching it live you’d need multiple devices. With the FanVision Controller you get that and much much more all in one useful device. Since many don’t know about the technology behind NASCAR, while SlashGear was at the AdvoCare 500 Sprint Cup this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, we decided to give it a quick look.
The video below will give you a hands-on look at this impressive device, although being their live is an entirely different beast all together. The FanVision provides live video and audio broadcast, 8 in-car cameras as well as front, side, and rearview options. Stats, detailed driver comparisons, official leader times (live), radio scanners to listen in on each race team and their pit crew, or even the overhead spotter. You’ll also get driver stat cards, team information and detailed breakdowns on points to win the Cup. This is truly an all-in-one solution that delivers the best of all worlds on race day.
Pretty neat right? Oh and did we mention instant replay? After seeing that crazy (and vindictive) crash by Jeff Gordon Sunday, we were able to get live instant replay within a matter of seconds thanks to the FanVision. It was quite awesome watching a live view from the hood of his damaged race car as he slid into the rest of the drivers late in the race. The FanVision employs a 4-inch display, it’s wrapped in rubber and is quite durable, and can even handle the elements on race day. The controls on the side let you pan between fullscreen and stat view, select the driver of your choice, control instant replay and anything else you’d like. Panning through the in-car cameras was a breeze, and as you saw on video there’s no lag whatsoever. This was live, up to the second, and brings racing fans closer to the action than ever before.
The interesting thing here is the use of UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radios instead of the usual WiFi or other options. With thousands of fans all with smartphones and cameras, press using WiFi, and networks recording live FanVision had to find a way to provide fast, fluid, and uninterrupted video and data. UHF, which is that old (yet stable) TV channel technology is perfect for the task. Providing an excellent viewing experience no matter where we were on the track.
Everything you look at when you’re at a race on the FanVision Controller is curated by the dedicated FanVision staff at the race. FanVision works with the cameras that are on-site and the information that comes direct from the source, updating every statistic and element as it changes.
“We’re not doing any kind of production, we don’t have people with cameras that are in the pits or in the garages or anything like that. We’re taking content directly from, as an example, in Phoenix, we’re taking the SprintVision content that’s being fed to the track. So we’re not – in essence – taking ESPN’s content. And as a matter of fact, the radio broadcast for this weekend will be MRN. So if we’re at an IFC track, it’s MRN radio, and if we’re at an SMI track, then it would be PRN radio.”
The digital scanner inside the device also had multiple options. You could simply listen to the live commentator broadcast for their input, or choose to listen to the driver of your choices crew, staff, and spotter. Even better was the “random” mode so we could hear the commentator, but get cut in and out of the racer of our choices communications with his team. Then you’ll hear the best of both sides. Listening to teams talk about why and when to pit brought an entire new level of experience to the race.
The FanVision is everything you get at home as far as video, replays, and stats, as well as an audio perspective only FanVision provides their customers, all while enjoying the event live on site. It really is a sight to see if you’ve never been. Being able to enjoy the extremely loud noise and heat from the engines roar, then plug into the world of FanVision really was a fun experience. You can rent your own at NASCAR races nationwide.
SlashGear was able to enjoy a Pace car ride reaching over 120 mph, get video from the NASCAR garage and pit, and a few other neat videos so stay tuned for more details. Oh and go Brad Keselowski!
NASCAR FanVision Controller hands-on is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nov 09
If there’s one thing we love about the current state of mobile devices, it’s the innovation that’s being ushered in by forward-thinking brands like event-specific handheld device group FanVision. With the FanVision Controller, these folks are bringing in in-depth information about the event they’re covering with a device that’s interactive, not just a tiny display, and connected to their data source via UHF. Believe it or not, the signals they’re working with are an older technology than the mobile data your smartphone uses, but here at each live event they work with, it works one whole heck of a lot smoother.
We had a chance to speak with FanVision’s VP of marketing mister Kevin Weinhoeft who was quick to tell us that the easiest way you can describe this device is to imagine you were at home watching the big race with a taste for all the data you could swallow in and around the track. You’d have to have your television, a computer, a radio, and maybe even your smartphone to get the same content you’re able to get sitting at the live event with a FanVision Controller. The first person he told this story to made the case: “you must have been in my living room last time I watched a race, that’s what I was doing exactly.”
This device has live statistics, live cameras, and replays of events on the track right after they occur. UHF connectivity makes the dedicated network at the track possible and isn’t interrupted by the massive amounts of data being blasted around with everyone else’s smartphone. Weinhoeft spoke on how the device was made also to be relatively rough and tumble, too, not fragile like a smartphone or a tablet.
“FanVision was designed to work in the elements. Whether it’s really cold weather or whether it’s really hot weather or whatever else. Now it’s not waterproof, by any stretch of the imagination, but – we’ve had a lot of races where there’s rain or moisture or whatever where of course we don’t have any issue with the device going down because it’s getting a little bit of rain on it.” – Weinhoeft
Everything you look at when you’re at a race on the FanVision device is curated by the dedicated FanVision staff at the race. FanVision works with the cameras that are on-site and the information that comes direct from the source, updating every statistic and element as it changes.
“We’re not doing any kind of production, we don’t have people with cameras that are in the pits or in the garages or anything like that. We’re taking content directly from, as an example, in Phoenix, we’re taking the SprintVision content that’s being fed to the track. So we’re not – in essence – taking ESPN’s content. And as a matter of fact, the radio broadcast for this weekend will be MRN. So if we’re at an IFC track, it’s MRN radio, and if we’re at an SMI track, then it would be PRN radio.”
Then there’s the video – from the on-track cameras to the in-car cameras, you’ll be getting more up-close-and-personal than you’ve ever been before, right on the FanVision Controller device. Weinhoeft makes it clear that the content they’ve got here is everything you’ve ever had on your television at home, the smart device in your pocket, and more – and right as it happens.
“The one thing, of course, we have is the live race. The second thing that is constant is that we have the fastest instant replay that’s in production. What does change from race to race is the in-car cameras. We do have 8 in-car cameras for a cup race and typically for nation-wide as well. So the in-car cameras can change. As an example, last week, all of the in-car cameras for Cup were chase drivers. That’s how the content can change from week to week.
One of the other things you’ll see on the device is Driver Cards. Basically all the details about the drivers. All the information on the drivers is updated in real-time as well. So lets say, as an example, maybe the driver had a crew chief change. If the driver would have a crew chief change, then that data would change inside the Driver Card.
Another thing that would change is on the Twitter Feed. We have specific Twitter feeds on the device, but as we move from track to track: this weekend it would be the @PhoenixRaceway handle. as opposed to a track from earlier in the season.”
Then there’s the digital scanner – made to let you in on the radio feeds that are blasting back and forth across the track between crew chiefs and racers. Right out in the open, there for you to catch. If you’d love to get in just about as close as you possibly can without literally being in the pits (like SlashGear’s own Vincent Nguyen will be this weekend, mind you, at the Advocare 500 Sprint Cup Series race), you’ll need to listen in to the words being spoken by the crews using your own lovely radio scanner – built right in to the FanVision Controller.
“One of the biggest features on the device is the scanner. Because it’s digital, there’s no frequencies the fans have to program in. So they just select their drivers and they go.
The thing that goes with that, too, is instant replays. So you can listen to the last conversation between the driver and the pit. So as an example, something happens on the other side of the track and the drivers’ got to go to the garage, well, you can go to that driver’s Card and you can listen to their last conversation.”
We’ll be having a look at this device when we’re live at the Advocare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race this Sunday as well as the following schedule of in-person events:
1. Pace Car Ride at speeds of 120+ MPH
2. Tour of NASCAR garage
3. Driver’s Meeting
4. Meet and Greet with General Motors Racing’s Chevrolet program manager for NASCAR’s top-tier Sprint Cup Series Alba Colon
5. AdvoCare 500 race (312 laps, 312 miles) Sunday, Nov. 11, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN with LIVE coverage here on SlashGear from Vincent Nguyen!
Be sure you check out the SlashGear main news feed and our Twitter as well @SlashGear to stay up-to-date on all things technologically awesome in the automotive universe! Have a peek at our brand new NASCAR tag as well to keep crusing on this particular track!
FanVision displays NASCAR live event action over local network UHF is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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