Although it’s probably completely against Fifa regulations, Japanese luxury toilet maker Toto has turned one of its commodes into what has to be the greatest soccer goalie ever. It’s a step-up from the company’s Poop-Powered Toiletcycle. But as impressive as it is, it’s still pretty useless as far as toilet innovation goes. More »
While much of the world knows the game with a round black and white ball as “football,” here in the U.S., we call the game “soccer.” So this picture of multiple Spocks dressed up in soccer uniforms probably only makes sense here, in Canada and maybe Australia. Er, actually, it doesn’t make sense at all.
But that doesn’t mean the image doesn’t make me giggle like a little schoolgirl. There’s just something so silly about this image by artist Tommervik that I want to make it the wallpaper on my computer now.
But if your ambitions are greater than desktop wallpaper, you can pick up an 11×14 canvas print of this goofy image over on Etsy for $140(USD). It’ll look great alongside that Mona Lisa you picked up a couple of years back.
While most of us have spent the last few weeks preparing for the return of North American-style football (get our NFL Pick ‘Em league info here), soccer fans in the US and France have been tracking the sudden rise of international TV network beIN Sport. Operated out of Qatar by Al Jazeera, beIN Sport USA has snagged the exclusive broadcast rights to Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, South American World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America 2015, plus the away games for the US national men’s team in their qualifying rounds. The bad news for those interested in viewing the games is that until just recently, there were no carriers for the channel, although DirecTV (which also recently added BBC America HD for Doctor Who fans) and Dish have subsequently added it to a few tiers. Most recently, Comcast announced the channel’s availability on its Spanish MultiLatino package and for English viewers on the Xfinity TV Sports Entertainment lineup, with access also available via internet streaming. It appears Fox and ESPN have a new challenger at least for broadcast rights to soccer, and beIN Sport has expressed interest into other arenas as well, which could see it become a newer version of the now-defunct Worldsport HD channel for fans of sports that are more popular outside the US.
Continue reading beIN Sport USA soccer channel comes to Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
beIN Sport USA soccer channel comes to Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The app devs over at Sky Sports are having a busy year, and after improving their iPad offering for the F1 season, they’re back with a “second screen” update for football (soccer) fans. Just in time for the start of the UK Premier League season, the new Football Match Centre adds a content bar alongside your chosen stream showing team and player info, in-depth stats of the match in progress and a hand-picked Twitter feed for related musings. You might think the devs deserve a break, but sadly there’s no time — next on the agenda is a similar update for the Champions League tournament, then they’re bringing the second screen to golf fans before the Ryder Cup starts next month.
Continue reading Football fans score additional content in Sky Sports for iPad update
Filed under: Software
Football fans score additional content in Sky Sports for iPad update originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Not to be outdone by The Worldwide Leader in Sports, Sky’s just released its own application to keep football enthusiasts entertained while on the go — at least Premier League fans using Android slabs. Unlike the ESPN app, however, Sky Sports is charging £5 (around $8) per month for its offering, though it will — with the help of ESPN, no less — stream over 100 EPL matches live, so you’re not limited to only highlights and previews. That being said, Sky Sports TV also lets UK and Ireland folks watch other sporting events, including F1 races, PGA Golf and tennis events like the US Open. The bad news is the app currently doesn’t support Jelly Bean-loaded devices, which, for now, will most likely only affect a tiny section of Mountain View’s user base — if that’s not you, though, the link to download is down below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Sky Sports TV app for Android now available, brings live events to the UK and Ireland originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 07:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Some football leagues around the globe have already kicked off the 2012-2013 season, but there’s still some time before the ball officially starts rolling in other parts of the world — unless, of course, you take into consideration this past Sunday’s Community Shield. In any case, ESPN appears to have prepared itself pretty well for the upcoming footie spell, announcing an all-new ESPNFC landing page and a full set of applications to accompany the fresh site — which will essentially be replacing what we used to know as ESPNsoccernet. Furthermore, The Worldwide Leader in Sports updated its ESPN Goals app on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, bringing game previews and highlights, analyst ramblings from folks like Tommy Smith, as well as the ability to easily share these videos with friends on Twitter or Facebook. If you asked us, we’d say this isn’t a half bad way to keep yourself updated on the latest global soccer happenings, and could, perhaps, even help in your quest to become fantasy league champion.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software
ESPN launches ESPNFC site and apps, updates ESPN Goals with match previews, highlights originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 05:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Relive the nail-biting insanity and inherent unfairness of soccer’s penalty shootout over at Google right now, as you try to match our first-attempt score of 18 points and two gold stars. (We’ll update this post as soon as an Engadget editor gets a result we can be proud of.) It’s a ballistic way to end a run of Doodles that has already involved canoeing, hoops, hurdles and all-round Olympic work avoidance. Post your scores here at your own risk.
Update: Did we say 18? We meant 81, but forgot to take a grab, so officially we’ll have to make do with a top score of 34.
Continue reading Doodle friday: End your week with a penalty shootout
Filed under: Internet
Doodle friday: End your week with a penalty shootout originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I’ve been wanting to see how some of the major game developers and publishers were going to be using that LCD touchscreen on the new Wii U controller. I suspected that a lot of sports game fans would find that touchscreen on the Wii U GamePad to be pretty compelling. After all, it looks like a perfect place for a coach’s clipboard style interface.
EA Sports has confirmed that its popular sports franchises Madden NFL 13 and FIFA Soccer 13 will be coming to the Wii U, and they posted an image which gives us a sense of how the controller will be used. FIFA uses the touchscreen on the controller for an overall view of where players are on the field. It also allows the user to lift the touchscreen up and look at the touchscreen to aim the ball on set pieces and penalty kicks.
EA didn’t offer up an official pic of exactly what Madden 13 would do with the touchscreen. However, they did say that using the touchscreen players will be able to streamline play calling, make pre-snap adjustments, and manage team personnel. I can see it being much easier to choose plays when you can touch them on the controller rather than having to scroll through options on a normal game controller. It’ll also let you be more secretive about the plays you’re selecting when there’s no chance the other player can figure it out from your personal screen.
Expect both games to ship this Fall when the Wii U launches.
Today was yet another marvelous day for football buffs everywhere, as Adidas and MLS have announced Major League Soccer will be the first intelligent circuit on the globe. Having already planned an official debut for the German company’s Elite System, now the pair’s made it known that the wearable technology is going to be expanding well beyond next week’s All-Star Game and into the MLS 2013 season. To refresh your mind a bit, the miCoach Elite System tracks an array of instrumental player data, such as speed (even if painfully slow like the Rio Ferdinand of late), acceleration, position, heartbeat and even the intensity of play — which is then pushed instantly to, you guessed it, a coach’s miCoach-equipped iPad. Adidas didn’t mention when, or if, the Elite System will be adapted elsewhere, so we’ll have to wait and see how long it takes others to join the “smart soccer” fun.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables
Adidas miCoach Elite System set to equip all MLS teams in 2013, creates world’s first ‘smart league’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Increasingly, the image of a “sports nerd” is a pasty weakling with a laptop and a spreadsheet. It’s Moneyball’s fault, or something. But for more fluid sports like soccer, deep statistical analysis has proven challenging. Not anymore. Adidas is tracking every movement of every player in the MLS—and soon, maybe all of sports. More »
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