The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will start on February 6th, 2014. The Russian Empire has built a bunch of brand new arenas for the upcoming winter sports fiesta. This is our collection of the artistic-futuristic architecture of the Sochi Games, built from scratch in the past few years.
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Following a similar deal in May with the NBA, Twitter’s Amplify program has landed an envy-inducing arrangement with the National Football League. As part of the new advertising partnership, the NFL will leverage Twitter to “package in-game highlights and other video content” inside sponsored tweets, which can be distributed via a marketer during games. Both Twitter and the NFL will take a slice of the profits, though neither side is talking specific terms. As of now, it sounds as if Verizon will be the “premiere sponsor,” which grants it “exclusive sponsorship rights for Amplify ads during the Super Bowl next February.” The upside? Easily tweetable instant replays. The downside? It might make you a shill. Them’s the breaks!
Source: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal
Jabra’s Solemate was a sneaker-themed alternative to Jawbone’s Jambox, and now the company wants to hoover up those customers who want a slightly smaller Bluetooth speaker. The Solemate Mini promises all of the usual acoustic bells-and-whistles despite only being the size of a coke can, packing an eight-hour battery as well as a line-in, Bluetooth and NFC connections. Users will able to pick one up in a choice of red, yellow blue or black — color choices that’ll also come to the bigger model in short order. At the same time, the company is upgrading its Sport headphones with a shock-and-sweat-proof design as well as an FM radio. The Solemate Mini will launch globally for £99 (we expect dollar prices to be in the same ballpark), while the Sport+ earphones will retail for $79.99 with three months’ free subscription to Endomondo Premium thrown in as a happy little extra. %Gallery-slideshow81816% %Gallery-slideshow81820%
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video
BT is swiftly becoming a sports broadcasting force in the UK after acquiring ESPN UK and Ireland in February, then launching two of its own channels at the beginning of August. It’s now found a teammate in Virgin Media, and a newly inked, three-year deal will see BT Sport 1, 2, ESPN and their HD counterparts available through Sir Richard’s cable TV service. From today, all those channels go free for subscribers of the TV XL package, or can be added to other tiers for £15 per month. Watching through Virgin’s TV Anywhere app is currently not supported but will be “soon,” letting you gasp, shout and throw obscenities at even more screens.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, HD
Via: Pocket-lint
iOS users already had access to the BBC Sport app’s customizable “quick links” feature, which provides more direct access to favorite sports, but an update has just taken the idea a bit further. Quick links now work across Android and the freshly-minted Kindle Fire version too, and they additionally allow you to filter news according to which football club(s) you want to follow and which bits of multi-million-pound transfer gossip you’d rather just ignore. Other, more general improvements include refreshed indexes for a total of 41 different sports and greater prominence given to major tournaments like Formula 1 and the Ashes. If you want to check out the app on a Kindle Fire or Fire HD, you’ll need to be in the UK — an international version is still in the works and will be “available soon.” There’s a hat-trick of relevant download links below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Amazon
Source: Amazon Appstore, Google Play, iTunes
The quest to capture video will drive people to amazing and sometimes stupid lengths. Obviously the jokesters on YouTube (a la Jackass) aren’t the most qualified videographers. But nor do they need to be. For the truly serious aficionados that want to publish their adventures it has been a long quest to find a product that 1) truly captures the action, and 2) is easy enough to attach somewhere on your body, and 3) can take a beating.
Pivothead Wearable Imaging is changing the world of point-of-view video. Built into the nose bridge of their shades is a video camera capable of 1080p HD video and 8MP image sensor for stills. 8GB of on-board memory enable plenty of action to be captured. Four focus setting options give you some flexibility in the images you take. With a simple fingertip press to the top left temple/arm have access to 3 video resolution settings, 6 time lapse settings and 5 burst capture options for stills. Record audio with video via the 44.4kHz microphone on the front. Check out some of the videos on their site, or below, to get more of a feel for the a/v recordings you can get. And of course Pivothead does not slight you on the quality of the glasses themselves. Their models contain quality lenses including polarized and interchangeable versions and even Revo brand. Sixteen models, from $299, mean you will get something that suits your look. And all contain the same video technology. Once off the trail you can even transmit your files wirelessly to your mobile devices with addition of their WiFi Drive accessory. Just think, no more funky attachments for your camera on your helmet or your video cam on your handle bars. If you are in the action and want to share your view with the world become a Pivothead.
We are about to finish up the first quarter of the year, so here is the big question – how is your New Year’s Resolution of losing some weight around the waist coming along? Assuming you have already signed up for a gym membership, but somehow or rather, the rigors of life have sapped whatever energy that you have left, leaving you too lazy to hit the treadmill because of the additional amount of travel that you need to do, perhaps you need some motivation closer to home – right smack in the middle of your living room, in fact. The $249.95 Compact Core Exerciser fits the bill perfectly, and judging by its name, you know it is not going to take up plenty of space.
The Compact Core Exerciser requires no electricity at all, where it will simulate you cantering on a horse, in an effort to strengthen and tone the core muscles. You will sit on the padded saddle, rest your feet on a rubberized bar, and shift your weight backward in order to get the device’s drivewheel in motion. Most of the time, the saddle will rotate at a moderate 40 rpm or less, and you are required to make use of those lumbar muscles, abs, glutes, and thighs of yours, in an effort to build core strength so that you will be able to minimize the kind of back injuries that plague humankind, all the while improving balance and posture. Hammacher states that a 10-minute session is able to burn as many calories as 100 situps, or the equivalent of a one-hour walk.
[ Compact Core Exerciser copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
I fondly remember the childhood days of playing games outside until you could not see a foot in front of you. Neighborhood football, baseball, basketball or soccer games got everyone out of the house and active. That moment when parents started yelling “come home” out the door was always a sad moment. When mom said that it was pitch black out I never had a comeback better than “but moooommmm, the game’s not done!” Wish Reboot Sports was around in those days. We could have played all night.
Reboot’s Magma Light Up technology enables games to go on long after the sun goes down. LED’s built into the balls and bats enable you to catch, make contact and play long into the night. Magma Light units, including the LEDs, are built to handle the rigors of being whacked, thrown and more. And you can see the lighted objects from up to 100 yards away for those hail Mary’s to win the 
game. Battery life varies from unit to unit – footballs and small balls being 40 hours, bats and future bigger balls about 20 hours. Visit Reboot’s website to get hooked up with with two Magma Light Up Balls or a Scoop Ball set for $12.95 or Bat/Ball Set or Football for $24.95. They even offer a 3-pack of light up golf balls for $27.95. Stay tuned for upcoming soccer ball and basketball launches too. And good news travels fast as Maxim and NBC have recently featured Magma Light Up units as a good gift for the die hard/play hard sports fan. If you want those days of “come home, you can’t see” to be over and you or the sports fan in your life want to play into the night then visit Reboot Sports.
[ Keep Playing Into the Night copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Let us have a show of hands here – how many of you out there love a game of paintball? You know, hiding around the corner, hoping to get that vital shot in so that the rest of your mates will be able to take over the strategic point. Well, I am quite sure that paintball enthusiasts are more than familiar with regular paintball equipment, but since you want to stand out from the rest of the crowd always, here is the Airow Gun paintball attachment that will definitely add color (in more ways than one) to any paintball course.
Basically, the Airow Gun paintball attachment is a unique and innovative evolution in the paintball industry, where you should be able to increase your paintball gun accuracy with every release of the string. I am not quite sure whether this would be tantamount to cheating or not in anybody’s books, but better equipment has always been the quest of the pure sportsperson who wants to break limits, eventually merging man and machine as one.
Product Page
[ Paintball takes on a new form factor with the Airow Gun copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
If you played (or still play) sports in your younger years and look at kid’s practices today I’m guessing you will see some of the same drills you remember fondly. Though technology moves fast these days, some things – like basketball practice – don’t feel any benefit. Sure you can watch video tape. But that is about as exciting as technology gets with hoops practice. And that is the exact reason the company Infomotion Sports went to the drawing board.
Now on Kickstarter, their 94Fifty basketball brings technology to the game. Included in each ball is a sensor backed with Texas Instruments technology. Using Bluetooth and one or more of their four (Workout, QuickTraning, Compete and Challenge) iOS or Android apps the ball handler, coach or any other observer can garner a number of details all of which can help improve the players ball handling, dribbling and more. Data captured from the ball includes dribble force, backspin, shot arc plus shot speed and consistency. If you are a righty working on your lefty skills easily understand how differently you dribble with each. When your buddy says your shot is flat now you can tell exactly how flat it is. You get the point. As do some Division I men’s and women’s teams and a couple foreign professional teams who are using the system. Being registered online of course you can also challenge other users to competitions too. Get on board for a few more weeks on Kickstarter. For $195 get a ball, all apps, a 60 day trial of their online analysis tool. Or if you prefer the retail route, sign up on their site ($295 retail) for shipment this Fall. Not a hoopster? Anticipate other types of balls from them as their popularity grows. The video on their fundraising page explains much more, but it is hard to believe that knowing more about your game won’t help you improve.
[ A Smart Ball copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
