Wimbledon Turns Digital With Twitter

It’s that time of the year again when we can watch the world’s best tennis players appear at Wimbledon, one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments.

Unfortunately, the defending champion, Andy Murray is already out of the tournament after getting knocked out earlier in the week. Although this isn’t the only major talking point of the tournament, in fact, this year is set to be the most social Wimbledon ever.

Organisers of Wimbledon are turning to Twitter to help bring fans closer to the action than ever before. Last year social media went into overdrive, especially during the final which saw Andy Murray win the tournament, but this year there is a huge focus on user-generated content.

Members of the public can tweet updates, photographs and votes which will appear on the big screens at Henman Hill (or Murray Mound). There will be a whole host of match-based questions posted throughout the tournament which will prompt the public to get involved.

That’s not all – the organisers are also working with video player Grabyo which will provide video replays of different moments in the games on Twitter. We are likely to see highlights from Centre Court as well as players celebrations, impressive rallies and crowd reactions.

Wimbledon’s adoption of Twitter started on June 23rd when Andy Murray first stepped out onto Centre Court in an attempt to retain his title and the social hashtag to use was #WelcomeBackAndy. Those who got involved were in with a chance of winning one of five digital images of Andy when he won Wimbledon last year, signed and inscribed with a message from him personally.

There is an ongoing competition people can still get involved with too, which gets people to take their best ‘selfies’ and post them to Twitter on a daily basis for a chance to win some prizes and goodies from the official Wimbledon shop.

Although Andy Murray is out, Wimbledon organisers are still optimistic this will be the most social tournament to date. So, if you want to get involved, make sure you tweet the handle @Wimbledon and use a relevant hashtag, or even send in your selfie from Henman Hill.

Google Glass Is Here - And We Have It!

Our MD Richard Eaton sporting our
very own Glass at Appware HQ

If you’ve been one of those people patiently waiting for Google Glass to come to the UK, then we have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is it’s here.

You can now get your hands (and ears and nose) on Google Glass, although it’s not as easy as popping to the shop to buy it – it’s much more complicated.

The bad news is you can only get your mitts on them if you’re over 18 and own a credit card. If you fit this
criteria you can then attempt to join Google’s UK Explorer Program, which will mean you can then get yourself a prototype headset if you stump up £1,000. Simple right?!

This price tag has already been met with a number of critics who have said Google Glass is overpriced and is reported in the US to give some people headaches, not forgetting making you look a bit strange too.

If the £1,000 price tag doesn’t faze you, then perhaps you want to make the Google Glass look a bit more stylish? If you do, then you can get some designer frames for it so you don’t look a complete “Glasshole” (a term coined to mean someone who wears Google Glass). This is also important for anyone who already wears prescription glasses as normal lenses can be fitted to these. If you don't already wear glasses then there are a variety of sunglass shades available too. Thankfully in the UK for your £1,000 you'll get these for "free" rather than having to stump up even more money.

So, if you’re desperate to get Google Glass you may have to think about selling a kidney to do so. Unfortunately that's the high price for being such an early adopter. This has always been the case with technology though, just take a look at the cost of the original camcorders compared to what they are now!

Here at Appware we decided that it's a price worth paying so are one of the first in the UK to have some. Our MD Richard Eaton wrote up his initial impressions on his personal microblog here if you'd like to read more about them. We're also happy to demonstrate the glasses and will be doing some presentations and talks around the country of Glass shortly. Just contact us if you'd like to know where and when or if you've got an event you'd like us to present at.

As Glass also run Apps then it won't be a surprise to hear that we're already experimenting. Watch this space to see our latest App developments for Glass which will no doubt be some of the first Glass Apps developed in the UK!

Facebook Tries To Conquer Snapchat

Facebook has showed its intention to conquer the social world again by launching a photo-messaging app.

Just one week after accidentally releasing the app on Apple’s App Store, it has now been officially launched in hope of becoming the next big thing in photo-sharing.

The app, known as Slingshot, differs from what is already out there slightly in that the only way you can ‘unlock’ the photo your friend has sent you, is by sending them one back, or ‘sling-it’ back.

Similar to Snapchat though, once the image has been viewed, it gets deleted. Another similarity is that you can also scribble or type all over the photos, something you can also do on Snapchat.

The creators of the app said this on their social media page: “Slingshot was built so that everybody is a creator and nobody feels like just a spectator.”

In 2012, Facebook purchased the photo-sharing network Instagram for a figure said to be around the £589 million mark, and today they are using their knowledge from this to create an app that they think will gain more users than its nearest competitor Snapchat.

Facebook had tried to create a similar app before called Poke, but this was abandoned recently and had been labelled by many as a ‘copy-cat app’. Facebook created Poke after being snubbed by Snapchat when they offered them $3 billion to buy the company. Slingshot has been given a number of different features that other apps don’t have to avoid being given the ‘copycat’ label again.

For Facebook users, it is simple to download the app and login using your normal logins but for those that do not have a Facebook account, you can sign up without having to create a new account.  All the new users will need is their mobile number so that they can connect with friends in their contact list, something that is also very similar to Snapchat.

It will be interesting to see how well Slingshot will do, given its similarities to Snapchat, and whether it will claim the crown of being the best instant photo-sharing app of today.

Gear Your Phone Up For The World Cup

Like it or not, the next month or so will be full of World Cup Facebook updates, office agendas including whose team is doing well in the sweepstake and a serious lack of cars on the roads in the evenings.

Yesterday started the biggest competition in the whole of football, the World Cup in Brazil. If you find yourself getting into the spirit much to your own dislike, you can join in the discussions and keep up-to-date with what’s going on through a selection of World Cup apps.

Regardless of where you are, you can get the latest action with the help of these apps:

1. FIFA Official App
When it comes to trustworthy information, this app has to be the winner. FIFA’s app covers every angle so you can follow your national team, see when their next game is and see who the opposition’s most dangerous player is with the team profiles.

2. World Soccer Finals
If you’re obsessed with football, this one might be for you. This app contains a whole host of information on live matches including line-ups, red and yellow cards, results and player information so you can see who’s playing well and who should be taken out of your dream team.

3. Squawka
This is an app for those people who like to go to the pub and share their opinions, and want to back it up with cold hard stats. This app is assisted by Opta, the fountain of football knowledge. If you and your mate disagree over who is the better player at the world cup, this app can compare the two and you can see who’s right. A pint to the one who wins!

4. BBC Sport
This app is already owned by a number of sports fans and for good reason too; it sends you updates when someone scores and allows you to read a full commentary if you can’t get to a TV (or just prefer not to listen to the commentary).

5. ITV Player
Perhaps you’re stuck at work and can’t get near a TV? Well, the ITV Player app lets you stream the match live so you can catch every minute of the action. Although, your boss might get a bit suspicious if you take 45 minutes to go for a wee.

The best part about all of these apps is they’re free, so you can keep up with all of the goals, cheers and crying without having to pay a penny.

5 Best Free Android Games

If you’re one of those people who gets fed up of hearing, “I’ve got an app for that”, now is your chance to shine as we go through the 5 best free android games available to download now.

The ‘free-to-play’ market has seen a drop over recent months due to a lot of gamers getting fed up with the in-app purchases but the world of mobile gaming is far from over, as these five games will prove.

1. The Simpsons Tapped Out
We all loved watching The Simpsons growing up, but now the loveable Springfield characters have their own mobile game and it is a lot better than you would have thought it to be. EA have created a brilliant game that will make your weekly train commutes feel like a doddle. The storyline is creative and long enough for you not to need to get a new game for a while.

2. Angry Birds Space
Angry Birds has arguably been one of the most successful gaming apps of all time, and there has been a whole host of apps to branch off from it, but Angry Birds Space is, in our opinion, one of the best. It introduces clever physics with puzzling levels to create an annoyingly addictive game, just like all of the other Angry Birds games.

3. Dots
Dots is possibly one of the simplest games you will ever play, but that’s what makes it brilliant. All you have to do is draw lines between the coloured dots, then once these are linked, they disappear and new ones drop in. But, be warned, once you download this free game you may get surprisingly addicted.

4. Stick Cricket
This quirky cricket game reduces cricket to its simplest form and all you really have to do is smash the ball as hard as you can every time it’s bowled at you. Once you get into a rhythm, you will feel like Freddy Flintoff, but at the start, you definitely won’t. Keep at it!

5. Plague Inc
The idea of this game might seem a bit on the crazy side, but it is a strategy game that cannot be put down. The idea of this game is to place a virus in a country and attempt to spread it across the whole globe by getting it in in the air, water or through human contact. The aim is to wipe out each country gradually, but it is not as easy as it sounds.

So, the next time you need to fill that 10 minute void in your day, turn to one of these great free apps.

5 Things To Know About Apple Buying Beats

It emerged this week that Apple have finally put an end to all the rumours,  capping off a month-long debate by purchasing Beats.

Apple made the purchase official yesterday with sources claiming the deal has cost around £1.79 billion, which means a very big payday indeed for Dr.Dre and Jimmy Lovine.

This blockbuster deal does mean a few changes though and five of the things you should know include:

1. iTunes and iTunes Radio will be staying
Many people were worried that Beats Music would be replacing the iTunes Store and/or iTunes Radio but for the time being, that’s not going to happen. Beats Music will continue to be a subscription service but iTunes will live as a free option.

2. Love them or Hate them, there’s going to be more of them
Beats headphones have been met with a mixed reaction over the years with people either loving them or calling them ‘overpriced’ or ‘overrated’, but one thing is for sure, they’re going to be in more Apple stores than ever before. Good news for some at least.

3. Dr.Dre and Jimmy Lovine will become Apple Employees
It is not entirely set in stone what these two will be doing at Apple, but we pretty sure it’s not going to be a ‘genius’ in one of their stores. But, according to the Wall Street Journal, Dr.Dre will be doing as much as possible to help Apple during his spare time, whatever that means.

4. This is Apple’s 27th purchase over the last 12 months
Apple has been busy added a string of companies to its cart over the last 12 months and Beats is up there with the biggest. In fact, this is the biggest buy Apple have ever made. A number of the other purchases are much smaller in stature and in price tag, but this does show us that Apple knows what it wants and knows it will pay what it can to make it happen.

5. Although it’s ‘Official’, it’s not a done deal
Although everything seems signed, sealed and delivered, the deal is far from done yet. There is a number of regulatory bodies that will have to pass the purchase before the deal can be finalised but the deal should be completed very soon.

Its Wristy Business

We’re not one to shy away from the wearable battle.  We’re back in the hunt to find the best wearable and Microsoft might be seeking their moment to strike.

After surrendering the smartphone race with just 5% market share in both the US and Western Europe, Microsoft could look to wearable’s as their future foothold in consumer tech.

Microsoft have produced an under par performance when it comes to their other markets, but will be likely to try and find a save from grace with a high-tech wearable device. With more people moving away from desktop PCs to smartphones and tablets, it could be a bold move.

There is no clear winner in the smart watch race and it is continuing to be more difficult to distinguish a front-runner. Samsung are standing tall with the Galaxy Gear, Nike are happy with the Gear Fit and Apple seem smug with their iWatch concepts, so Microsoft will definitely be interested in joining the battle.

In fact, Microsoft has already begun filing a patent that will allow a wearable device to display information and can be taken out of its strap and placed into a docking station. Microsoft’s tiling interface could fit perfectly on your wrist and rumours emerged that they will be looking to include a number of features like a clock app, maps and a notification centre.

After the recent $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia, this could prove to be hugely influential in the wearable they create. Nokia have already toyed with the idea of creating a wearable so with this exploration combined with Microsoft’s knowledge, we could expect a well-designed smart watch that comes in a number of vibrant colours by the end of 2015.

Although, it won’t be entirely plain sailing to the finish line as Motorola are looking to steal the show with their Moto 360, as are LG with their G watch and likewise Google with their own take on the wearables.

All we know is, being able to look at your wrist and telling the time could become a lot more technical. Hoorah!