Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Guest column: Baseball apps for the avid supporter

Keeping inundated with all the breaking news in baseball can be hard going sometimes, especially if you source information from multiple websites. That’s why for efficiency purposes many fans are now relying on custom-built apps to get their daily fix of baseball gossip, results, or just simply general news.


Sifting through a multitude of downloadable baseball apps however is no fun for even the most devoted of fans and is extremely time consuming. That’s why in this post we thought we’d mix it up a little bit from the regular posts regarding books and look at how the world of publishing is evolving through the advent of apps that are ported straight to your mobile devices.


With the publishing industry evolving so rapidly and now relying on digital services to gain revenues instead of hardcover sales, most saw digital eBooks as the first new trend to eclipse the physical product. For a time eBooks were outselling their physical counterpart, with Amazon reputedly selling 306 digital items per second during the spike in sales.


However, as powerful as the publishing trade will always be it has been somewhat blown out the water by the efficiency in which apps bring content to the consumer. Ported directly to mobile platforms, apps have revolutionized the way we receive content. Gaming Realms, the company behind online portal Spin Genie stated that the “mobile Internet is one of the most powerful trends on the Internet landscape.” Just referencing the amount of downloads so far in such a short window is testament to the power of apps. In 2013 alone, Apple made $10 billion from app sales alone.


The potency of apps has never been more powerful and as generations grow up with them readily available, they will become even more prevalent in modern day society. However, for now, and certainly in this post, we will concentrate on the baseball apps we think you should have at the ready to keep abreast of all the breaking news.


theScore


theScore is a free app that enables you to customize your own news feed for your favorite team. Set up push notifications to alert you of breaking news and keep track of the starting lineups and latest results.


ESPN Sports Center


This list wouldn’t be complete without ESPN Sports Center. Why? Mainly due to its comprehensive coverage of all the four major sports in America, and if a story is going to break first, it’s usually via ESPN. The app also has some useful social integration features.


CBS Sports Fantasy Baseball


Fantasy baseball has blown up over the last five years with millions of Americans playing it annually. There was even an event in Las Vegas this year at the Cosmopolitan that has a prize pool of $3 million. The prize pool isn’t quite that extravagant, however you will be able to play in leagues against your friends, check live scores, accept trades, and all the usual fantasy related activities. It’s free to download and has a very easily navigable interface.


MLB.com at Bat


Another free app, MLB’s official app helps the user buy tickets, read the latest MLB news, follow their favorite teams and customize their settings. For premium subscribers, it has a host of other audio and visual features on offer such as live streams and exclusive interviews with the players.


http://www.gsmnation.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/MLB.com-At-Bat-Best-Sports-Apps.jpg


 


* This article was contributed by Thomas Jenkins. Thomas, a self-confessed sports fanatic and a follower of mobile apps. He spends his free time browsing sport-related apps and sharing them with his buddies.



Guest column: Baseball apps for the avid supporter

No comments:

Post a Comment