As I’m writing this article, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London are mere days away. With the consummate international athletic competition right around the corner, professional developers and tech junkies alike have been pushing out apps for multiple platforms to help Olympic enthusiasts capture the magic of the sporting events with a single push of a touch screen button. It was announced last week that NBC, with the help of Adobe solutions, has launched a pair of apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and a handful of Android devices for your viewing pleasure.
The apps, simply dubbed NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live Extra, were built by and are completely powered by Adobe. Olympics Live Extra live streams all 32 competitions, including 3,500 hours of video and the awarding of each medal–302 in all.
Nervous about missing a specific event? Maybe you played basketball or ran the 50-yard dash in high school and want to relive the glory days. Maybe you just want to keep a tally of who wins what. Impressively, you don’t have to miss an event in favor of another one. WIth Olympics Live Extra, users have the ability to stream multiple events in a single sport. For example, one can watch discus, javelin, sprinting, long jump, or high jump as they all fall under the umbrella event of track and field.
NBC Olympics is more quantitative and its counterpart. The app is more content-driven featuring statistics, interviews, bios, trivia, news, and highlights. In an interview with CNET, Adobe VP of Monetization Jeremy Helfand commented, “It’s really an unprecedented opportunity to take content that will be very appealing to audiences and make them available to mobile audiences.”
Unfortunately for John Q. Public, the tandem of apps aren’t readily available for everyone. In order to access the unparalleled wireless coverage, one must be a subscriber of a verified cable, satellite or telco service, and pay for a video tier including both CNBC and MSNBC. If you meet these requirements, however, you can easily download the apps to the aforementioned devices, from here, here, and here.
The mainstream production of Olympic apps are long overdue. Obviously, not everyone will be able to tune into the games via their TV. Despite any obnoxious subsequent hoopla you might encounter, the apps boast the most practical of things: Convenience. So whether you’re stuck at the office, having dinner with the inlaws, or attending summer classes, the Olympics are readily available for your device and your personal satisfaction (procrastination).
