Monday, May 6, 2013

Sports News App Aggregates Tweets Related to Your Favorite Teams

Beyond-the-box-compositeVignesh Ramachandran2013-04-26 03:03:57 UTC

Sports fans that use a tablet or smartphone — the "second screen" — during live game broadcasts are becoming more and more common these days. For this year's Super Bowl, a Century 21 Real Estate survey found that 36% of polled viewers said they would use a second screen to supplement the game-viewing experience.

A Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup is catering to that trend with a new tablet app that aggregates real-time tweets from 1,000 media sources and 2,000 players. So if the game is on or you just want to see the chatter surrounding your favorite teams, the free "Beyond the Box" app by Murphy Ave. Inc. does the legwork for you with refined Twitter updates from interesting people, players and sources.

The app includes content covering NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams. You can pick your favorite teams to get timelines of updates, analysis and links from the app's various aggregated sources. For example, for my hometown football team — the Denver Broncos — I can instantly read tweets by everyone from linebacker Von Miller to SB Nation's Mile High Report to the team's official Twitter feed.

App co-founder Shailo Rao told Mashable that it brings everything together into one timeline, because he says it's hard to navigate to twenty different sports sites or apps that someone might frequently visit.

"[Beyond the Box] aggregates all the great content about your favorite teams or about other teams in the league that you just want to track," Rao said. "You'll get a different take that goes beyond what the TV commentators are telling you."

The app [iTunes link] launched Thursday and is currently only available for iPad and iPad Mini.

Rao, a self-professed sports junkie himself, said Beyond the Box reduces the need for sports fans to manually curate feeds: "Twitter is the new RSS."

He also said the app can allow fans to discover new sources, including the ability to engage directly with players and their thoughts through tweets.

"It's not just about what the local beat writer or what the team itself wants to pump out," Rao said.

"It's not just about what the local beat writer or what the team itself wants to pump out," Rao said.

Rao also pointed out that unlike competitors (think Turner Sports' Bleacher Report Team Stream and ESPN's SportsCenter Feed), Beyond the Box is not restricted by content restrictions or exclusive partnerships, which could eliminate bias that may come along with those things.

In the future, Rao said they might expand to college and international sports (e.g., world soccer and cricket).

Though you could likely just spend the time to curate your own Twitter lists of sources to follow instead, this app not only does that work for you, but it has a clean user interface. Even when a league is off-season, an app like this can be an interesting way to more easily follow the social conversation (like the ongoing NFL Draft 2013).

Rao, along with co-founder Vam Makam, are developing Beyond the Box in Stanford's accelerator, StartX.

Do you use sports news aggregator websites or apps? Let us know in the comments.

Mashable composite thumbnail and lead image: Graphics via iStockphoto, Link-creative; photo by Vignesh Ramachandran/Mashable. App screenshot courtesy of Beyond the Box.

Topics: aggregation, aggregator, apps, Apps and Software, MLB, NBA, news aggregation, news aggregator, NFL, NHL, professional sports, second screen, second screen apps, Sports, Tech, Twitter if(window.pageChanged) window.omni({"channel":"tech","content_type":"article","top_channel":"tech","content_source_type":"Internal","content_source_name":"Internal","author_name":"Vignesh Ramachandran","age":"0","pub_day":26,"pub_month":4,"pub_year":2013,"pub_date":"04/26/2013","isPostView":true,"post_lead_type":"Default"}); metaData = {"link":[["canonical","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/beyond-the-box-sports-news-aggregator/"],["image_src","http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI2L2NmL0JleW9uZHRoZUJvLjY0ZDlkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/c02628c0/93e/Beyond-the-Box-Composite.jpg"]],"meta_property":[["og:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/beyond-the-box-sports-news-aggregator/"],["og:title","Sports News App Aggregates Tweets Related to Your Favorite Teams"],["og:type","article"],["og:site_name","Mashable"],["og:image","http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI2L2NmL0JleW9uZHRoZUJvLjY0ZDlkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/c02628c0/93e/Beyond-the-Box-Composite.jpg"],["og:article:published_time","2013-04-26T03:03:57Z"],["og:article:modified_time","2013-04-26T03:04:09Z"]],"meta_name":[["description","The \"Beyond the Box\" iPad sports news aggregator app features real-time tweets from 1,000 media sources and 2,000 players, including your favorite teams."],["keywords",["apps","aggregation","aggregator","news-aggregator","nfl","professional-sports","nhl","nba","mlb","news-aggregation"]],["twitter:title","Sports News App Aggregates Tweets Related to Your Favorite Teams"],["twitter:description","Sports fans that use a tablet or smartphone \u2014 the \"second screen\" \u2014 during live game broadcasts are becoming more and more common these days. For this year's Super Bowl, a Century 21 Real Estate surve..."],["twitter:image","http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI2L2NmL0JleW9uZHRoZUJvLjY0ZDlkLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTU2MHg3NTAKZQlqcGc/d82270b2/93e/Beyond-the-Box-Composite.jpg"],["twitter:site","@mashable"],["twitter:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/beyond-the-box-sports-news-aggregator/"],["twitter:creator","@mashable"],["twitter:card","photo"],["twitter:image:width","560"],["twitter:image:height","750"]],"short_url":[["short_url","http://on.mash.to/15SFdTz"]]};

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Man Proposes to His Girlfriend With a Drone

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2013-04-26 03:39:25 UTC

In the age of Internet and ubiquitous technology, we've seen a lot of great, original marriage proposals, even geekily romantic ones. But this one, made with the aid of a drone, might very well top the geek scale.

In a video posted to YouTube, a man from San Francisco, Calif., Jason, proposed to his girlfriend, Christina. Jason took her to well-known Alamo Square Park with the excuse of taking some pictures of her — then had an RC helicopter drone deliver the ring.

Watch this amazing marriage proposal in the video above.

Image courtesy of YouTube, Chris Geiger

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Texting Your Parents About Drug Deals Is Terrible (and Hilarious)

Teens-textingSam Laird2013-04-25 16:27:04 -0400

Comedian Nathan Fielder made parents across the country Google "rehab" with a little game that he challenged his 39,000 Twitter followers to play.

The fun all started with this tweet encouraging followers to prank their parents:

Sure enough, the responses rolled in quick — and they are hysterical. Here are some of the best parental reactions, which range from enraged to sassy and sweet to totally clueless:

Special shout out to the mom who called her kid a "huge turd."

Image courtesy iStockphoto, cpuga

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Amazon Stock Flat After Strong Earnings Report

Istock_000021743070large1Lauren Indvik2013-04-25 20:42:28 UTC

After missing analysts' expectations for three consecutive quarters, Amazon beat the Street's forecast, reporting earnings of $0.18 per share compared to earnings of $0.28 per share last year. Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings of $0.10 per share.

Despite the good news, Amazon's stock was up only 1% to approximately $277 per share in after-hours trading.

The report shows that sales continued to grow at a slightly slower clip in Q1, up 22% year-over-year to $16.07 billion. Growth for the last four quarters has averaged 28%. Operating cash flow increased 39% to $4.25 billion. Free cash flow declined 85% to $177 million, which Amazon attributes to its $1.4 billion investment in property and corporate office space at its headquarters in Seattle.

Amazon said its net sales and operating income were negatively impacted by changes in foreign exchange rates, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

The company expects to have a slower second quarter, with net sales in the range of $15.35 billion, up 17.5% from Q2 2012, and a total operating income loss of about $165 million.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, PinkTag

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Show Us the Beauty of Your Hometown

Hometown-photoNora Grenfell2013-04-26 01:26:13 UTC

When the luxury of travel to another city or country eludes us, we can turn to familiar haunts to get away from it all — without getting away at all. The comfort of a hometown haven can be as invigorating as a trip to a new land.

This week for the Mashable Photo Challenge, we want to see your hometown escapes: the local spots in your life that are most important to you. Whether it's a communal arena or the quiet privacy of your own backyard, we want to see your favorite part of the place where you live. Follow the directions below to submit your photo, and our guest curator will select some of the most creative and compelling submissions to feature on Mashable.

Tweet your photo of your favorite hometown spot to @mashablehq with the hashtag #MashPics OR

Instagram your photo with the hashtag #MashPics OR

Upload your photo in the photo widget below OR

Post the link to your photo in the comments below

This week's guest curator is Brian DiFeo of New York City. Brian is an expert in photographing his hometown: he started the Instagram NYC group in March 2011 and co-founded The Mobile Media Lab, an agency focused on visual marketing. In the above shot, Brian captured his favorite hometown escape: Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Brian says, "I'm a big Mets fan and seeing them play is also an escape from my everyday NYC life."

What's your hometown escape? We can't wait to see!

BONUS: Photo Tips for the Digital Age

Atw-11 Atw-12 Screen-shot-2013-04-11-at-10-58-02-am Screen-shot-2013-04-11-at-11-08-30-am Screen-shot-2013-04-11-at-3-39-19-pm

Image courtesy of Brian DiFeo

Topics: community, Mashable Photo Challenge Guest Series, Photos, photography, Social Media if(window.pageChanged) window.omni({"channel":"social-media","content_type":"article","top_channel":"social-media","content_source_type":"Internal","content_source_name":"Internal","author_name":"Nora Grenfell","age":"0","pub_day":26,"pub_month":4,"pub_year":2013,"pub_date":"04/26/2013","isPostView":true,"post_lead_type":"Default"}); metaData = {"link":[["canonical","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/photo-challenge-hometown/"],["image_src","http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI2L2YxL2hvbWV0b3ducGhvLjVmZmZhLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/09b4ecef/ec2/hometown-photo.jpg"]],"meta_property":[["og:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/photo-challenge-hometown/"],["og:title","Show Us the Beauty of Your Hometown #MashPics"],["og:type","article"],["og:site_name","Mashable"],["og:image","http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI2L2YxL2hvbWV0b3ducGhvLjVmZmZhLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/09b4ecef/ec2/hometown-photo.jpg"],["og:article:published_time","2013-04-26T01:26:13Z"],["og:article:modified_time","2013-04-26T01:26:23Z"]],"meta_name":[["description","For this week's Mashable Photo Challenge, send us a photo of your favorite local places to recharge. What does your hometown escape look like?"],["keywords",["community","photo","photography","uncategorized","social-media","mashable-photo-challenge-guest-series"]],["twitter:title","Show Us the Beauty of Your Hometown"],["twitter:description","When the luxury of travel to another city or country eludes us, we can turn to familiar haunts to get away from it all -- without getting away at all. The comfort of a hometown haven can be as invigor..."],["twitter:image","http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI2L2YxL2hvbWV0b3ducGhvLjVmZmZhLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTU2MHg3NTAKZQlqcGc/fbfefb6a/ec2/hometown-photo.jpg"],["twitter:site","@mashable"],["twitter:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/photo-challenge-hometown/"],["twitter:creator","@mashable"],["twitter:card","photo"],["twitter:image:width","560"],["twitter:image:height","750"]],"short_url":[["short_url","http://on.mash.to/12KwgsD"]]};

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Yahoo's Chairman Resigns

Fred-amorosoSeth Fiegerman2013-04-25 22:59:49 UTC

Fred Amoroso, Yahoo's chairman of the board, is resigning his position, the company announced late Thursday.

Amoroso took over as Yahoo's chairman in May at the same time that Ross Levinsohn was appointed interim CEO. As chairman, he led the team that investigated Yahoo's former CEO Scott Thompson for fabricating some of his credentials. He also played a part in helping bring Marissa Mayer in from Google to serve as Yahoo's new CEO.

"Fred has been a wonderful chairman for Yahoo! over the past year, and I’m personally grateful for his trust and guidance as I took on the role as Yahoo! CEO," CEO Marissa Mayer said in a statement. “Fred’s mentorship and perspective has proved truly valuable to me in my first few months here at Yahoo!."

In a statement, Amoroso said his intention from the beginning was to serve as chairman for one year in order to help steer Yahoo through a period of transition. Amoroso will stay on the board through June 25.

Yahoo has appointed Maynard Webb, Jr. to serve as interim chairman to replace Amoroso for now. Webb has a pretty impressive background himself, including serving as the CEO of LiveOps and the COO of eBay.

Yahoo's stock was essentially flat in after-hours trading following the news.

Image courtesy of YouTube, IrishTechnology

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FitBark Is a FitBit for Your Dog

DogzEmily Price2013-04-25 18:29:13 UTC

Ever wonder if your pooch is active enough?

A new product called FitBark attempts to help you find out. A sort of FitBit for your canine companion, the device keeps track of how active your dog is, and then gives you a daily BarkScore for the day.

“The inspiration for FitBark came out of a need to feel connected with our dogs through every moment of the day, even when we are busy working, traveling or apart for stretches of time,” FitBark founder Michael Chiang told Mashable.

Chiang and his team looked around for something that would give them a real-time look into their dog’s health. While they found quite a few options for humans — RunKeeper, NikeFuel, FitBit — they couldn’t find anything for dogs.

“What started as a fun and curious project to check up on our dog Freud — and track if our family, friends, and caretakers were really walking him— has become the start of an amazing journey through technology and pet parenting. Along the way, we have met other dog owners and dog lovers who are now part of the team to help turn our idea into a product.”

Through a small device on your dog's collar, FitBark can let you know how your dog is doing at any given moment — whether you’re in the other room, or across the country. Useful for traveling, you can see exactly when a caretaker took your furry friend for a walk, and how long the walk was. Data is transferred from the device to the cloud either through your smartphone, or a small "home base" station placed in your home.

If your dog gets sick, you can give your vet exact details about your dog’s activity over the past few days, including how long he’s been sleeping.

The BarkScore for each day can help you see at a glance how much activity your pooch has gotten over the course of the day, and whether he could use a little more.

“For now, we measure only the minimum amount of activity your dog needs based on a handful of variables which include size, age and weight,” says Chiang.

”As we gather more data from the growing community of FitBark users, we'll be able to identify trends which are meaningful and will be able to break down the information in a more granular way. The goal is to use historical information to be able to guide actions in the future through recommendations and even develop predictive capabilities,” he added.

FitBark launches Thursday at NY TechDay, along with a Kickstarter to fund its development.

What do you think of FitBark? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Thumbnail Image Courtesy iStock, User DBark; Other Images courtesy of FitBark

Topics: Apps and Software, fitness, Gadgets, kickstarter, Mobile, pets, Tech if(window.pageChanged) window.omni({"channel":"tech","content_type":"article","top_channel":"tech","content_source_type":"Internal","content_source_name":"Internal","author_name":"Emily Price","age":"0","pub_day":25,"pub_month":4,"pub_year":2013,"pub_date":"04/25/2013","isPostView":true,"post_lead_type":"Default"}); metaData = {"link":[["canonical","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/fitbark/"],["image_src","http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI1L2RiL2RvZ3ouOTgzZjYuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJNzIweDcyMCMKZQlqcGc/d84342bb/549/dogz.jpg"]],"meta_property":[["og:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/fitbark/"],["og:title","FitBark Is a FitBit for Your Dog"],["og:type","article"],["og:site_name","Mashable"],["og:image","http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI1L2RiL2RvZ3ouOTgzZjYuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJNzIweDcyMCMKZQlqcGc/d84342bb/549/dogz.jpg"],["og:article:published_time","2013-04-25T18:29:13Z"],["og:article:modified_time","2013-04-25T18:43:01Z"]],"meta_name":[["description","FitBark keeps track of how active your dog is, and then gives you a daily BarkScore for the day."],["keywords",["fitness","pets","kickstarter","uncategorized","tech","apps-software","gadgets","mobile"]],["twitter:title","FitBark Is a FitBit for Your Dog"],["twitter:description","Ever wonder if your pooch is active enough? A new product called FitBark attempts to help you find out. A sort of FitBit for your canine companion, the device keeps track of how active your dog is, an..."],["twitter:image","http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzI1L2RiL2RvZ3ouOTgzZjYuanBnCnAJdGh1bWIJNTYweDc1MAplCWpwZw/f6ccfde7/549/dogz.jpg"],["twitter:site","@mashable"],["twitter:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/25/fitbark/"],["twitter:creator","@mashable"],["twitter:card","photo"],["twitter:image:width","560"],["twitter:image:height","750"]],"short_url":[["short_url","http://on.mash.to/15K3QCe"]]};

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