Yesterday we released an update to the SportsCenter App for iOS - optimized for iOS8 and including a rich, personalized widget.
Users can now add the SportsCenter widget to their Today panel within iOS8. The widget includes live scores from your favorite teams and one-click access to listen to ESPN's live Radio broadcast. You can actually customize which teams appear within the widget from the settings section of the SportsCenter App.
Earlier today, we began to open the doors to a small group of ESPN users for the new, redesigned ESPN.com. It is the first day of our Beta process - a multi-month process in which we will gradually open the doors to more and more fans, continuously test and iterate, and build towards the eventual site launch.
Mashable covered the redesign last night (you can read here).
And you can learn more about the redesign and request early access here.
Below are some questions and my answers from the Mashable article:
What are the goals for the new ESPN.com?
Simply put, we set out to build a modern ESPN.com that showcases our expansive content (scores, analysis, highlights videos, and games) beautifully and intuitively across all devices and screen sizes. Furthermore, we aimed to create a cohesive aesthetic and experience across the new ESPN.com and our native applications like SportsCenter and Fantasy Football. Over time, you will hopefully notice that our site and our applications feel connected and familiar.
How were those goals translated into the current beta? And how much will that evolve over the next several months, based on user feedback?
Hopefully that vision is are strongly evidenced within the beta site, which is an ever-evolving product experience. Rather than building in wireframes and static files, we have stressed working and living in live, beta-experiences… so we have been using some form of the Beta internally and using it for extensive user-testing and experimentation. That will continue as we now open the beta publicly – the site will change routinely, we will launch and test new product and content experiences, and we will learn from fan feedback and interactions. The Beta site – like the eventual site launch – is an evolving, living organism.
Why did you choose for it to look, feel and function the way it does?
Aesthetically, we are aiming for a clean, modern look that works intuitively across all screen sizes and feels connected to our mobile applications. The site is designed responsively, starting first with the mobile phone and responding to larger screens (tablet and beyond). You will notice that the site is organized into three distinct pillars:
Favorites: prominently delivering *your* teams, news, and fantasy scores… this has been a tremendous hit with fans during user-testing
News: the best news of the day, as delivered by our amazing content team. It is organized in an ever-scrolling news feed, rich with video and big imagery
ESPN Now: this is a new content experience that brings together lively and real-time content from what’s happening in the sports world now, at this moment. Content comes from our news desk, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more – and it too is rich with video and imagery.
These all sit beneath a much-simplified navigational header and a cleaner, more visual scoreboard.
Much is new in 2014 for the #1 Fantasy Football site and application on iOS and Android - a new look, a new experience, and a slew of new features (including integration with Tilt, as covered here).
Earlier this week, we released an update to both iOS and Android. A couple fun highlights worth mentioning... and a reminder that football kicks off shortly, so get drafting!
You can now share key moments from your fantasy season via social channels and optimized Twitter Cards. Here is an example of a the Fantasy Draft card that is players are sharing throughout and after their drafts:
Another update, which is also focused on adding some fun and personality to the game: the addition of custom team stickers and logos. Available within the mobile apps, we have logos around ESPN talent (like Matthew Berry and our NFL crew), popular culture (like Guardians of the Galaxy and Big Hero 6) and unique designs. You can see them here on Pinterest. Enjoy.
Thursday at 6pm est, ESPN debuted the SEC Network, a new sports network devoted to the Southeastern Conference. The next 14 days will feature an array of events and specials, including customized programming to feature 14 schools in 14 days with team previews, greatest games and SEC features leading into the network’s first college football game on Thursday, Aug. 28, Texas A&M at South Carolina.
In addition to expansive college football programming to kick off the season, the network will also showcasing all sports: from basketball to to Olympic sports like swimming - 100's of events will carried live as SEC Network + events on SECNetwork.com and WatchESPN.
You can access the SEC Network on your television now, digitally and secsports.com and via WatchESPN with the new SEC Network and SEC Network + Channels. Download WatchESPN on iOS and Android to access.
Amazon regularly takes over their homepage to promote key items and messages. They've done so for their Fire TV, the Fire Phone, the Kindle line, and major releases. Yesterday, Amazon's homepage promoted Prime with a very smart and clever Twitter & Instagram module cycling through happy customers singing the praises of Prime and of Amazon. Very cool.
I love golf. I love Nike. And I love Rory. Unsurprisingly, I've also written a fair amount about each - particularly Nike and its use of social media and commerce. Here's on more to add to that collection - Rory McIlroy is the world's #1 golfer and tees off at the PGA Championship today. He also is a Nike athlete.
Just ahead of Rory's opening round tee off, Nike released the following Facebook post - which includes Rory's attire and gear for the entire four-day tournament. That then links to a custom short URL (http://gonike.me/Valhalla) with all of Rory's gear and the wider Nike offering.
Nike of course did the same for their other major star: Tiger Woods (also shown below).
I am very excited to announce that ESPN and Tilt (formerly CrowdTilt) have teamed up to make you fantasy football experience even better. With Tilt, ESPN fantasy leagues can now manage dues and payments through our integration here: espn.tilt.com. It's really simple, intuitive and fun. And of course, download the apps here: ESPN Fantasy on iOS ESPN Fantasy on Android
More on WSJ: ESPN Adds Tilt’s Group Payment Tech to Fantasy Football Apps
[youtube.com/watch?v=1_ElUsEcTh0]
Google Play's Top Paid and Top Grossing App lists look quite different. Not only are there different inhabitants (Electronic Arts, for instance, has four of the top ten Paid Apps but none of the top ten grossing apps) - the business models and interactive models are obviously different.
Here are screenshots of each list - Top Grossing is fascinating and shows that two gaming companies (Supercell and King) dominate that list:
Top 8 Grossing Apps:
Supercell: #1. Clash of Clans #5. Hay Day #16. Boom Beach
King: #2. Candy Crush (#8 in Top Free Apps) #4. Farm Heroes #6. Bubble Witch (#12 in Top Free Apps) #7. Pet Rescue
Messaging rules the app stores these days... as does Facebook. Here is a screenshot of the Google Play Store's Top Free Apps: #1. Facebook Messenger #2. Facebook #4. Instagram (Facebook) #5. Snapchat ... #9. Skype #10. Kik #13. Twitter #16. WhatsApp
Notable others: music has #3 and #11 with Pandora and Spotify, respectively. King has games at #8 and #12 with Candy Crush and Bubble Witch 2. And Netflix is #7.
