You may have already noticed, but Google’s latest Olympic-related doodle on the homepage is an interactive HTML5 game that celebrates hurdle races. Users can notably pair a USB-powered gamepad, keyboard, or mouse to control the game’s runner and to help him conquer the track’s hurdles.
Google revealed in a Google+ post today (screenshot below) that the doodle “makes use of the brand-new Gamepad API, which uses JavaScript to read the state of any gamepad controller attached to your computer, and which was just added to Chrome last week.”
NBC just unveiled two Adobe-powered mobile apps for its 2012 London Olympics coverage.
The NBC Olympics Live Companion app will act as a second display for stats and other details so users have a full bevy of data to compliment their television-watching experience. Meanwhile, the NBC Olympics Live Extra app will pipe live-streaming video to on-the-go users. It can handle multiple camera angles, social features, and the ability to seamlessly switch between both Olympics apps.
The free apps will launch today on both Apple’s App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android smartphone and tablets. They will also support “TV Everywhere” authentication with cable providers for unlimited access to all the premium content. Users simply need to login to their pay-TV subscription to tap into 3,500 hours of Olympic events.
“To make it as easy as possible, you only need to go through the sign-in once and won’t have to “re-authenticate” every time you want to watch a live event,” explained Adobe on its Digital Media Blog. “For the first time in Olympics history, mobile apps will give you the opportunity to view live broadcasts of all Olympic events in the palm of your hand.”
NBC Olympics is also using Adobe technologies to serve ads, measure and monetize content, and provide digital analytics in both apps.
Samsung has been sued by 18 Olympic athletes over a Facebook app called “Samsung Olympic Genome Project”. The app allows users to play a “six degrees of separation” game using FB profile data and a database of 3,000 athletes while displaying ads for Samsung’s Galaxy products. Bloomberg reports:
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) was sued by a group of 18 Olympic athletes who claim the “Samsung Olympic Genome Project” application for Facebook uses their names and images without their permission… The athletes, including swimmer Mark Spitz, diver Greg Louganis, and track and field star Jackie Joyner-Kersee, said in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Los Angeles that Samsung uses their names and images to create the impression that they endorse its products.
“Samsung is disappointed by the lawsuit filed around the US Olympic Genome project. The Genome Project is a unique program that benefits Team USA by connecting fans and US Olympians. We have collaborated closely on this program with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) over the past year and followed USOC procedures in communicating with the athletes. Athletes have had the opportunity to voice their opinions on the program and to control their participation. Samsung will continue to support Team USA and the spirit of the Olympics in our efforts.”
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