The countdown to the Olympic Games 2012 set to take place in London has barely an hour to go before the opening ceremony to the highly anticipated Games begins. The coverage for the Games is
expected to be one of the largest digital event in history. Social media
apps come to the rescue of fans wanting to catch the athletes in action
right at their fingertips. Here are some of the apps to keep you
updated with the event.
1. London 2012: Official Join In App for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
This
app will feature every single moment that takes place during this
year's Games; beginning from the Olympic Torch relay to the Olympics and
Paralympics as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
The
user interface is beautiful not just to look at, but in functionality
as well. The app is loaded with tons of features. There's a full guide
for users to browse through various ceremonies, events, activities and
more.
Users can get live updates with new, photos and commentary from the games.
They can plan best routes to competition venues. Filter and search tools will prove useful to find out what's happening nearby.
The
My Games section allows them to plan their Olympics experience
accordingly. Users can share their interests via social networks like
Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.
The iOS version has a really cool feature wherein users can tap or shake their device to ring in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Available on: iOS, Android, BlackBerry (Free)
2. London 2012: Official Results App for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
The
Official Results London 2012 app features live updates, results,
calendar schedules,details of all 36 sports and more covered during the
Games.
Users can also view information on athletes
participating in various sports along with their current standings in the
Olympics 2012. They can set reminders and favourites for every sport
they wish to follow and also set notifications and alerts to stay
updated at all times.
A future update of the app will
offer more details on Paralympic games. Twitter integration allows users
to support their team by sending a message from within the app.
Available on: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone (Free)
3. Reuters Olympics London 2012
For users interested in revisiting the breathtaking moments captured during the Games, here's an app from Reuters.
The
app includes archives of some of the best Olympics pictures taken by
Reuters' photographers. Users can skim through Olympic records and check
schedules and results of various events by sport or date. The Photo
Filter option allows users to choose and view photos by sport.
There's
a Photo Stream as well accessible under settings which plays a
slideshow of all the pictures in the app. Users can choose to set the
speed, loop and captions settings too. Facebook and Twitter
integrationallows users to share the pictures on the social networks.
Available on: iOS (Free)
4. PlayUp
The
app is a result of the collaborative effort between Samsung and PlayUp,
a social network dedicated to sports. It looks and feels really slick
on both iOS and Android versions.
PlayUp promises live
action for 17 days across 26 sports, 39 disciplines, 302 medal events at
your fingertips. The interface is quite reminiscent of Flipboard,
though there is no flipping action. Users can follow their favourite
teams and athletes and stay atop of all the sporting action including
latest news, medal tallies, schedules and watch videos too.
The
home screen features a running countdown to the start of the 2012
Summer Olympics and has access to several sports. Till the games begin,
these links will display the history of the particular sport at the
Olympics.
The app provides live scores and key stats of
various games. Users can create hangouts and share messages with friends
during an on-going game. PlayUp users can send direct messages to each
other.
Available on: iOS, Android
5. Tweethletes
What
do you get when you combine Twitter and athletes? Go figure!
Tweethletes.com caters to Twitter fanatics looking forward to the
Olympics 2012.
The microblogging site has come up with an
interesting and rather engaging way to attract fans of the Olympics.
The idea allows users to race athletes with their tweets at the time of
the 100m relay scheduled for August 5th.
Everytime a user
tweets, they advance a distance of 2.5cm. By correct calculations, a
total of 4,000tweets would add to a 100 metres. So Twitter users, here's
your chance to compete by just tweeting away.
Available on: Web
6. Olympic 2012
This Windows Phone app lists a full schedule of the event by venue, sport and date. Users can access country specific details, medal tallies and the latest news. Latest News can be further refined country, sport and athlete wise.
The interface is pretty simple and easy on the eyes. Users can also view history details for each country which includes the best sport, Olympic medal history and the National Anthem too.
Currently, the home screen depicts a countdown to the Games, which will be replaced by live updates once it begins.Future updates for the app include integration with Twitter.
Available on: Windows Phone (Rs. 55.00)