scoring

I'm a big sports fan, so I was happy to get my hands on SportStream, which promises to bring a sense of community to your sports-viewing experience.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with the app, and felt it missed a big opportunity.

SportStream, which is available as an iPad app, is fairly simple. You pick a professional baseball, basketball, football, or hockey game, and are brought to a social feed page. The feed provides play-by-play updates, as well as notable tweets from bloggers, sports journalists, athletes, and other personalities.

There's a section to the right in which … Read more

It seems die-hard Olympics fans hate the Internet now that results are posted instantaneously. The drama that prime-time coverage can usually deliver is somewhat dampened by the fact that a list of winners is readily available quicker than the time it takes to turn on a TV.

Even if you casually browse a site like Twitter, you're bound to accidentally uncover some breaking news from the Summer Games. Come to think of it, it's probably harder to shield yourself from the news than it is to find it out. … Read more

The number of U.S. mobile phone subscribers switching from feature phones to smartphones is almost at the halfway mark, according to a new report from ComScore.

Roughly 110 million Americans owned a smartphone device as of April 2012, an increase of 44 percent from the previous year. Specifically, 47.5 percent of feature phone owners switched to a smartphone when buying a new device in April -- up from 38 percent at the same time in 2011.

At the same time, the number of American consumers who upgraded from an old feature phone to a feature phone decreased from … Read more

A security hole was recently discovered in MetroPCS' ZTE Score M, allowing third parties the ability to control the device.

On May 10, a guest post on Pastebin included a hard-coded password for a root shell backdoor that would allow a hacker access to the Score M.

The post reads:

The ZTE Score M is an Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) phone available in the United States on MetroPCS, made by Chinese telecom ZTE Corporation.

There is a setuid-root application at /system/bin/sync_agent that serves no function besides providing a root shell backdoor on the device. Just give the … Read more

April means lots of new first-quarter market share numbers. And research firms are stepping over each other to show that Samsung is faring well vis-a-vis its nemesis Apple -- which isn't doing too badly itself.

ComScore said today that Samsung is the top handset supplier among the 30,000 mobile subscribers surveyed in the U.S., with a 26 percent share in the three-month period ending in March. (see chart below).

In that period, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices, according to ComScore.

LG was No. 2 with 19.3 percent and Apple third with … Read more

About a month ago in March, I got my hands on the ZTE Score by Cricket Wireless. Aside from its decent call quality, there wasn't much to write home about. The device had a unresponsive touch screen and its speed (both in relation to the processor and network) was sluggish.

Tacking on an extra "M" at the end of its name (I'm assuming it stands for MetroPCS...or maybe marshmallows?), MetroPCS got a hold of the device, changed up the design a bit to accommodate a larger battery (the original score had a 1,200mAh battery; … Read more

Klout has released an iPhone app that allows users to track their Klout score while on the go.

Klout tracks your influence over various social networks, offering perks for true "Influencers" as well as advice on how to increase your Klout and influence.

After installing the Klout app on your iPhone, you'll see there isn't a whole lot to it. You are able to view who has given you a +K and in what topic. You can then view that individual's profile and share the +K with your social networks. You won't be able … Read more

What's that sound you hear? It's the tune of Cricket Wireless selling smartphones with all-you-can download music plans from yet another retail giant.

Starting today, nearly 1,600 Target stores will carry the Samsung Vitality and ZTE Score on Cricket's network. Both Android smartphones feature Muve Music, the unlimited music and ringtone download plan that Cricket pioneered in January 2011.… Read more

Do you like to go to sporting events and shows? Most people like to get out to the ballpark or a concert every once in a while, but often rising ticket prices, service fees, and extra hassle keep people from buying tickets.

ScoreBig Daily (Free) is an app for iPhone that works with the ScoreBig.com Web site to get you good seats for events for much less than the original ticket price. As of today's launch of the app, ScoreBig only works with events in L.A. or San Francisco, but it will soon be available for most … Read more