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Live stats overlay a game streamed to the NBA League Pass mobile app.

(Credit: NBA)

Not about to be outdone by baseball, pro basketball is getting in on live streaming to mobile phones.

The National Basketball Association will announce its first set of applications that let fans watch games live on a mobile device Thursday. NBA League Pass Mobile will be available for download for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android phones starting Friday, the third day of the league's regular season. BlackBerry users will have to wait a bit longer, the league saying that application will arrive "by the end of the year."

The NBA follows Major League Baseball, which introduced its iPhone- and iPod Touch-compatible live streaming application in July, and a beta version of an Android app Wednesday.

The NBA's application will cost $39.99 and let users watch up to 40 live games per week via their smartphone, though local TV blackout rules will still apply. The app also has an option to watch some games on demand for up to two days later and comes with game alerts and live stats.

Currently there is not added benefit if customers are already subcribers to the NBA's League Pass TV package. But bundling the two is something the league is looking at for the future, said Bryan Perez, senior vice president and general manager of NBA Digital.

Besides the live streaming app, the NBA already has its Game Time and Game Time Lite apps on Apple's App Store, the Android Market, and BlackBerry App World. The Lite version is free and comes with scores, stats, standings, and team schedules. The $9.99 Game Time includes some on-demand video, game highlights, live game alerts, stats, and access to an NBA Twitter feed.

Perez said the league has made an aggressive push into mobile this year, mostly because it knows who its fans are.

"We have one of the younger demographics of the major sports leagues," he said. "As we look to the future of our fan base, they're consuming content in a much different way, and in many ways the mobile phone is the connection to the world for the youth market. If we want to cultivate fans and be innovative, we need to follow our fans where they're going."

More screenshots after the jump.... Read more

NBA vet Kevin Willis visits the Digital City.

Episode 31 of the Digital City, where we discuss the Virgin Megastore liquidation sale (or lack thereof), Amazon's new big-screen Kindle, and how the video game DLC trend is jumping to handhelds. Later, NBA vet Kevin Willis drops by to talk about his love affair with the iPhone.

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What do you get when TNT, the NBA, and Cinedigm come together? A movie theater experience unlike anything you've ever had before.

All-Star Saturday Night 2009 3D was shown in approximately 80 movie theaters around the United States and Canada. It showcased the Sprite Slam Dunk contest, the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, the Haier Shooting Stars, and the PlayStation Skills Challenge.

NBA action in high-definition on a huge movie theater screen in 3D is little piece of heaven. But I have to say I was a little skeptic at first, there was a quick screen freeze at the beginning of the broadcast that lasted about two seconds. It was very similar to the screen freeze you see from digital cable and satellite service. All I thought at this point was please don't let this happen at a critical time during the event (slam dunk contest). The screen froze again shortly after, and it never occurred again.

It was so clear you could see the smudged areas on the fiberglass backboards. During performances and announcements you felt like you were right there on the court/stage. So much so when people stepped in front of the camera it was like someone stepped in front of you. The best looking event in my opinion was the slam dunk contest. At certain replay angles you felt like you could block the dunk or catch the alley-oop.

As for commercial interruptions, there were a few. But they were only NBA, TNT, and Cinedigm advertisements; not as much as a televised broadcast, nor as long. For the most part you got to see the floor shows that take place as if you actually attended the event, giving you that at-the-game atmosphere.

For the first time, I was in a theater and I could talk to the people around me and send text messages from my cell phone and no one had a problem with it. I must say the energy there had an arena feel to it.

During the NBA All-Star Weekend, Sony sponsors the PlayStation Skill Challenge, a competition in which the NBA's best point guards go head to head in a timed obstacle course showcasing their skills. Additionally, this year Sony had a little something going on behind the scenes: it set up a PlayStation NBA All-Star Lounge with custom PS3s for the NBA players.

Take a look at some of the images below courtesy of the PlayStation Blog.

Photos of NBA players with their custom PS3s

It's nice to see Sony still has money to burn.

(Credit: Zune Insider)

Joy Division isn't the only one that's trying to get the timing just right for a special-edition Zune. Allen Iverson's people are apparently hoping to do the same with their own exclusive version of Microsoft's media player now that his Denver Nuggets have barely secured the last spot in the NBA playoffs.

An etching of the superstar will appear on the back of a limited-edition 8GB Zune packaged with a pair of Reebok shoes called the "Answer XI Zune," according to CrunchGear. Weird.

Only 60 of these special bundles will be sold at a yet-unknown price, but that may be plenty if the Nuggets don't make it past the first round. (What is it about Zunes and shoes, anyway?)

OK, folks, here's your chance to show some Playboy bunnies just how good you are at NBA '08.

Wednesday night, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Bloomingdale's locations on Beverly Boulevard and on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles and on Market Street in San Francisco, the ladies with the iconic bunny tails and ears will be on hand, ostensibly for the launch of a new Playboy line of clothes, but also to play some video game hoops with fans.

Now, you may be a wizard at using your joystick to make Shaq slamdunk over your neighborhood buddies, but what will you do when your opponent is a bunny? Freeze up? Showboat? Play as normal?

Well, be you boy or girl, man or woman, this is your chance to find out. And hey, despite the fact that playing video games may not be what they're best known for, the bunnies might very well own you. You'll never know unless you show up to find out.

A PACE Fusion 3D high-definition camera.

(Credit: PACE)

3D cinema might be considered a corny 1970s gimmick these days, but the National Basketball Association is hoping you'll be willing to shake off that attitude in time for the NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas this Sunday. The league has partnered with digital-cinema group PACE for live 3D broadcasts of Saturday night's pre-show event as well as Sunday night's game. And, yes, you do have to wear special glasses to see it in full. Thankfully, they're a little less geeky than the red-and-blue lenses so frequently associated with 3D cinema (they're almost indistinguishable from normal sunglasses).

I was able to check out a press preview of the 3D HD technology, and I can tell you that it's pretty darn cool--and nowhere near as gimmicky as you might think. Unfortunately, right now attendance at the All-Star Game broadcasts is limited to an invite-only guest list at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas. But reps from both PACE and the NBA are hoping that the phenomenon will eventually catch on in cinemas as well as more sporting events.

Will this lift 3D cinema above its Jaws 3-D reputation? We'll see...

So the rumors are true: Dwyane Wade is adding cell-phone designer to his resume.

Already an NBA champion with the Miami Heat, a shoe designer for Converse, and currently working on a line of athletic clothing that will also bear his name, Wade is apparently the first pro athlete to have a hand in designing a piece of consumer electronics hardware.

(Credit: T-Mobile)

The T-Mobile Sidekick 3, D-Wade Edition is set to hit shelves Feb. 21 for $399, or $299 with a two-year contract. That's $100 more than the other Sidekick 3 phones. Maybe that's because Wade actually picked out a lot of the details for it.

(Credit: T-Mobile)

He seemed to take his nickname, "Flash," given to him by teammate Shaquille O'Neal, pretty literally here. In an interview, Wade told me he chose the gold-and-white motif because it's "Miami-ish" and reminded him of a Bugatti, a car he really likes. The back of the phone has a soft, pebble texture, which is meant to feel like a basketball.

D-Wade sounded like he's stoked about moonlighting as a fashion and lifestyle mogul.

"It's something I'm already apart of," he said. "I design shoes, I have my own clothing line coming out. I want to do more that has to do with lifestyle and clothing, put my creative mind to work."

So what are his fashion credentials, exactly? He was named the NBA's best-dressed athlete by GQ last year. Now that's an accomplishment.