Follow the Olympics on Your Phone

The 2008 Summer Olympic games have begun. These may be happening in a far off country, but even people who aren't in Beijing can follow the results wherever they go, thanks to some services for mobile phones.

Google is offering a site specifically designed to give mobile users access to Olympic information. www.google.com/m/summergames gives the details on nearly 40 Olympic events, from Archery to Wrestling.

The site lists when events are being held, and gives the winners when they are known.

Naturally, this is a free service that has been designed for phone browsers. In keeping with the international spirit of the games, it's available in 36 languages and over 60 countries.

What about Video?

Knowing when the events are and the results are all well and good, but that's not enough for many people. They want the actual video.

MobiTV is a service that lets people watch TV stations on their smartphone.  This includes NBC, which is carrying the Olympics in the U.S. For those on AT&T, there's even a mobile channel specifically devoted to the games.

There are versions of MobiTV  for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry devices.

Another option is SlingMedia's Slingbox. This is a device that can take anything coming to a TV at the user's home and redirect it to their smartphone. This allows the user to watch the same Olympic coverage they would if they were at home, but on their phone.

There's an up-front investment -- the Slingbox and the mobile version of the software -- but after that there's no monthly service fee.

Versions of the SlingPlayer Mobile application are available for smartphones running Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian S60.

 
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