by alec on March 10, 2009
Kangaroo TV, the Montreal provider of event-based media for sports fans, has just announced that they have won a four year contract with the PGA Tour. Kangaroo’s video handheld is one of the niftiest devices I’ve seen in a while. It brings video and data about a sporting event into the hands of spectators attending the event.
For golf fans this agreement means that they’ll no longer have to make a choice between taking a seat at a single hole, or walking the course with a single group of players. With Kangaroo TV, spectators will have the best of both worlds: they will be able to experience the on-site excitement while following the players, plus be able to tap into live video coverage, video clips and data feeds that are typically characteristic of TV viewing. Kangaroo TV’s video handheld enables fans to personalize their viewing, bringing them closer to the action and their favorite players on the course. On-demand updates on key players, the leaders’ scorecards and the most up-to-date leader board will all be available at the touch of a key.
Kangaroo TV is also available at Nascar, Formula 1, and NFL events.
So why is this interesting to readers of this blog? You have to see the Kangaroo system in action. Essentially, at sports venues they set up a multi-channel video and data system that allows their handheld to tune into any video or data feed instantly. They’re feeding massive amounts of video and data to fans, real time, in the venue. As one F1 fan I know described it, Kangaroo completely changes the experience of being at the event.
by alec on March 10, 2009
I found myself stuck in a very long line customs line at Dallas Fort Worth airport yesterday morning. It would have been easy to become irritated, as some of my fellow travellers were, with the overwhelming and oppressive American security controls. The best part about a line like that, however, is the people watching. You get an unbelievable sense of just how diverse the world is. A young and very tired woman in a sari stood behind me, returning from India and also flying to Toronto. Further ahead in the line, stood a stylish Japanese fellow – tall, with highlighted hair, snappy glasses, appliquéd boots, shimmery gold and black denim jeans, and a gigantic gold lamé handbag adorned with a huge Cadillac logo. Coming from Mexico, there was a man who must have been pure Mayan blood, judging by his facial features – he could have been the model for so many of the Maya figures you see carved on temples all across the Yucatan. Striding through the airport in bare feet, guitar in hand, was a young man who strummed his way to customs. I waited to see if he would burst out into song — alas no. A painfully polite elderly Japanese lady patiently waited while a Spanish speaking American checked through her documents before sending her on to the border patrol.
All in a all, it was a fascinating way to spend thirty minutes.
In many ways it reminded me of the experience we’ve had launching Calliflower. The lure of free conference calls has meant that we’ve had customers ranging from charities, to political groups, churches, religious outreach organizations, small businesses, trade associations, internet marketers, life coaches, weight loss classes, and more. Early on we had scores of young Arab men and women sign up via the Facebook version of Calliflower – perhaps trying to escape the strict rules of their society. Who knows? And as we introduced our premium offering, with flat rate international conference calling around the world, the diversity of communications topics has only increased. Calliflower has truly been a journey into the myriads of possible conversations, business and otherwise, that we might have in today’s world.
