The Surface tablets will replace Polaroid photos that are printed out to show quarterbacks and other players what went wrong during a previous play. Surprisingly, this is still the case in 2013 — players don’t have access to instant replay displays on the sidelines, so they’re given printed-out photos instead. It works, but it’s really inefficient.

The tablets will not only be more convenient (as well as more interactive) but they’ll also cut down on costs for laminated paper and ink used for the hundreds of photos that are printed out each week. Coaches will also be able to use Surface tablets to replace their playbooks, although it might be a difficult transition for them, as printed-out playbooks have been the way for many years.

However, some coaches already use iPads on the sidelines during practices, and the Microsoft partnership won’t stop them from doing so, although they’ll be required to cover-up the Apple logo whenever they use them in a game, while Surface tablets won’t need covering up. In fact, even the replay booths that officials use to make a call will now have Microsoft branding on them.

Previously, the NFL had banned any kind of recording device or video player from being on sidelines, which is probably the reason behind all of those Polaroid photos being printed out, so using tablets during games was against the rules, since they can play back video and capture video as well. However, it seems the NFL is coming around to the idea of allowing such devices on the sidelines, and the NFL said that they’re all-in on changing the rules if it means bringing more innovation to the game.

SOURCE: BusinessWeek

It would appear that ESPN is at the tip of this year’s reign-in of “early” news flashes, with several heads noting several different sides of the story this week. ESPN’s Adam Schefter spoke with the Sherman Report about revealing key information on Twitter, saying that “run of the mill” picks will not be touched by him. Quarterback picks or “bold moves,” as he put it, will have no restrictions – Twitter action will continue in that regard.

“Basically. During the second round, only one or two picks are headline worthy. If it is the headline of that day, and I’m fortunate enough to get that pick, I’m going to report it.

I am almost certain–not to put words in someone’s mouth–that the NFL has to spoken to ESPN and ESPN has told me to be more selective about what I’m tweeting in advance. I am trying to be as considerate as possible and [not] tweet everything we’re getting, but I am going to tweet the headline-making items.” – Schefter

The actual dialog between Schefter, his boss Seth Markman, and possibly the NFL itself is not known – what he’s made plain is the fact that someone higher up than Schefter would rather he didn’t use Twitter to speak about any Draft picks at all – at least not until they’re publicly available through the NFL’s own channels. The difference between the NFL posting information, ESPN speaking this information on a television broadcast, and a Twitter post can be a matter of minutes – but sometimes that’s a whole lot longer than one would expect – and a lot more important.

What’s your opinion on the Twitter situation here with the NFL Draft? Are you a follower of those sources that find out picks before they’re made official through the NFL itself? Let us know if you want to see picks first on Twitter, if you’d rather watch them on television, or if you want the NFL to speak directly to you with a telegram!

The National Football League and CBS announced today that the upcoming Super Bowl XLVII game is set to follow the footsteps of NBC’s efforts last year and will stream the game over the interwebs. Additionally, Verizon Wireless subscribers can also join in on the action right from their smartphones via the the NFL Mobile app, just like last year.

On top of Super Bowl XLVII, the Wild Card double-header games will also be available to fans online, as will the Pro Bowl all-star game. All four of these postseason games will be available for streaming, and will also be available through the NFL Mobile app for Verizon customers.

Of course, the big game is still a month-and-a-half away, and the playoffs haven’t even started yet, but there’s no better time than now to start planning your annual Super Bowl party. With the addition of online streaming, football fans won’t have to worry about missing the game, even if they’ve cut the cable.

Of course, the PS3 Sunday Ticket app will be free to those who already subscribe to DirecTV, but allowing users to purchase the app outright will definitely be appreciated by those who live in areas where DirectTV isn’t available. According to the PlayStation Blog, NFL Sunday Ticket will be available on September 4, just a few days before the regular NFL season kicks off on September 9.

As many of you already know, NFL Sunday Ticket lets you watch out-of-market games to your heart’s content, but PS3 users are also getting a few perks by downloading this app. They’ll be getting access to DirecTV’s RED ZONE channel as well, which “delivers the final yards of every scoring drive and other exciting moments from all Sunday afternoon games as they happen.” Sony is also targeting fantasy football players with this app, offering “up-to-the-minute stats” and the ability to follow your team in real time if you happen to be playing fantasy football through NFL.com.

All in all, this isn’t a bad offer for the millions of football fans out there. Not only does it give DirecTV subscribers another to way to watch their Sunday Ticket content, but it also gives those without a subscription a chance to follow their favorite team (or teams) throughout the season. Will you purchasing and/or downloading the NFL Sunday Ticket app for PS3?

During one of the many media events leading up to Sunday’s big game, Brady was asked about where he was last year at this time and was quoted as saying, “I was rehabbing my foot in Costa Rica watching the game on an illegal Super Bowl website and now I’m actually playing in the game, so it’s pretty cool.” We have to wonder how many of his fellow Costa Rican posse will be watching him from the same illegitimate site this year.

Although, for the first time, if you don’t have access to a TV and you want to tune into the live action, you will have a legal way to do so. The game will be streamed on the official websites of NBC and the NFL. In addition, Verizon has nabbed exclusive rights to the live mobile stream. With these new viewing avenues, the number of people who tune into the Super Bowl may very well be larger than ever. But will those PC and smartphone streamers still watch the commercials?

[via Gizmodo]

The Madden-sponsored Super Bowl replication, something that has become an annual tradition, showed the Giants ahead by 24-10 in the third quarter, when all of the sudden the New England Patriots make a comeback to tie it up at 24-24. Just when it looked like the match might end up in overtime, the Giants make a last-second, game-winning field goal, bringing the final score to 27-24, giving the Giants their second Super Bowl victory against the Patriots in the last five years.

Since 2004, the official Madden simulations have correctly predicted the winning team in the Super Bowl all but two times. In 2009, it predicted the Steelers would best the Cardinals 28-24; the actual score was eerily close, at 27-23. Last year, though, it was off, choosing the Steelers to overtake the Packers by 4 points. Instead, the Packers dominated with a score of 31-25.

Furthermore, beyond just the Super Bowl, NBC and the NFL is also gearing up to stream “NBC’s broadcasts of wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl would be available on the league’s and network’s websites and through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app.” This will reportedly also allow viewers access to exclusive camera angles, game highlights, as well as live-updated sports statistics. The announcement doesn’t cover which Verizon devices will be streamed to, though it’s very possible that if you’re able to watch NBC’s current football coverage on your smartphone, you’re probably set to stream Super Bowl XLVI.

NBC already provides Sunday Night Football access both on the web (which the author has watched quite a few times during this season), as well as on NFL Mobile, but until now, it and previous broadcasters couldn’t show the most important games, outside of being televised or turning to a bootleg stream as a last resort. Kudos to NBC, the NFL, and Verizon for making this happen. And after the playoffs, may the best team win.

[via Silicon Filter]

DirecTV and Sony have announced that NFL Season Ticket is now available on the PS3 game console for subscribers and non-subscribers. I’m having a hard time figuring out if you are a subscriber why exactly you would need access on your PS3. I guess that would allow you to watch the game in a room that might not have a satellite receiver available.

The price for the package for subscribers is $50. If you are a non-subscriber, the price might give you more than a little sticker shock. You will need to shell out $339.95 to access the NFL Sunday Ticket on your PS3. That means a single season of the NFL will cost you more than you can get a new PS3 for.

The sensors in the shirt measured statistics about the payer as they ran the 40-yard dash and allowed the teams watching to see what the player’s heart rate was and the sensors also measures g-forces. The shirts measurement of acceleration and g-force is something that apparently will help the coaches on the teams and the trainers get the players to optimum efficiency.

According to the NFL.com blog the measurement of g-force can allow the trainers to find things like the player can cut better with his right leg and then allow them to increase training for the left leg for the player can cut as well from both sides. Eventually the shirts will be put into use by other team sports and will trickle down to the public. You can see the shirts in action on this NFL.com video.

vi aNFL.com

The number one concern about traditional playbooks has always been security, making sure they don’t end up in the wrong hands. Tablets could have security measures like remotely wiping the device if one was ever lost. Cost could be lowered as well since teams could just download the new playbook to tablets, rather than reprinting an entire playbook. It does make sense using tablets during a game though because the device would let coaches and players study and sift through dozens of plays and video replays.

The idea is still in preliminary stages and there are worries about beefing up wireless security on the tablets. They want to make sure hackers can’t access the devices remotely. Peter Walsh, the Dallas Cowboys’ head of technology, told CNET that the organization and many other NFL organizations are considering both Android tablets and the Apple iPad. When and if the conversion does take place, it won’t be long until we get flooded with in-game tweets from players.

[Via CNET]

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Watch a Leica M9 get built on video! [FUN!]
fail0verflow hacker group discovers epic PS3 security bypass [BROKEN!]
Mushkin adds more RAM kits to cool Radioactive line [BRILLIANT]
Motorola DROID XOOM tablet has optional LTE 4G modem [PUMP IT UP!]

SlashPhone
Skype for iPhone Now Supports Video Calling
Verizon Wireless to Demo Home Monitoring and Control Service at CES 2011
Micro-USB Charging Port to be Standard for Mobile Phones
AT&T Deploying More WiFi Hotzones

Android Community
Hybrid combines iPhone/Android/Game Boy into geeky mashup
Android app for French hunters lets you share pics and more while on the hunt
Sharp Galapagos tablets headed to US early in 2011
Rockchip RK29xx benchmarked on way to affordable 1080p phones & tablets [Video]
Creative Zen Touch 2 Android 2.1 PMP crosses FCC on way to US
Geinimi Android trojan piggybacks 3rd-party apps & sends personal info to hackers
Motorola DROID XOOM tablet has optional LTE 4G modem
Android Honeycomb Music Player: Full Guide [Early Leak]
Notion Ink Demos Adam Panel System and Desktop in Eden
EVO 4G Shift Coming January 9th, Accessories Already Available
CyanogenMod-6.1.2 Released to Support Newer Hardware EVOs
[How To] McGyver Your Android’s Battery
Chinese New Year Android Mini Toy Added to Official Collectible Ranks
Android Honeycomb Tablet from LG due at CES
Android Tablet with Phone Function by ViewSonic to be Showed Off at CES
Tired of Read Only? MAGLRD for HD2 Lets you Boot Directly to Android!
Motorola Olympus may be unveiled on AT&T at CES
NFL Reciever Chad Ochocinco to Catch a XOOM Honeycomb Tablet in 2011
Samsung Aims for Number 1 Spot in Mobile, Decides to Replace Nokia in 3 Very Short Years
Sprint Vogue Successfully Receives Gingerbread Port
Best Buy Not Able To Activate Nexus S Due to Server Issues?
Sprint Samsung Epic 4G Update: Delayed until further notice
HTC SCRIBE: New tablet computer in the making
Gingerbread Ported To HTC Diamond and Touch Pro
Barnes & Noble Rolling Out Remote Resets on Rooted NookColors
Universal Battery Icon Mod Released for Android
PacMap Location-Based Game Updated

SlashGear
Kindle ebook loans now available
LucidLogix Virtu dynamic GPU system for Intel Sandy Bridge revealed
Google carrier ambitions the “nuclear option” says analyst
Skype iPhone video calls could eat AT&T data plan in under an hour
Apple should buy Netflix says analyst as iTunes rentals surge
RIM deny Indian BlackBerry monitoring claims
Phoenix Gold to show OEM integration i-Series car amp at CES 2011
Smart TV could overwhelm the internet warns analyst
Watch a Leica M9 get built on video!
Inderes estimates Nokia shipped 3.5 to 4M Nokia N8 smartphones in Q4
fail0verflow hacker group discovers epic PS3 security bypass
AMD to officially announce Brazos netbook and tablet platform at CES 2011
Gigabyte Q2005 netbook gets Atom N550 love
US Android geeks can get Sharp Galapagos tablets in early 2011
Mushkin adds more RAM kits to cool Radioactive line
Verizon to show off new connected home and home automation gear at CES
LG to “actively respond” to Sony patent lawsuit over phone infringement
ABI Research predicts 7 trillion SMS messages will be sent in 2011
RIM deny PlayBook power problems: any testing was on “pre-beta” units
Android Geinimi trojan infecting phones through side-loaded apps
B&N NOOK2 trademark application tips next ereader?
Apple’s Verizon iPhone unveil by February 14 claims insider
Skype for iPhone adds video calling over 3G/WiFi [Video]
Motorola DROID XOOM tablet to have optional 4G LTE, go on sale February 14?
LG Smart TV Upgrader ST600 makes your dumb HDTV internet-connected
ASUS Eee Pad EP71, EP101, EP102 and EP121 get short-lived tease
Ford SYNC Destinations app remotely programs your PND
Android 3.0 Honeycomb Music Player Leaked, Ready for Download [UPDATE: Not for Everyone!]
Notion Ink Demos Adam Leaves System and Desktop
China Takes Aim at Internet Phone Services to Protect State-Owned Telephone Companies
LG Tablet Running Android to be Shown Off at CES 2011
Zap Cane Hides a Flashlight & One Million Volt Charge
Mobius Strip Lamp Concept Design Aims to Streamline the Clutter
THKR-4 Humanoid Robot will Rub Your Shoulders, Pour You a Drink [Video]
Hopewell Culture and Design Aims at Apple, Others in Double-Click Lawsuit
Human Touch Invites Publishers to Massage Chair Event
Samsung Mobile Display to Showcase 19-Inch qFHD Transparent AMOLED at CES 2011
Facebook Visited More Than Google in 2010, Traffic Analyst Firm Says
Sprint Branded 3G/4G MiFi 4082 Image Appears Online
HP dv7 Laptop with Intel’s Sandy Bridge Inside Purchased, Photographed
B&N NOOKcolor took retailer’s top spot; almost 1m ebooks sold on Dec 25 [Updated]
“Apple will totally do a 7-inch device” insists lead Android advocate
The importance of CES and what to expect in 2011 [COLUMN]
Sanyo GOPAN rice-bread machine is crazy sales success in Japan [Video]
Apple Ping-style shopping network app detailed in patent application

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

SlashQUOTE
Today’s item of interest in The Daily Slash is a quote from the Professor / Writer / Inventer of the Internet Tim Berners-Lee as he writes an article called “Long Live the Web” about defending the Internet against those who would limit it in a variety of ways. I suggest you read the entire thing because it’s a masterfully written statement and it concerns us all, all of us internetlings.

Why should you care? Because the Web is yours. It is a public resource on which you, your business, your community and your government depend. The Web is also vital to democracy, a communications channel that makes possible a continuous worldwide conversation. The Web is now more critical to free speech than any other medium. It brings principles established in the U.S. Constitution, the British Magna Carta and other important documents into the network age: freedom from being snooped on, filtered, censored and disconnected.

[Via Scientific American]

R3 Media Network

Android Community
Motorola Droid X, 2, & Pro with HTC Droid Incredible on Sale for 1 Penny at Amazon
POV Mobii TEGRA tablet offers more budget Tegra 2 Android
Pocket Legends MMO lands for Android devices [WHOOOA]
Schlage LiNK system gets Android app support
Droid and EVO Dominate Android Traffic
Droid Pro $99 At BestBuy [CHEEP]
Terrifying People-Face Fingers Play with Samsung Galaxy Tab in New Ad [Video] [SCARY]
Free NFL Streaming from Verizon this weekend only
Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor V3 coming
HTC Hero Maintenance Release rolling out now

SlashGear
iPhone business alone worth more than all but 10 firms tip number-crunchers
Nook Color Unboxing and Hands-on [FEATURED]
Cox “Unbelievably Fair” wireless launches: pays cash for unused minutes
Google to wipe accidental UK Street View data to escape further inquiry
Urban Ears TANTO Multicolor headphones are thankfully limited edition [BLECH]
Amazon launches Kindle ebook gifting
Sony Ericsson dismisses Windows Phone 7 and tablet rumors
World iPad with multi-mode GSM/CDMA modem tipped for 2011
Geeks get Ubuntu working on Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Orion tablet gets previewed ahead of presumed 2011 debut
Astronomers discover planet originating outside our galaxy circling a dying star [FIRST]
Advent Vega “unprecedented demand” sees slate sell out in hours [Updated]
NewerTech USB 3.0 Universal Drive Adapter makes any drive an external storage solution
ARM in Google TV talks over cheaper, energy-frugal STBs
Angry Birds devs admit lightweight version in works for underpowered Android phones
Advent Vega tablet now shipping: Tegra 2 slate for £249 [Update: Sold out!]
Myspace “mashup” opens door to Facebook invasion [THE APOCALYPSE COMETH]
Verizon HTC Merge gets premature preview
iPad 2 Up, Samsung Galaxy Tab Down & Tablets Out for the Count [COLUMN]
Cut, Copy and Hate [COLUMN]
id Software Co-Founder Says iPad is More Powerful Than Wii
Palm Mansion to Feature 5-Inch Display, webOS 2.0 Coming to All Devices Soon [UPDATE: Palm's Josh Marinacci Video Speech Added] [ALL PALM DEVICES, ALL OF THEM]
White iPhone 4 on Sale in China [I SMELL TROUBLE]
Rod Whitby of webOS Internals Details Roadmap for Preware 2.0
Bungie is Looking for Beta Testers, You Could be One
NOOKcolor Demo [FEATURED]
Gorilla Glass Demo [PLUS: How Gorilla Glass Works - Chemically!] [FEATURED]
Checking Out the Samsung MD23 Three Screen LCD Monitor [FEATURED]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Xbox LIVE & Final Thoughts [FEATURED]

A Week with the HTC HD7
A Week with the HTC HD7: Hardware
A Week with the HTC HD7: Software
A Week with the HTC HD7: the Apps [Updated]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Xbox LIVE & Final Thoughts

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

He posted a couple Tweets during a recent game using Rock Software and the NFL hit him with a massive $25,000 fine. The NFL doesn’t play around; let that be a lesson to any other players with a social media fetish.

The fine was for violating the league rules that prohibit the posting of messages on social media websites during the 90 minutes before kickoff and until postgame media obligations are completed. Ochocinco Tweeted two times during the game once talking about catching a pass and later talking about getting nailed on a play. His apology was naturally done via Twitter to the league and he said the fine was two months of his Bugatti payments. Hope you have some savings Chad.

Verizon has announced that it will air the first 3D NFL game via its FiOS TV service on September 2. The game will be the pre-season match between the Giants and the Patriots. Viewers in parts of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island will be able to view the 3D game.

Verizon says that the 3D broadcast is set to start at 7pm and not only will the game be in 3D, but the pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows will all be in 3D too. FiOS customers can tune to channel 834 to see the game and will need a 3D TV, 3D Glasses, and a HD set top box to watch the program in 3D.

The massive screen in the stadium was created by Mitsubishi Electric and is now in the Guinness World Record books as the world’s largest HD display. The record certificate will be granted right before the Monday Night Football game that will be shown on ESPN.

The huge screen is equal to 3,268 52-inch TVs and has 10,584,064 LED lights. “We’re extremely proud of our world-class Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision screen,” said Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. “We have designed everything about Cowboys Stadium to provide an unequalled experience for our fans, and this screen is the centerpiece of what we have created for them.”