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Review: MotoGP for iPhone |
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File under Product Review Gadgets
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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It's one of those application you ask yourself why anyone would need it, until you get it. I'm talking about the MotoGP  application for Apple's iPhone .
First of all, let's be clear; you're not going to be able to see the MotoGP race on your iPhone, it's not a TV broadcast. But what it is, is a live timing and commentary of the MotoGP races. Once it is race weekend, you can turn on your iPhone and watch lap-by-lap what your favorite racers are doing.
| UPDATE: During the weekend, there is no live coverage! The only live coverage they offer is at the very start of the race itself. So if you want to "see" the qualifiers, you're out of luck. |
Obviously being there is the best thing (but being there, and following the race with your iPhone is probably better, since you now can follow the whole race instead of that small track portion you are watching), or watching it on TV is the next best thing.
But often you are in a position that you can not watch the race. Maybe you've got family obligations (like a lunch/dinner), or you are all attending that important ball game. Now all you need to do is turn on your iPhone, load up MotoGP, and you can at least see what's happening during the race.
Since I got the MotoGP during this weekend, and there was no race in progress, I can't tell you how the live feature works, but knowing the MotoGP crowd, I'd say it works well.
| UPDATE: I was able to test the application during the Mugello race. Read the report below. |
When you load up the program this is what you see:
This is the splash screen. Notice the Live Commentary I've circled. That is only active during race weekend.
NOTE: There's a very annoying engine revving when you load the application. Unfortunately, it can't be turned off or muted. Stupid after the 1st go...
At all times you have access to the latest news going on in the MotoGP world. You can see what individual riders are up to, and see what's happening. All with photos.
| UPDATE: None of the information is cashed, so everytime you access it, it needs to be downloaded. |
Not sure when the next race is? Not only does the application tell you all the race dates, but also how many more days and hours you need to wait.
Can't remember who is leading the championship, or which team has more points? You can find it all here. There's also a section where you can find the full bio of each racer.
And then there's this:
What would a motorcycle race be without umbrella/pit lane girls? The application is full of photos of them, for each race, you can ogle at them.
UPDATE: Live Coverage
Just before the actual race starts, the Calendar icon shows the word "LIVE". This means that you can now see the coverage live. Pressing it loads the coverage screen (see above).
You can see the standing, and occasionally some text appears below the screen with some commentary. That's it for the live commentary!
Verdict: The updates of the standings are a bit behind. If there's a lot of overtaking, you'll not see it. It's like the "real-time" standings are about 30 seconds behind. You can still see more or less who is leading, but it's not great.
Live Commentary was pathetic. A few sentences during the race, not enough to give you a feel of the race.
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Price: €2.99 (US$2.99)
Verdict: It's cheap, so if you have an iPhone, it's handy to have. Even if you plan to watch every event live on TV, it's nice to have something you can follow the whole field, instead of watching Rossi slug it out of Stoner.
UPDATE: Verdict
It's an OK application, but not really worth 2.99. If it were free, or the normal Apple 0.79, then I'd say go for it. But unless you plan to be away from the race coverage a lot, it's not worth it. Too bad. |
NOTE: Obviously to receive live commentary and timings, you'll need to connect up your iPhone, either GSM, 3G or Wifi.
Click here for more information
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