The international cash-in on the 2010 World Cup has well and truly begun and this year there are even more mediums to harness. The traditional TV ads with footballing celebrities are already burned into our retinas, but the 2010 World Cup is the first to see the true dawn of the smartphone and along with it the app marketplace. The iPhone was only a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye back in 2006, but if you are a smartphone owner in time for this year’s World Cup in South Africa then there are plenty of apps to download and enjoy. The following are just a few of the best.
Sky Sports
One of the best free apps that will get you your World Cup fix is this simple service from Sky Sports. It will provide you with up to date information on the latest stories that are emerging from the world class training camps, so you will be able to stay on top of the gossip and make sure that no more of England’s core squad is forced to duck out early. This app is available on both the iPhone and the Google Android platform.
iSouth Africa 2010
This iPhone app lets you keep on top of the full match schedule and you can keep an eye on your team of choice as it attempts to make its mark on footballing history. As well as simple tracking, you can find out detailed information about the various stadiums which will be hosting the games, as well as the South African cities in which the tournament is taking place. Information about players and international teams is also included in this comprehensive app.
World Cup Essentials
The World Cup Essentials app is the tournament’s bible and is available on Android-based smartphones. Every detail you could possibly require about a team is here, right down to the national mascots. The production values for this app are high, which marks it out from a crowd of ostensibly similar options and it is certainly a worthy choice for Android users.
ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup
Sports broadcaster ESPN has put together an impressive iPhone app to help fans follow the World Cup. You can view information about the teams, get bite size facts and figures to impress your mates and organise the information in a variety of ways to suit the system that feels the most intuitive to you. Because this app is licensed by FIFA, it has exclusive access to the international rankings and you can even see how the power shifts as the tournament progresses.
FIFA World Cup 2010
Not all apps based on the World Cup are filled with information, as this one is a full 3D game for the iPhone. You will have to pay nearly £5 to get a taste of the action, but it is a price worth paying if you want to play out your fantasy match-ups, or even work through potential scenarios before they happen for real.
Nike Football+
If you are interested in the tactics of the beautiful game as it is played on an international level, this app will help you to learn more about how top coaches and managers train their star players and build their home-grown talent. Nike even commissioned the help of Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola to come up with the exercises in the iPhone app and since it is free to download everyone can get involved.
Co Pilot Live South Africa
Anyone intending to make the journey out to South Africa this summer might thing that the £30 navigation app covering the country is a worthy investment. It might work out cheaper to actually rent a car and drive to the matches rather than hop on public transport or deal with the heftily inflated taxi prices and this full turn-by-turn navigation app will keep Windows Mobile, iPhone and Android users on the right track.
Live Scores
This trimmed down app is designed to cut through all of the extraneous information and get to the core of each game, namely the latest scores. You will not even have to remember to open the app up as it can be set to provide automatic notifications every time something exciting takes place on the pitch and it is a no-nonsense iPhone app for those who need speed and convenience.
Goal Mobile
BlackBerry users who want to keep in tune with the World Cup this year will need this app on their mobiles. Although the World Cup news, results and insider information will be the focus of the app over the next few weeks, it is not just a flash in the pan service, as it will continue to provide football fans with details once the tournament has ended and the league games starts up once more.
FIFA News
It would be callous to miss out the official FIFA app from this list and on the iPhone it is well priced at 59 pence. It delivers multimedia content, including photos and videos and as with Goal Mobile it will continue its international coverage of football once the World Cup has been lifted in South Africa.
