Gizmodo: Football

Robocup 2008 Droids Cooperate Like Real Soccer Team, With Fewer Hissy Fits

Kit Eaton — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:22:00 EDT

Miniature humanoid robots are getting more impressive by the day: this video shows the Darmstadt Dribblers team in action in the recent 2008 Robocup. And if you notice, they're really playing like proper autonomous soccer teams. It's the first year that three-on-three playing action has happened, and thus required some nifty role negotiation and info exchange over Wi-Fi. That's in addition to avoiding obstacles, finding the ball visually and trying to score goals. Okay, so that opposing team needs a better goalie, but at least watching this robotic version of the beautiful game means you get to see less diving and hissy fits at the referee. Impressive stuff, no? [YouTube.—Thanks Stefan]

World's Largest Foosball Table: You Don't Have This Much Game

Sean Fallon — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Think you are a foosball champion? How about stepping your game up to the Table Football XXL? There is no information about how long this table actually is, but suffice it to say— you are going to need to bring some friends. In fact, two full soccer teams (22 players) could go head to head on this thing in what would undoubtedly be an epic foosballing showdown. Unfortunately, you may never get a chance to try your skill—the Table Football XXL is a one-of-a-kind item built as an advertising stunt for Amstel beer. [Airworks via DVICE]

Eleven Design Makes Foosball Beautiful

Kit Eaton — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:42:39 EDT

I've gone off foosball since I had my ass royally kicked when playing with a bunch of friends at a music festival, but Eleven may turn my opinion around. Hand crafted by GRO design and TIM modeling, because they thought foosball was "lacking serious design attention in recent years", it's just gorgeous. The players are machined in brass and chrome, the table itself is meant to be a bit architectural, like real stadiums, and minimal to not distract from the game. It's on show at the upcoming Milan Design Week, 16th to 21st April, and tragically it's just a working model. [Eleventhegame via Uberreview]

Casio's Incredibly Sturdy G'zOne Cellphone One Gets Abused

Jason Chen — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:15:00 EDT

Casio's G'zOnes are nothing if not sturdy, which is why people who favor ruggedness over any other feature are picking these up. Just how unbreakable are these things? Incredibly. Our buddy Danny from Wired took these outside so both a football team and a soccer team could throw it around. Check out the video to see (spoiler alert) what eventually did the phone in. On a similar note, Danny received a concussion while filming, proving that his head is slightly less durable than the phone. [Wired]

Fancy Soccer Ball Knows When it Crosses the Goal Line, Saves Refs From Beatings

Adam Frucci — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:45:48 EST

In the soccer world (or "football," to freedom-hating ale swillers), you do not want to be a referee who makes a questionable call. I mean, soccer fans are animals. Europeans seem to just accept the fact that after a match a roving pack of belligerent, mulleted steakheads will roam the streets of their towns looking for people to injure to make up for the team that they like not winning. Imagine what they'd do to you if they thought you made the wrong call! Luckily, there's a fancy new soccer ball that'll take some of the pressure off of refs.

It's loaded up with sensors, and when it passes across the goal line, an encrypted signal is sent to a special watch that the referee is wearing letting him know that the goal is indeed legitimate. Apparently the tech inside isn't so sensitive that it can't be kicked all over the place, and you've got to assume that intercepting the signal wouldn't really be worthwhile, as even if the refs watch goes off when the ball is at mid-field he probably won't call it a goal. And really, this should cut down on violence aimed at refs. After all, beating up a fancy soccer ball can't be nearly as satisfying. [Daily Mail via New Launches]

Ambient Football Scorecast Keeps NFL Fans Up To Date All the Time

Adam Frucci — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:45:00 EST

Watching football is clearly the best way to get scores to the games you're interested in, but if you're unable to view the games due to being busy or having them blacked out in your area, this fancy new Ambient Football Scorecast should keep you all up to date. It displays football scores in real time, allowing you see just how badly your precious Dolphins are being pummeled by whatever team they happen to be playing against this week. It also displays team and schedule info, making it a nice little gadget for the desks of football fans. Although for $125, they could just check ESPN.com like a normal person, but hey, gadgets! [Product Page]

Xenith X1 Helmet Helps American Football Players Think Good and Stuff

Sean Fallon — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:40:14 EDT

With all of the news about football players and concussions these days, it is about time that the helmet was redesigned to offer more protection. The folks at Xenith are hoping to offer a solution with the X1, a helmet that features 18 shock absorbing discs that release air slowly to reduce the force of an impact. These Aware-Flow Shock Absorbers, along with an innovative comfort fit system called Fit Seeker make for a helmet that promises to greatly reduce sudden movements of the head that cause concussions.

The Xenith X1 has just received approval from the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), so we could be seeing these helmets on the sensitive melons of unfortunate athletes like Miami's Trent Green sometime in the near future. [NY Times via Core77]

Safer Football Helmet Sends Impact Data to Sidelines

Charlie White — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:15:00 EDT

A few of us here at the Giz spent quite a bit of time on the football field in our youth, and after one too many ditzy posts are wishing we would've worn a football helmet like this one when we were out there busting some asses on the gridiron. This high-tech helmet has sensors inside that can tell just how hard you've gotten your bell rung, then transmits that info to doctors on the sidelines who might promptly bench you once you've reached the limits of consciousness, or at least the point of physical injury.

The helmets are already being used at seven universities and five high schools, and the NFL is studying the technology, too. That's a good thing, because the average lifespan of NFL players is considerably shortened because of the appalling violence applied to many of their brains while playing the game. Now remind me, what was this post about again? And no, I'm not that Charles White. [PopSci]

Kondo Destroys! Kondo Smashes! Kondo Plays Soccer?

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:37:27 EDT

Kondo KHR-2 HV, the robot that plays soccer, fights with other bots and dances salsa, has got some new clothes. First up is a shiny polycarbonate carapace that makes him look much more studly and buff than his previous square-headed incarnation. All the pretty little Ho'Bots will be bumping up to him as much as they can, mark my words. His Robocop fabulousness costs $152.

There's also a couple of paper soccer strips for him to wear. They cost $10 each, but you'll probably have to replace them regularly as his screaming fans will rip 'em off him after he scores the winning goal in the match. You can see them in the gallery below. Plus, after the jump, a glimpse of what he was like when he was just a squarehead.

Well, I don't know about you, but I would. – Ad Dugdale

Selling the new product of various parts such as Kondo science and the body cover for KHR-2 HV[PC Watch]

Wireless Helmet Monitors Head Damage to Football Players

Travis Hudson — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:30:01 EDT

A handful of college have come together and will be working with Simbex and their Head Impact Telemetry system. The HIT is a helmet-system that can be commercially purchased and will monitor head acceleration (impact), rotational acceleration, duration, location, time and more for monitoring the noggin of a football player. It will then shoot the information wirelessly to a computer that can analyze the data and monitor the players. It will even warn when an impact could be injurious. The overall goal of the HIT system is to discover the causes of mild brain injuries that are often suffered in contact sports such a football, but keeping check on the student-athletes in college football programs is definitely another perk. –Travis Hudson

Wireless Helmets Monitor Head Injuries [Medgadget]

Sony Allows You to Watch the Arsenal Game, While at the Game

Travis Hudson — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:00:02 EDT

Sony is developing a system that will allow Arsenal fans the opportunity to watch replays and statistics live on a PSP while at the game. The system is called S.PORT and will be rolled out later this year on a trial basis for 4,000 fans. There is a lot of potential for this system, especially if they expand to other sports and allow other devices, not just the PSP, to view the wireless steams of replays and statistics. Cool system, Sony. Just don't screw it up, please. I really need a reason to use my PSP. –Travis Hudson

Sony to stream replays via PSP to Arsenal stadium fans [Pocket-lint]

Virtual Distance Football Knows How Far it Was Thrown

Charlie White — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:30:12 EST

Want to know how far you threw that ball? The virtual distance football can let you know how far it was thrown with an accuracy that's supposedly within 1 yard, showing you the distance on its LCD readout. Somehow its sensor is able to tell how far the ball has traveled by measuring the ball's impact at the end of its flight.

Too bad this isn't a regulation-sized football—at just 6 inches long it's 5 inches short of the regulation tip-to-tip length of a the regulation NFL ball, but weighs about an ounce more than the NFL-standard 14- to 15-ounces. We just wish it could also measure the speed of the throw as the Discovery Channel Store's Speed Sensing Baseball does. Anyway, what did we expect for $19.95? – Charlie White

Product Page [Discovery Channel Store, via Coolest Gadgets]

Electric Football Coming Back, Watch Out Madden

Gizloco — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:18:04 EST

More Toy Fair goodness for your Monday morning, now with 100 percent more electric football! You know how this works: you place a series of plastic men on a vibrating table (wow, sounds like the Penthouse letters section), turn on the table then all hell breaks loose. The men bounce up and down and just slightly forward eventually pushing the ball into the opposing side's net (or end zone or whatever). It's pretty much Lord of the Flies. Who needs fancy next-gen graphics when you've got electric football? – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Miggle Toys]

Water-Cooled Football Players

Travis Hudson — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 23:53:36 EDT

We post pretty regularly here about water-cooling something or other, but it usually has to do with PC or other electronic components. I was watching my 'Boys manhandle the 'Skins tonight and NBC talked a bit about the Cowboy's temperature management system. It is really just water cooled football players. The system, which can cool up to 12 players at a time, will flow chilled goodness through the pads of the football players. See, football isn't that barbaric, they have some pretty sweet tech, too. – Travis Hudson

TiVo Releases CBS Sportsline Fantasy Football

Jason Chen — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 19:30:05 EDT

TiVo and CBS just launched their Fantasy Football HME app on TiVo machines~~—too bad the season started weeks ago~~. Travis may be the Fantasy Football nut around here, but whatever he's using surely doesn't compare with this. In addition, TiVo is also putting out CBS Sportsline video showcases and Gold Star promotions. Go Futher Muckers! – Jason Chen

Press Release [TiVo via Zatz Not Funny]

Football Helmet MP3 Player for Tailgatin' Techies

Charlie White — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:52:51 EDT

With football season nearly upon us, it's time to bulk up your team regalia, showing your colors to those ne'er-do-wells who may not root for the same team you do. To hell with carrying around an iPod, this golf-ball-sized Football Helmet MP3 Player offers more than just your choice of 50 major college football teams' insignia. It's a digital audio player that holds a gigabyte of tunes and also has an FM radio on which you can listen to that play-by-play as you shiver in the bleachers. Plus, you can keep track of your tunes with its OLED display. All that school spirit will cost you $100. – Charlie White

[Look for it in stores, website to be announced]

WTF: USB Injection Needle Scares Mom, Holds a Gig

Charlie White — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:15:42 EDT

The USB flash drive has now come full circle, where now it even looks like you can shoot up your data with the Syringe USB Flash Drive. Available in capacities from 128MB to 1GB, it's not hardly voluminous enough to give that warez mule operation of yours a shot in the arm but it might be just big enough for Flat Top to shoot Coca-Cola. I know, I know, the whole thing makes no sense. – Charlie White

Syringe USB Flash Drive [I4U News]

University of Texas Installs Ron Jeremy Sized HDTV

Travis Hudson — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:22:24 EDT

The University of Texas has recently finished installation of a $8 million HDTV that measures 134 feet wide and 55 feet tall at the UT football stadium. This thing is so damn big that the university has to upgrade the utilities throughout the stadium to accommodate the power, also they installed 40 5-ton air conditioner units to cool the behemoth.

It is a good thing that they installed this HDTV. People go to college to watch football, right? Education, schmeducation. – Travis Hudson

Texas Has Too Damn Much Money [Deadspin]

EA FIFA Casemod

Jason Chen — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:59:35 EDT

All we can say to this one is "Wow". That, and the stuff between this sentence and the end of the post.

A soccer (futbol) fan made an EA sports FIFA casemod that has actual players playing on a pitch adorned with the EA logo. Not only that, there's a crowd, stands, and working lights.

The modder made a sketch using actual CAD software to plan out how he wanted it to look like first before getting busy cutting aluminum sheets with lasers! As you can see, the end product is definitely high class. If they were to sell something like this in stores, it would probably run you over $3,000.

The only question is, why EA? – Jason Chen

EA FIFA mod by Butterkneter [Bit-tech]

RoboCup Kicks Off

Jason Chen — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 18:11:29 EDT

If the human kind of "footy" isn't enough for you, the 10th annual RoboCup gets started today and lasts until the 20th. There are 11 different leagues, with reigning champion Germany expected to win in the four-legged competition, and Japan being the favorites for the humanoid race (naturally).

We're still a long ways off from meeting the goal that the Robot Team can beat a human team by the year 2050, since it's a miracle these things can stand up and move around right now without falling over, but we're getting there! – Jason Chen

Robot scoccer world Cup kicks off [BBC]

Ready Your iPod for the World Cup With These Not-Cheap-At-All Country Cases

Gizloco — Fri, 19 May 2006 14:28:02 EDT

Some of us here at Gizmodo are genuine soccer fans who are very much looking forward to the World Cup. That's why there's no shame (OK, maybe a very little bit) in talking about these World Cup-themed cases for your precious iPod nano. Why settle for the played-out white or pseudo-cool black of the iPod nano when you can deck it out in the glorious colors of England, Brazil, Argentina or USA (why do they even bother to show up?), among the list of 12 countries?

The cases are made of that silicone that's all the rage these days and include a screen protector, so there's no need to worry about the special breaks-very-easily screen from getting damaged. Are the cases as tacky as previously discussed items? Perhaps, but they're only $15 and besides, it's the World Cup, and that only comes once every four years.

Unless, of course, your name is Rooney, in which case you'll be watching from dreary Manchester whilst all your pals are in Germany.

Product Page [AVA]

World Cup USB Cam

johnb — Wed, 03 May 2006 17:31:02 EDT

GOOOOOOOAL! GOOOOOOOOOAL! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Built-in microphone. GOOOOOOOAL! Skype support. GOOOOOOOOOAL!$22. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Is there some sort of big soccer thing going on right now or something? GOOOOOOOOOAL!

Product Page [USBGeek]

Toshiba Announces Official FIFA Worldcup Dynabook TX Laptop

gizmodo.com — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:05:43 EDT

Toshiba's the official IT partner of FIFA for World Cup 2006, so it makes sense that they'd launch a limited edition laptop commemorating the event—but we sure didn't expect it to be, you know, quite so gaudy. Slathered in gold paint and retailing for ¥199,800 (around $1,737), each of the 600 units has exclusive World Cup desktop wallpapers and icons inside and the hosts and winners of previous World Cups embossed on the cover.

Our Japanese isn't so great (and frankly neither is Google Translate's) but as far as we can make out, it looks like after the conference Toshiba will be issuing a serial plate with the winning country on it plus the laptop owner's name and the unit's serial number as a belated present to all the buyers.

Toshiba Dynabook TX 2006 FIFA World Cup Edition [Toshiba Direct, via Core Duo News]
T-Mobile Tries to Cash in on World Cup Fever with England Phone [Gizmodo]
World Cup K1000 Speakers [Gizmodo]
TrendNet TEW-429UB is a Soccer-Themed WiFi Sniffer [Gizmodo]
Toshiba to Bundle World Cup Tickets [Gizmodo]
Adidas Xbox 360 Kiosk [Gizmodo]

ASENDRO Robots To Secure World Cup, Find Sarah Connor

johnb — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 11:06:17 EDT

Tired of the Japanese monopolizing the field of Awesome Robot Science (I minored in that in college), two German companies have jointly developed a robot to help make the FIFA 2006 World Cup safe for all hooligans in attendance. Besides looking stylish with its military-green finish and its sharp treads, this bad boy can even climb stairs and examine suspicious objects. Unfortunately, he's not autonomous and takes orders from a meat-bag on a Laptop.

You know what Germany? The US already made a robot that looks just like this in the 80s and even made two blockbuster movies out of it. Despite Steve Guttenberg only being in first one, our robot could talk. Can yours talk?

ASNDRO Robots Secure Soccer World Cup in Germany [i4u News]

USB Football Fan

johnb — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:42:20 EDT

While folks "over the pond" call "soccer" "football" and "beer" "ol' drink-to-much-and-wet-yer-pants," we here in the States know better. This is a soccer ball USB fan and costs only $10 or 10 "bobs yer uncles" in European. And to us, "beer" is "tasteless, urine-colored seltzer water."

Product Page [Brando]

Arizona Cardinal's Techie Stadium

Travis Hudson — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 10:00:12 EST

It's alright football fans, today is the beginning of the cold/dark winter and spring season when football is non-existent. Yeah, I could watch Arena football and I could also stab myself in the face with a spoon, but I'm not doing either. Here is a little football news to hopefully hold you out another week or so.

The Arizona Cardinals will be moving from their outdated and un-air conditioned Tempe, AZ stadium to a new high-tech stadium in Glendale, AZ. The new stadium costs approximately $450 million and will include a fabric retractable room, roll-out natural grass field, luxury boxes and best of all, air conditioning.

The stadium will also be wired up with a cutting-edge IP network that will be able to handle voice, data and video on the single network. Insight, a company based out of Tempe, will be doing all of the optical fiber installation. They have already completely wired up the Cardinals training facility and are working with Hunt Construction to have the stadium done by August for pre-season. They will also be evaluating the possible integration of Wi-Fi into the stadium and a radio network to enhance cell phone coverage. Now the big question remains, will this improve the Cardinals performance?

Team Looks to Score With Networked Stadium [eWeek]

Meanwhile, at Deadspin: Live at Super Bowl XL

Joel — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 12:12:38 EST

Our brawny brethren at Gawker Media's sports blog Deadspin are going to the Super Bowl—without tickets. We're as unsure as Deadspin's A.J. Daulerio as to how he'll manage to finagle a way into the big game, but that's half the adventure. (The other half is making it out of Detroit without the desire to burn something to the ground.) However it pans out, Deadspin is getting all multimedia, with real, live video updates, including inexplicable captions in mock Japanese. This is what happens when you let a football fan loose on the mean streets with a copy of iMovie.

Live At SBXL: Hello, Detroit! [Deadspin]

Gridiron Gadgets

johnb — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:21:45 EDT

Oh, those jokesters at Sync! Always Joke Joke Joking. What did they come up with this time? Some gadgets for football players, including the air cooled jock strap, shown above. Plus they even have the football phone of the 21st Century - the Pigskin Slider. Silly Sync!

Gridiron Gadgets [Sync]