In Time for Opening Day, an At Bat 11 With Sweeteners

Resource from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/technology/personaltech/07smart.html?scp=1&sq=smart%20phon&st=Search

By BOB TEDESCHI

The top-grossing app on iTunes last year wasn’t Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or any of the other cheap blockbuster games gobbled up by the masses. Instead, it was a $15 app, MLB.com’s At Bat, aimed at big children who would rather watch a game than play one.

The latest version, At Bat 11, which is also available on Android and BlackBerry, includes a handful of slick new features in time for the opening of the baseball season. The slickest will work only this month, and only for Apple devices, but it’s a biggie: free live video of every out-of-market game. (The feature costs a whopping $100 for the remainder of the season.)

At Bat 11 outdoes the previous versions in various ways, depending on what device you use and where you use it. Android users get the biggest upgrade, in that the app finally displays live video. All season they can watch one free game daily. Meanwhile, At Bat users with Apple and Android phones can create a home page that displays important information about their favorite team.

For fans at the ballpark, At Bat is also much better than last year, thanks to a new set of features meant specifically for them. (More on that later.)

IPad users of the app miss out on the ballpark-related perks, but they’ll see other improvements in At Bat’s appearance and the quality of the information.

Take, for instance, At Bat’s anchor feature, the field view, where you can watch an animated, pitch-by-pitch version of every game as it progresses.

Like last year, the screen shows the action from the home-plate umpire’s point of view. This year, though, MLB.com used images from the Sony PlayStation 3 game, MLB 11 The Show, to display a much more realistic view of the stadium. Later this season, an MLB.com spokesman, Matthew Gould, said, that realism will extend to the batting stances of individual players.

The improvements are not limited to eye candy, though. One of my favorite elements of last year’s At Bat for iPad was the animated pitch-location feature, which gets a boost this year.

Each pitch still arcs toward viewers in the same path, and with the same termination point, of the on-field pitch. Likewise, the ball’s path is color-coded to denote the pitch type, and when the pitch reaches the plate, a label appears. (“91 MPH Four-Seam Fastball,” for instance.)

But this year, if you click on that label, the screen shows a side view of the pitch, along with the pitcher’s release point, where the pitch broke and how many inches it broke. It’s a baseball geek’s dream, and it exemplifies a level of software showboating that At Bat pulls off consistently on the iPad.

Avid baseball fans who own an iPad, and who skip this app, are making a mistake.

That’s especially true this month, since At Bat is giving away live video of every out-of-market game. On Apple devices, the video is bolstered by optional on-screen graphics showing information about every player on the field.

Those who use the app on the phone will notice some shortcomings though.

The fancy pitch-path feature, for instance, is only on the iPad, and the stadium graphics are much more rudimentary on smaller devices.

Still, smartphone users can take solace in the fact that they can still hear game coverage from either team’s broadcast service.

Those who attend live games with an iPhone or iPod Touch or Android phone get a bonus, in the form of the app’s At the Ballpark feature. Apple users receive detailed maps of the site, video highlights and, depending on the ballpark, discounts on concessions. (Android users will see the interactive maps later this season, Mr. Gould said. As is the case with live video, BlackBerry users do not receive the At the Ballpark feature.)

If such amenities aren’t worth $15 to you, MLB.com also offers At Bat Lite free. Unfortunately, unlike other free, advertising-supported versions of paid apps, this one includes few features from the paid version.

Users see a league scoreboard, video highlights and team-specific information, for instance, but not much more. A better choice might be a popular all-purpose app like ESPN ScoreCenter (free on Android and Apple). Unlike MLB.com’s At Bat Lite, ScoreCenter will notify you of your favorite team’s results, and that includes sports other than baseball.

Fantasy-baseball participants may buy At Bat as an accessory to their league contests, but the app won’t do much for fans who are following a long list of players from various teams. Good, and free, alternatives are Fantasy News Center and ESPN Fantasy Baseball 2011, both on Android and Apple, while Apple users should also consider Fantasy Baseball Monster ’11 ($3 on iPhone and $5 on iPad $5).

Fantasy baseball contestants are accustomed to spending much bigger sums to support their habit. Many casual fans will have a hard time spending $15 on an app like At Bat. If they do, though, they should consider one last impulse buy — Pennant.

This iPad-only app offers a batter-by-batter recap of every Major League Baseball game played from 1952 to 2010, along with great graphics. If you vaguely recall a game you attended in your youth, in which your hero homered, you can scan through the season and recount the circumstances surrounding his big hit.

Pennant’s developer said an iPhone version of the app would most likely appear before the all-star break, followed by an Android version.

So if your favorite team is out of the running by then and you can’t bear to follow their late-summer demise, Pennant will offer some retrospective solace.

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