mlb

Russ Frushtick from MTV's Multiplayer blog joins us on today's episode of The 404 Podcast to give us the rundown of this month's upcoming video game releases, but first we have to give a quick head nod to the Yankees for winning the World Series and, of course, Matsui for coming through with the MVP of the series.

Also, were you as annoyed with the lame tech commercials during the game as we were? Between James Cameron's upcoming flop "Avatar" that looks like a 2-hour video game cut scene, the new Droid phone ripping Apple apart, and the rather malicious new Mac ads practically lying about past versions of Windows, we could barely watch the game!

Next, we run down a list of near-extinct tech that just won't seem to go away. The list includes items like the landline telephone, Twitter, vinyl, fax machines, Windows XP, and Sonic the Hedgehog, and although we agree with most of them, how are people supposed to send sandwiches to loved ones without a fax machine?

By far, the highlight of today's episode comes toward the tail end of the show during our classic Calls From the Public segment, where Jeff is the reluctant receiver of a huge spoiler to his current read, Lois Lowry's "The Giver." If you're planning on reading the book for the first time, you might want to click the mute button for the remainder of the episode, or risk suffering a similar fate. On the other hand, the look on Jeff's face when things get spoiled is too hilarious to miss.

Alex Rodriguez won't be the only big baseball name making its World Series debut Wednesday night.

When the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies take the field for the first game of the World Series, Major League Baseball will also introduce its popular At Bat mobile application for Android phones.

Previously only available for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, the application can be downloaded from MLB.com's mobile site but not the Android Marketplace, since the league is still testing the app in advance of next season. For that reason, the Android version will be free.

At Bat for Android delivers live scoreboards, box scores, and pitch-by-pitch or play-by-play updates, along with updated video highlight reels. The big difference between the free beta Android version the full paid version now for iPhone is that there's no option for live streaming video. There will, however, be live streaming audio for the remainder of the baseball postseason.

MLB says for now it's testing the waters, and it doesn't mean there will definitely be an Android app for next season.

"We were intrigued by the adoption of Android and the recent announcements by carriers releasing devices in the coming weeks and months, and we wanted to take this opportunity during World Series" to test it out, said Adam Ritter, vice president of wireless at MLB Advanced Media. "The beta Android app will give us the feedback we need from a product and technical perspective to see what's possible for next season."

It's been a big day for Android, Google's free Linux-based mobile operating system, and MLB's embrace of the OS shows its technology savvy. While iPhone and iPod Touch sales have exploded, Android is also gaining momentum, as seen with Wednesday's high-profile launch of the Motorola Droid series. There are at least 10 Android phones available now or within the next week, and at least 10 more rumored models on the way for the holidays or next year.

MLB At Bat 2009 and MLB At Bat Lite (the free version) is currently on 1.2 million devices, according to MLB.

Going to be away from your TV and don't have an iPhone or Android phone? Check out a handful of other ways to keep track of every pitch of the series here.

More screenshots of the app after the jump.

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At a press conference to show off new licensed laptop lid designs from Major League Baseball and nail polish brand OPI, Dell teased the audience with a brief peek at the new design for its high-end Adamo laptop.

The system, purported to be only 9.99 millimeters thick, was previously hinted at with a single-shot teaser Web site launched by Dell in September. This time around, Dell VP Alex Gruzen pulled one of the new Adamo systems from a laptop sleeve and, keeping the lid closed, held it aloft for a few seconds before handing it off to be spirited … Read more

If it's a crisp-looking score-tracking app you're looking for that follows major international sports associations and leagues, you've come to the right place. The free Sportacular is abound with current standings and scores that automatically update every 30 seconds when there's a game on. The flood of stats is easily navigated and read thanks to well-placed tabs and menus. You can view updated stats by player and by team, and you can even create and track your own fantasy team.

Sportacular also keeps you up-to-date on the sorts universe with RSS feeds from ESPN, Yahoo, and … Read more

Though only in its infancy, ESPN's sports radio app gets it right. It loads quickly, with ESPN's telltale ticker along the bottom that spits out headlines and scores for one sport after another. You can read stories in full-screen mode while you listen to one of 15 stations. There's the SportsCenter, too, serving up the latest news every 20 minutes, the PodCenter for accessing ESPN podcasts, and a nifty button for sending a text to the station you're streaming. Apple won't let apps run in the background, but ESPN Radio gets around that with a … Read more

In its bid to put together a roster of compelling content, Roku has just acquired an ace.

Starting Tuesday, the set-top box--known to many as "the Netflix box"--will begin streaming Major League Baseball games. As with the current Netflix arrangement, you have to be a subscriber to the service, in this case MLB.com Premium, to access the content that normally would be available only on a PC or iPhone.

And while this is a boon to baseball fans, it's an even more important development for Roku. MLB.tv Premium is the first live content available on Roku's device, and by bringing that from the PC to the TV, the 50-person Saratoga, Calif., company is beginning to differentiate itself from similar consumer electronics products.

Roku currently has access to the Netflix Watch Instantly queue, as well as Amazon Video on Demand, which allows for rental and purchase of movies. More recently, Roku added content from Blip.TV and MediaFly, two content aggregators, for videos and podcasts.

MLB.tv will work the same way. It will be accessed via a new pane that can be reached via the small remote. Once a customer's account is synced, any live, out-of-market (as in, not your home team) game across the league can be seen, with the choice of both the home and away team's local broadcast feed. Games up to one week old are available in the archive, and previews appear of each team's scheduled games up to a week in advance.… Read more

Major League Baseball is now using Twitter in two of its online properties: MLB.tv, and MLB.com. Fans can chime in themselves, or view the 140-character insights of "insiders," which are tweets from each team's official Twitter account or fan blog.

Along with being able to post new messages directly from the box, users can get their tweets filtered into the stream using hash tags. These show up alongside the happenings of the game and serve as an alternate commentary to the streaming radio feeds. This is a really neat approach, since it does not require … Read more

Zappos has been acquired by Amazon, meaning Amazon will have even more shoes to sell, but also a new corporate culture to integrate with. Windows 7 gets released to manufacturing, meaning it's on its way to you. And Microsoft and UBIsoft are getting into the movie business. Is that a good thing?

Windows 7 Has Been Released to Manufacturing http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/22/windows-7-has-been-released-to-manufacturing.aspx

Fiber to the home deployments will grow 30% CAGR to 130M installed by 2013 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/fiber-to-the-home-deployments-to-grow-more,902195.shtml

Open Source gets it's own lobbying organization http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/07/new-advocacy-group-pushes-oss-for-the-usa.ars

ATandT activates 2.4 million iPhones; Second quarter tops estimates http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=21579

Microsoft and Ubisoft get into the film business http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-videogames23-2009jul23,0,5232624.story

Instant search comes to Splashtop http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10293479-1.html

Major League Baseball Beans Jon Stewart, and Obama's Pitch Vanishes http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090722/major-league-baseball-beans-jon-stewart-and-obamas-pitch-vanishes/

Artificial brain '10 years away' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8164060.stm

Camaro Transformers Edition http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090722/CARNEWS/907229993

… Read more

Boxee, the open-source software platform that combines Internet media with personal content, announced a slew of updates Tuesday.

Most notably, the company announced that it has made Boxee publicly available to Windows users.

The public alpha version of Boxee for Windows will work with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Users will also be able to run it on Windows Media Center, making it possible to bring Boxee to HDTVs through Microsoft's platform. A beta release of the software should be made available later this year.

MLB comes to Boxee Boxee has also inked a deal with Major … Read more