Chill out with these Winter Olympic apps

The Sochi Olympics have been dubbed the ‘Mobile Games’ because of the number of apps that have been designed. Companies have gone out of their way to get their product out there and noticed rather than getting lost in the Google Play or iTunes store. 

Don Burgess takes a look at some apps you will find available, with some more useful than others.

The Winter Olympics begin on February 5. 

All apps were looked at with an iPad Mini or Samsung phone.

Sochi 2014 Guide

Free. This is the official app of the Games. One of the benefits of this app is it should have a smorgasbord of photos to look at because it’s being hosted by Sochi. 

Other than that it will have the standard, news, events, medals and schedule the other apps do. 

Sochi 14

Free. A top choice in the Google Play store, it provides the latest Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics News, Schedule, Winter Olympics Records and a brief History of the Winter Olympic Games including a list of all 22 modern Winter Olympic Games up to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. 

Sochi 2014 Winter Games Schedule

Free. The app says it will need to have access to your calendar to function properly. I could never get any of the calendars to open. This is one I wouldn’t waste my time on.

Winter Games 2014

Free. A much more inclusive app, it has separate categories for schedule and results, sports, athletes, medals, live events, venues and others.

The app is still being populated so Bermuda’s Tucker Murphy isn’t listed yet.

It will also be interesting to see if the ‘Live Events’ will be able to be viewed in Bermuda or whether or IP addresses will be blocked from seeing it.

Team USA

Free. If you bleed red, white and blue, then this is the app for you. The app looks like a newspaper with articles and profiles about athletes from Team USA. And you can’t get more American than trying to make a buck at the same time as the app has a shop which allows you to show off your patriotism with shirts, hats and other memorabilia.

Sochi 2014 WOW

Free. This app is currently only available on Samsung devices. (Samsung is one of the official sponsors of the Olympics and all athletes are supposed to get a Galaxy Note 3). You will be able to tag your favourite athletes to follow them.

NBC Sports Live Extra 

Free. The American broadcaster will stream live every event but only to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers in the US. It will also have video on demand as well if you want to go back and watch a particular event. n