Carrying on the theme of iPhone apps, after discussing athletes using them to own their own content and push themselves as brands.  This week we’ve got our sun hats on, or should that read umbrellas out, and are armed with strawberries and cream….now fully prepared for the 2 week UK tennis festival that is Wimbledon.

This year sees the third incarnation of the official Wimbledon iPhone app, put together by official technology partner IBM.  It has been slowly building each year with a view to being useful to spectator and armchair fan alike.

The app lets you keep up-to-date with the latest scores, find out news from the championship, listen to commentary through Radio Wimbledon, find out stats about players and, interestingly, see what the players and official twitter accounts are saying.

There is also plenty of video content and pictures from the event that include round-ups of the days action if you missed it on tv.  Useful stuff indeed.

For those of you visiting Wimbledon the app again comes into its own with ground maps, visitor guide, ticket info, seating plans, travel info and security on there to make sure you get to your seat in plenty of time.

There really isn’t much that is going on at the tennis that is not covered, so you can imagine there is a lot packed into that little app. One of the things that makes it most appealing is that it is FREE, so you don’t have to think about your bank balance to be kept informed.

If you’re like me and don’t have an iPhone, dont panic.  There is a mobile web version of the site where you can get all the latest info by visiting m.wimbledon.com – you dont get the video or audio but the key information is still there.

If you can’t watch the tennis on your computer at work, are out for the day with friends or travelling on a train somewhere and you’re a big tennis fan then this is a must have.  Shame there isn’t an iPad version as getting the video highlights on there would be great (though iPlayer can also manage this with the BBC coverage).

Recently I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with the guys from Athlete Factor, finding out more about what one our adidas athletes gets up to away from the rugby field.

England International and former Stade Francais player James Haskell is someone who has taken to the new opportunities that social media and the world of apps has to offer enthusiastically.   These opportunities for athletes to take control of the exclusive content they can produce are there for those who decide to grasp the bull by the horns and could be a sound investment for the future.

He already has a very active and popular Twitter account of some 20,000 and a dedicated Facebook Group.  One thing you find out quite quickly is that he enjoys being in front of the camera (or phone in most cases) but rather than post straight to YouTube or Vimeo he has taken a different route.

Rather than have a disparate collection of online platforms he has worked with Athlete Factor to bring these all into one place, his iPhone app.  Here is James to explain what it is all about….

The company also work with golfers Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, with both having very similar looking ‘exclusive’ apps.  What this new direction does allow the athlete is control, the ownership of the content they are producing that could be distributed around new networks, and anyone else interested in the content, and thus creating an extra revenue stream.

James is the one who seems to have taken to the idea the most and produced by far the most content.  This is not only little clips of his games or him talking to camera, we are looking at training tips, dietary advice, behind the scenes and updates from just after games.  If you are a fan of rugby and interested in what a player does away from the pitch and you’re not getting your fill from Facebook or Twitter this could be for you.

MD of Athlete Factor, Adam McVicar, sums it up; “The Callisto platform enables athletes to have their own broadcast platform, uniquely branded with 100% control over the content delivered. The creation of the content is simple but most importantly a direct channel from the athlete to their fans. Twitter feeds, photos, videos, latest news and the exclusive voice and video content are all pulled together and delivered via a mobile application.”

Is this the future of professional sports people and other celebrities in digital?  What do you think….

http://itunes.apple.com/app/james-haskell-athlete-factor/id397133260?mt=8

The Football League launched its free Official Football League Clubs iPhone app at the end of August and is available to download for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

It covers all the teams that are covered by the Football League Interactive deal, which currently stands at 65 of the 72 npower Football League clubs.  So if you follow Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Accrington, Aldershot or Stevenage unfortunately you wont be able to get your clubs updates.

Check on the list of clubs when you have downloaded the app to make sure yours is there.

If you are one of the lucky ones you can get some great features including latest news, fixtures, stats and player profiles.

The app also connects users to their twitter and/or Facebook accounts so it even easier to share comments and views with friends.

“Fans live and breathe football and want to be kept up-to-date wherever they are in the world at a time that suits them,” said Ian Ritchie, Chairman of FLi.

“We designed the Official Football League Clubs’ iPhone app with this in mind, using innovative technology to deliver access to rich and interactive content, tailored to your club.  Now you never need to be out of touch with your team.”

You can upgrade to the premium service (have to make some extra income somehow) by paying £4.99 for the season to access match video highlights 24 hours after the game and incorporates Google Mapping to make sure you don’t get lost on the way to the stadium (useful for away days?).

The Football League partnered up with Threepipe to help spread the message through social media and traditional media outlets to encourage fans of the teams to sign up. 

Looking through Google, it appears to have worked with messages appearing on club websites and fan forums announcing the launch and providing download links.

Sadly if you have a Blackberry, Android or Nokia then you will have to sit by your Apple friends and catch their updates.  Perhaps we will gain an update as to whether any other platforms will be catered for in the coming weeks.

Have you downloaded it?  What are the pro’s and con’s of the service?