Apps for following the 2012 London Olympics

The 2012 Olympics are finally here and Americans are ready to cheer on Team USA. However, because of the time difference between the US and Europe, there are some awkward scheduling issues, with many events starting in the middle of the night our time or taking place at other inconvenient times of day.

Although NBC TV will devote the majority of its prime time over the next two weeks to Olympics coverage, most of it will be on tape delay. If you want to keep up with real time results and see some live action you can always turn to your smartphone or tablet. The London organizing committee and several  news organizations have produced Olympics apps which will feature exhaustive coverage. Here are a few of the best:

London 2012: Official Join In App

As the official London 2012 App (free for iOS and Android and dubbed "Join In"), users should be able to count on this being the most up-to-date source of information and Olympics news. Currently, there’s a countdown, a listing of the next live events (which you can see on a calendar on your own local time zone), bios on various athletes (searchable by sport or country), and an upcoming list of medals won. Users can also see and study the design of the 2012 Olympics medals up close through some high-resolution photos.

There are links to the Olympics store and to users’ own country team websites, as well as explanations of various sports for which the font can be re-sized, so there are lots of ways to get kids (and grandparents) involved.

News Sources

Several news agencies have come out with their own apps with which to follow the Olympics. By far the sleekest in design and user interface is the Reuters app,which is available free for iOS. The iPad version features stunning photography and feel-good photo-journalistic pieces on diverse subjects such as athletes' daily food intake. Integration with social media sharing has been nicely worked in, with subtle, tasteful icons. There are also lots of photos and factoids.

Americans can enjoy the new NBC 2012 London Olympics app for iOS and Android. Content includes news, video clips, photos and information on every Olympic sport, plus real-time results and schedules, medal counts, and TV and online listings.

While the basic app is clearly designed to supplement NBC's wall-to-wall TV coverage, but there is also an NBC "Live Extra" app, offering video streams and full replays for all 302 events across all 32 sports.

Individual Countries/Sports

Team USA has published its own app (free for iOS and Android), so users can pay close attention to all things USA. It includes details on how individual athletes qualified for the Olympics, as well as their results in the London games.

And some individual sports federations have published their own apps, like the International Tennis Federation. This one is nicely designed with scores, a schedule, news, draws (in proper diagram format), players, event info, photos, Tweets and Olympic Tennis History.

Parts of the above article are reproduced from Kiwi Commons, a news, and information weblog.