For now, this new store is only available in the United States. They have items from many of the major sports organizations like the NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA and International Federation of Association Football (IFAF). For any fan of the major sports organizations, you will be able to find something that tickles your fancy on this new Amazon service.

Everything purchased on the collectible store comes with Amazon’s AtoZ guarantee, so you will always receive the same level of customer satisfaction you expect when purchasing an item from Amazon.

In addition to searching for an item in the store, you can also browse based on the sport, year, type, team and price. This allows you to find what you are looking for, even if you don’t know exactly what that is.

Source: The Next Web

The purpose of this app is to keep track of your stats while skiing. I hate to quote a line from an infomercial, but with this application, you really just need to “set it and forget it”.  It sits in your pocket while you ski or snowboard and keeps track of everything you do, from your speed, to your slope and everything in between. If there was anything you were curious about in your performance while on the slopes, chances are great that this app will have you covered.

How It Works

Ski Tracks uses GPS to keep track of your statistical information while skiing. It is able to find your location using the phone’s built in location service. The thing that is incredible is that you do not need to manage it manually. It knows when you are on a chairlift. This means it is able to start a new run automatically. You do not have to pull your phone out and fuss with it each time you ride to the bottom of the mountain. It is incredibly impressive.

Since Ski Tracks uses GPS, it can also track where you are on the mountain. This is awesome if you need to see what runs you have missed. In all honesty, the fact this app works as well as it does seems like some sort of voodoo magic to me. I am certainly not complaining, because it has made skiing even better.

Stat Tracking

This application’s main selling point is its ability to keep track of your performance on the mountain. To get it to track your stats, you simply need to open the application on your iOS device and click the start button on the bottom right corner of the screen. From there, you can just throw your phone into your pocket and it will keep track of everything automatically.

I suppose saying it keeps track of “everything” is a little broad and perhaps I should narrow it down. To start with, it keeps track of speed, which was the statistic about which I was most excited. It tracks your top speed throughout the day as well as your average.

Another of my favorites is distance. It lets you know how far you have skied and how far you have ridden on the lift. This gives you an amazing feel for how much ground you have covered throughout the day.

The complete list of stats the app tracks is as follows:

• Speed
• Distance
• Ski Vertical
• Altitude
• Number of runs
• Slope
• Duration

It will also break all of this information down run by run, so you can see how you compared on each run down the mountain. It is impressive just how much this application can tell you about your ski day.

Social Features

After you finish skiing, click the ski icon on the top right corner of the screen to edit the name of your day and give it some information such as the current weather and the snow conditions. Click “save” and the track will be locked in.

After you save the track, you can click the share button on the bottom right of the screen to email it to a friend, upload it to Facebook or send it to your computer with iTunes document sharing. This is an awesome way to show you friends how well you killed it on the slopes on your last trip.

The app will create an album in your Facebook photos and add all of the images there. It will add your charts, maps and any photos you took during that ski trip for all of your friends to see.

Of course, you can also access your ski tracks at any time from the application. This way, if you wanted to see how you did last time at a particular mountain, you can do so quickly and easily.

Other Features

Ski Tracks has iPod controls built right in. You can control your tunes while on the slopes without ever exiting the app. It also features a camera, so you can quickly take photos from the mountain.

They also added a proximity sensor that works similarly to using the phone. It will automatically turn the screen on when you remove the phone from your pocket and turn it off when you place it back. The app has surprisingly low battery drain. I was able to have it running for about 7 hours straight before my phone died. That is impressive considering it is constantly using location services.

On top of these cool features, you can also choose to have the app measure in metric or imperial units, depending on where you live.

Conclusion

This is without question the best ski application I have ever used. It keeps very accurate stats that make skiing a lot more fun. For example, you can try to beat your best speeds or cover a greater distance that you did on a previous trip. This app allows you to take the act of skiing and make it into a competition with yourself. The data it provides is awesome, and it is so useful for any skier or snowboarder.

iTunes Download Link

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Simply click the “Social” button from the main screen of the app and then click “Group Text” on the top right of the screen to use the GroupMe function. You will need to enter your phone number and verify with GroupMe before you can use this new feature. It’s great to see the X Games embracing such a new service and making it an integral part of their official application.

In addition to GroupMe, this app has some awesome features to help you get ready for the X Games. The complete list of new features is as follows:

• iPad version: bigger screen, harder-hitting Winter X Games action
• WatchESPN integration: watch the telecast LIVE on your device
• Personalized schedules: set reminders for your favorite events
• Live streaming X Cast with Facebook and Twitter interactivity
• GroupMe integration: easily message your friends about X
• New results scheme highlights athletes who are moving on
• Weather feature for fans and spectators in Aspen, Colo
• TV spot intro: get pumped for Winter X Games 2012
• Staff information: working or volunteering at the event? Log in

Check it out on the iTunes app store and on the Android Marketplace soon.

Source: TheNextWeb

Recently, Gameloft has started experimenting with releasing free games that feature in-app purchases. Over the second half of 2011, they put out two top quality sports games, and they are free to play. You can expand on the game with in-app purchasing, but you can still have a great time playing the games without ever opening your wallet. With Real Soccer 2012 and NFL Pro 2012, you can get amazing sports games with beautiful graphics, on your iPhone or iPad for free.

NFL Pro 2012

The first thing you will notice is that Gameloft has the NFL license for this game. This is a big deal because Electronic Arts has had the exclusive on the NFL for years. When you first boot up the game it will ask you for a favorite team, and it will have you choose a name and create an icon. Then it will throw you right into the tutorial. Once you complete the tutorial, you will be ready to play some football.

Playing the game uses energy points. You will run out of these, but you can buy more in the store. You accumulate more over time, so you can play without ever making a purchase, you just will not be able to play constantly.

Calling plays requires in-game credits, which can be earned through the tutorial and by playing games, or purchased through the in-app store. Once you call a play, the act of playing football in this game is surprisingly good. The graphics look amazing, and the game is easy to control. If you are a fan of American football, there is no reason not to take this game for a spin.

(This game is also available on Android, but my tests were on iPhone).

Real Soccer 2012

Real Soccer is another Gameloft sports game that works off the “freemium” model, just like NFL Pro. When you first open the game, you will see a cool screen that shows you the latest happenings in the soccer world. That is the real soccer world, not what is happening in the video game. In the top left corner you will see a button labeled “Play.” Click that to play some footy.

Playing the game feels great, and there is not as many attempted up-sells as NFL Pro. The controls feel tight, and easy to use. On top of playing well, the visuals are gorgeous. It is hard to believe that a free game packs such a visual punch.

There is still plenty to buy in the game if you should so choose. You can buy new balls, stadiums, players and more. You use in-game currency to buy these items. You earn it slowly just by playing, but you can buy it to get more quickly. The game has so many features it is really impressive. Go on your phone and download the free game if you are remotely interested in soccer.

Conclusion

If you like football, either American or international, you should check out these free Gameloft games. I suppose the free needs to be in quotes, because they are trying to sell you in-game purchases. Still, the fact is, you can have a lot of fun with both of these games without spending anything. Both of these games are fun, and a great way to kill some time with your iPhone or iPad.

What are your favorite iPhone sports games? Let us know in the comments!

Since I am a giant nerd, the first thing I did when I decided to ski was to look for iPhone ski apps dedicated to the sport. It turns out there are a few good ones out there that provide some incredibly useful information for skiers and snowboarders. They offer different features, ranging from mountain conditions to equipment buying guides. With these apps, you will be ready to hit the slopes. Just do not drop your phone in the snow; I can tell you from first hand experience, that will not end well.

Ski & Snow Report

Ski & Snow Report is an awesome application for tracking the conditions at your favorite mountains. This is especially useful at this time of the year, when most of the mountains are still closed and are just getting ready to open. With this application, you can easily store all of your favorite mountains.

The app also has a “nearby” feature, which allows you to check the conditions of the mountains within a reasonable distance of your current location. Not only is this useful for finding out the conditions of the mountains, but you can also use it to find spots to ski that you may not have heard of. Obviously, if you are out of the town, you will probably not be familiar with the mountains in the area, so having an app like this will help a great deal.

The last awesome feature this app has is push alerts. It will tell you whenever one of your favorite mountains receives a fresh layer of powder. You can set the threshold for how much snow it needs to receive before it sends you an alert.

On the Snow Gear Guide

This is an application for finding your new ski or snowboard equipment. After all, you cannot be ready to hit the mountain if you do not have all of the proper equipment. Gear Guide makes it easy to find exactly what you need based on your skill level, gender and sport (ski or snowboard).

When you first start the application, it will ask you the aforementioned questions and show you the equipment that is right for you based on your answers. After all, a new skier does not need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on high-end skis, when a middle of the road pair would more than suffice.

In addition to the gear guide, this app offers videos and a glossary. The glossary is especially helpful for new skiers who are not familiar with all of the jargon used by more experienced snow sport participants.

AllSnow

AllSnow is another mountain tracking application, similar to Ski Report. It has the ability to find out the status at local mountains. It also tells you lift ticket prices for the mountains you are looking at and provides a link to their website.

They offer complete trail maps of most major mountains. This is very useful if you want to know what kinds of runs the mountains have before you go. The application also has a premium feature, where you can buy runs for various mountains and use GPS to track yourself. It provides information such as time and top speed for runs you have purchased.

This iphone ski app also has a social aspect. Users can leave reviews of mountains and individual trails at mountains. This way, you can find out what you are getting into before you head to the slopes.

Conclusion

I cannot wait for winter so I can hit the mountains. Now that I have these iPhone apps, I will be much more prepared. I know which mountains are open, and I have a better understanding of the gear I need. Now, you will too.

Are you a skier? Did these apps help you get ready for the season? Let us know in the comments!

That being said, hockey is a complicated sport filled with all kinds of intricacies that need lots of knowledge and years of experience. However, there are plenty of hockey websites on the Internet that can offer all kinds of information for the budding hockey player. They have information from the basics of skating, to the type of equipment a new player needs to get up and running. The key is knowing which websites have the best information, and that is exactly what I am going to show you today. So without further delay, check out these websites for everything you need to know to become a hockey superstar.

Hockey Giant Equipment Guide

The Hockey Giant Equipment guide offers an individual guide for every single type of hockey equipment. It teaches you how to properly fit everything from skates to goalie pads. They go into an incredible amount of detail about each type of equipment that players will need for hockey.

For each type of equipment they go into much more detail than just the sizing, but they talk about how different types will do based on price and quality. They explain what is actually different between top of the line equipment and the basic stuff, which will allow a new player to decide how much they need to spend on their equipment. No matter how you slice it, starting hockey is an expensive proposition, especially for a goalie, but a guide like this will help make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

Hockey Player Tips

Once you have all your equipment sorted out, the next step is going to be learning the basics of hockey. While Hockey Player Tips offers skills and techniques for advanced players, they have more content for people just starting off than any other website I have come across.

They have basic guides for skating, and how to add more speed and power to your stride. They have tips for how to play defense and how to properly shoot the puck. Basically, if there is something in hockey that you want to learn how to do, they have an article explaining it in detail.

Many of their posts come with videos, so you can see the technique being executed step by step. In addition to videos, many posts also include practice drills, so you can build your muscle memory for executing the technique in the heat of the game.

How-To Hockey

Eventually, you will reach a level where just the basics don’t cut it, and that is where How-To Hockey really shines. They focus a lot more on team play and strategy than most websites. They don’t neglect the basics, but their content in terms of advanced stuff is well above most other hockey websites.

They have so many drills to help improve your hockey game. Every technique from toe drags to saucer passes are covered (don’t know what those are? Then go check out the site and you will!) Their drill section is nicely organized by skill level, so you can see a real sense of progression as you move through the different sections.

One of my favorite things on their site is the hockey cheat sheet. It offers a diagram of a hockey rink, and shows how you need to handle every situation depending on where you are on the rink. It is a really handy guide for coaches to give their players a quick overview of how they need to handle certain situations.

Conclusion

With these three hockey websites, everyone can learn to play. Starting all the way down at the bottom with purchasing your equipment and moving all the way to the highest levels of learning advanced dekes and plays, these three sites have you covered.

Where do you learn about hockey? Have these websites made you a better hockey player? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: ShutterStock

Mixed Martial Arts is a very fast-moving sport with constant fight announcements, injuries and other news to report. So to be a good MMA publication, their journalists have to stay on top of things, and these websites are the best at doing so. If you cannot get enough MMA information, these are the websites you need to be checking at all times, so you never miss a punch.

MMA Junkie

This is by far my favorite mixed martial arts website. They publish an obscene amount of stories every day, and they are always incredibly accurate. There are some occasions where other sites beat them to the story, but that is because MMAJunkie always makes sure to fact check and call the parties involved to make sure they are not just reporting on rumor, but real facts.

Not only do they offer up to the minute news, but they also offer some great features and thought-provoking articles. Their “Fight Path” series comes out weekly and covers an up and coming fighter, and tells a little about their story and where they come from. It’s a great way to learn about some fighters who might make it to big shows someday.

There is a reason MMA Junkie has won the World MMA Awards “Best Media Source” category three years in a row, and it is simply because they are the best.

MMA Fighting

MMAFighting is another great website for MMA content. Their writing staff are top-notch, and they offer some of the best interviews and video content on the Internet. They probably have the most famous MMA journalist in Ariel Helwani on staff, and he brings some great video interviews to the website.

Their news is not as fast as MMA Junkie, but their articles are just as well written, and just as well researched. They are more feature driven, and they bring sides of the fighters out that you won’t see anywhere else. That being said, because of how well-connected Ariel is, they break some inside stories that no one else gets.

Bloody Elbow

Bloody Elbow is an MMA blog in the purest sense. They are usually one of the first to break news stories, but their fact checking might not be at the same level as some of the other sites. They are not afraid to report on rumors, but they are smart enough to let readers know what they are reporting is a rumor.

Bloody Elbow is part of SBNation, which means you can register for an account and actually post content. This is great if you are an MMA fan who would like to try to get into MMA journalism.

Cage Potato

Cage Potato is very similar to Bloody Elbow, in that they are both pure blogs, and they are willing to push the envelope a bit more than some of the other sites. Cage Potato is a little more casual, in that they are willing to swear in their posts and they don’t carry that professional journalist way of doing things.

Basically, Cage Potato is an MMA blog by fans of the sport who are not trying to be taken necessarily as journalists, but just guys who love Mixed Martial Arts and choose to write about it.

Between these four mixed martial arts sites you should be able to stay up to date with everything that is happening in the fast-moving world of Martial Arts. Check these amazing websites daily and enjoy!

What MMA websites do you rely on for your MMA fix? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: ShutterStock

The cool thing about Netsoccer is that, unlike other soccer games you may have played either offline or online, you actually control an individual player, not the entire team. This gives the game a feeling like you are actually playing the sport – playing your position and moving around the field just like you would in real life.

Practice Makes Perfect

There isn’t much of a learning curve in this game.  The only control required is the mouse. However, it does take a little bit of practice to get used to, so to get started, click on the “Play” dropdown list and choose the “Free Practise” option.

All you have to do to control your player is place the cursor some distance away in the direction that you want to run. The further away you lead the cursor, the faster your player will run. As you approach the goal or another player and you want to kick, just tap the mouse.

The practice session pits your character against a goalie. So take a running start, and when you get within a comfortable distance, put the cursor where you want to kick and click the right mouse button. If you’ve aimed right and are running at a good speed, you may very well make a goal!

When you’re done playing and you want to step it up a bit, click on the “Play” dropdown again and choose either Training, Team Matches or Challenge.

How Gameplay Works

If you haven’t been invited to one of the password protected games, then you’ll have to choose from one of the other open servers that have active players.

Once you join the server and you’re in the game, it’ll look like the screenshot below. You’re automatically placed on one of the teams, and you can see the individual player names just above the image of their character. These are real people that are playing the game alongside you – it’s a true team simulation!

During the game, you can quickly communicate with your team (or both teams) by using the messaging system at the lower left corner of the screen. Just tap the function key for the communication desired and quickly type out your message. From what I’ve seen, for the most part, the games here are relatively “quiet” and there isn’t a whole lot of trash talk or chatter – although maybe that was just the time of day when I was testing.

At the upper left corner of the screen you’ll see a “HUD” display that shows all player positions on the field. The dots representing the players are color-coded for each team, so this is a good area to glance at when you’re coming up with a strategy to get through the field. Look for a good opening and then either race your way through or pass to an open team member.

Back at the main menu, by clicking on the “Stats” dropdown box, you can choose from one of several statistics displays to view. Take a look at your own profile and determine where you stand, or take a look at team standings and player standings across the entire network.

When you click on your own player name, you can also configure the appearance of your character. Unlike other team soccer games out there like Ggoal, the graphics on this particular game are actually pretty decent. They are clear enough so that you may want to take advantage of the character configuration feature to make the player look more like you.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the overall team and player standings, because you never know when your name may appear on the list! All it takes is a bit of practice and joining up with a team where you can really help out with your skills.

Of course, like any sport, the most important thing is to practice enough so that people actually want you on their team. The controls are simple enough to understand so that you can really focus more on strategy and how you place yourself and move on the field.

So give Soccer 2 a try and see if it quenches your thirst for all things soccer or football. Let us know what you think of the game, what your favorite features are, and whether there are any shortcomings. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Image Credit : Sam