{"id":3405,"date":"2018-01-17T00:28:29","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T14:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/?p=3405"},"modified":"2018-01-17T00:30:13","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T14:30:13","slug":"ausopen-app-facing-teething-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/?p=3405","title":{"rendered":"#AusOpen App facing teething issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, is well underway with the world&#8217;s tennis community firmly focussed\u00a0on Melbourne Park as\u00a0two weeks of brilliant tennis and stories unfold. One story that is brewing though is the IT problems which are somewhat hampering the public&#8217;s ability to access key information about one of the world&#8217;s premier tennis tournaments from its own official app.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Day two <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AustralianOpen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AustralianOpen<\/a>. Still no luck with the app. Just want to be able to check scores and results when I wake up! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AusOpen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AusOpen<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qjyTEFbaNZ\">pic.twitter.com\/qjyTEFbaNZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Anne Keothavong (@annekeothavong) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/annekeothavong\/status\/953141883366248449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3413\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3413 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524-300x243.png\" alt=\"IMG_0558\" width=\"300\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524-300x243.png 300w, https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524-768x622.png 768w, https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524-1024x829.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524-900x729.png 900w, https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/IMG_0558-e1516112048524.png 1126w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Judging by comments on app stores (see screenshots below), Twitter posts and this author&#8217;s own experience, the official Australian Open app has some demons in it, despite its nice UI\u00a0design.<\/p>\n<p>For example, there have been problems with accessing scores, draws and even AO Radio (this author has been using Tunein Radio for #AORadio instead).<\/p>\n<p>Tennis Australia has acknowledged this problem to some extent by releasing an update to the app, though this update was intended just to fix a notification fault in it.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3406\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3406\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.50.31-pm.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3406\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3406 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.50.31-pm-300x135.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2018-01-16 at 10.50.31 pm\" width=\"300\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.50.31-pm-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.50.31-pm.png 301w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3406\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot from Google Play store for Australian Open 2018 app &#8211; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.ibm.events.android.ausopen&amp;hl=en\">https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.ibm.events.android.ausopen&amp;hl=en<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3407\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3407\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.49.13-pm.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3407\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-3407\" src=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.49.13-pm-300x70.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2018-01-16 at 10.49.13 pm\" width=\"500\" height=\"116\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.49.13-pm-300x70.png 300w, https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-10.49.13-pm.png 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3407\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot from Apple App Store for Australian Open 2018 app &#8211; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/australian-open-tennis-2018\/id345137837?mt=8\">https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/australian-open-tennis-2018\/id345137837?mt=8<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Over the years, Tennis Australia and the Australian Open have been at the forefront of technology both behind the scenes and public facing. \u00a0This website has even previously written about such &#8211; see\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/?p=509\">http:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/?p=509<\/a><\/span>. This front of the pack approach was no doubt due to the strong relationship that Tennis Australia developed with IBM over a couple of decades. IBM was the technology partner of the Australian Open from 1993, with it providing technical services, and its logo on the speed service sign and on digital scoreboards on the host broadcast feed.<\/p>\n<p>However,\u00a0you may have noticed this year that the IBM is no longer there. In October last year, IBM and Tennis Australia announced an end to their two decade plus partnership (it is unclear if IBM will continue to sponsor the other three grand slams), with IBM saying that (as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crn.com.au\/news\/ibm-and-australian-open-cut-ties-after-two-decades-475713\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">CRN<\/span><\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n&#8220;IBM continually looks at future marketing initiatives to ensure they align with its business direction. IBM will continue to find compelling ways to connect fans with global sports events through breakthrough digital technology and services.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Whether the app problems for the Australian Open this week are linked with the adoption of a new IT platform following the end of the IBM relationship is unclear (not clear from web searches as to who has replaced IBM as technology provider). However, what is clear is the app needs to be fixed quick as fans should be able to rely on the Australian Open app for (at the very least) live scores rather than having to use alternate means such as\u00a0Google search.<\/p>\n<p>As a side note, it isn&#8217;t all bad news though on the tech side with the Australian Open&#8217;s domestic broadcast rights holder Seven <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sevenwestmedia\/status\/953141374093635584\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">reporting<\/span><\/a> that there were 4.5m minutes of tennis streamed on Day 1 via its 7Tennis platform, up\u00a040% on Day 1 for the 2017 tournament.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p>\nAn incredible day 1 of Tennis <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AustralianOpen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AustralianOpen<\/a>. 4.6m Streaming mins | up an amazing 40% YOY!! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ChangeTheGame?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ChangeTheGame<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/7Tennis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#7Tennis<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZEA74MdsxE\">pic.twitter.com\/ZEA74MdsxE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Seven West Media (@sevenwestmedia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sevenwestmedia\/status\/953141374093635584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2018<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crn.com.au\/news\/ibm-and-australian-open-cut-ties-after-two-decades-475713\">IBM and Australian Open cut ties after two decades<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, is well underway with the world&#8217;s tennis community firmly focussed\u00a0on Melbourne Park as\u00a0two weeks of brilliant tennis and stories unfold. One story that is brewing though is the IT problems which are somewhat hampering the public&#8217;s ability to access key information about one of the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/?p=3405\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">#AusOpen App facing teething issues<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[39,7],"tags":[1347,1348,1349,240,115,330,1317,170,336],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2012\/01\/EyeTVSnapshot4.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25SQa-SV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3405"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3418,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405\/revisions\/3418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frostglobal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}