“Football fans go to extreme lengths to follow the games, and now our customers will only have to look at their wrists. We’re excited to deliver more new content and features to Smart Watches withthis new release of MSN Direct,†said Eric Lang, general manager of the Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative at Microsoft. “People are on the go and need to easily access informationthat is important to them, whether that’s getting a message from home, checking a sports score or seeing what the weather is like.†Sports fans can now feed their passion before, during andafter the game with game updates and standings from MSN Direct. Sports fans can choose to receive updates from up to five of their favorite NFL teams and up to five of the 240 college football teamsthrough the service. With content provided by ESPN, MSN Direct offers football lovers the following:
- Scores. Updates each quarter and after every score for games in progress
- Standings. Chosen teams’ standings in their division; standings for all playoff games, including Super Bowl and Pro Bowl standings
- Statistics. High passing, rushing and receiving statistics
- Game information. Teams playing, kickoff times, television schedules (where available), and pregame, game and post-game stories
The next time a football die-hard is away from the game, he or she can simply take a quick peek at the watch face to get the latest score or standing. Football is the third sport to be added tothe MSN Direct sports channel, which already includes baseball and basketball (NBA, WNBA, NCAA men’s and NCAA women’s). About-Face: MSN Direct Offers Downloadable WatchFaces
As a part of this content expansion, for a more personalized look, customers can now download up to two additional watch faces directly from http://www.msndirect.com, as well as previously released watch faces. The new football content and downloadable watch faces complement existing MSN Directchannels, which include news, stocks, weather, trivia and sports information, personal messages, and reminders of calendar appointments. Subscribers choose the information they want to receive ontheir watch by visiting the MSN Direct Web site.
