The iPad 3 in the Sporting World.

This week, gadget lovers across the UK braced the long queues to be one of the first to get their hands on the new iPad 3. The latest in a line of apple tablet devices, the iPad 3 offers a much higher resolution screen than previous iPads. The device is fitted with a quad-core Apple A6 system-on-a-chip.

The Camera on this version has been massively upgraded and connectivity has significantly improved. The number of pixels has been multiplied by four in comparison to last year’s model, so an improved processor is essential. This has made the device slightly thicker and heavier than the iPad 2 but the numbers are so small (50g heavier and 0.6mm thicker) you would have to be seriously fussy for that to be a problem.

The overall design of the device is near identical to the iPad 2. The iPad 3 has a home button on the front so you can easily wake the screen. There's the rocker switch on the right edge to either mute the sound or lock the orientation. The choice is up to you which is something Apple do not often offer. The two sockets on offer are the headphones input and obviously the 30-pin connector. There is still no sockets for USB sticks or camera's SD memory cards as of yet.
You can pick up one of these third generation iPad's at PC World for between £399 and £659, depending on the model. They are available in 16G, 32G and 64G. 

Now you be wondering why the release of an Apple iPad has such focus in a sports blog. Well, the answer for that comes by looking at the apps on offer for this gadget. Firstly, Golfshot: Golf GPS.

Priced at astonishingly high £20.99, Golfshot aids golfers in distances, club selection, accuracy and so much more. Golfshot contains data from 38,000 courses and offers pre-mapped aerial images of the course. Using GPS it can tell you how far away the pin may be and taking into account the weather and more specifically the wind direction, it can recommend clubs and shot selection. The newest version of this app can offer swing tracking where your swings are analysed showing club distances and accuracy. Golfshot is the number 1 Golf GPS app worldwide.

As impressive and technologically advanced as this is, I find the whole concept frankly ridiculous. I understand it can exceedingly improve your game but If I walked out onto the tee and someone has their iPad out, judging the distance to the flag and working out the precise wind direction, I’d be putting my clubs straight back into the boot of my car and going home. Is this how the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Seve Ballesteros learnt the game?

I can picture the scene now, a golfer who has more money than sense, driving around the course in his top of the range buggy, equipped with his sparkling new clubs, closely analysing his iPad about his next shot, only to miss-hit his overpriced golf ball straight into a bush the other side of the fairway. The phrase ‘All the gear, No idea’ comes’ comes to mind.

The next app I have looked at is one that I recommend football lovers download straight away when purchasing an iPad. This is the Sky Sports Football Score Centre. Greeted with a lovely image of the dashing Jeff Stelling on launching the app, Sky Sports score centre allows you to check football scores, results and fixtures from anywhere in the world. It’s the ideal app for a Saturday afternoon on the go.

Sky Sports score centre offers a vidiprinter so you can view all the goals come in as they happen in its simplest form. By then clicking on a certain game you can see the goal scorer and the time of the goal without taking you away from the vidiprinter page.

The layout of the app is very user friendly. To launch the vidiprinter you just click on the small yellow arrow in the bottom left hand corner, the same arrow will close it. If the vidiprinter is not open and a goal has been scored the arrow will spin around to catch the user's attention.

There are clear icons which take you around the app where you can view more detailed events from different fixtures such as team line-ups, live text commentary and player profiles. You can also set different preferences. By selecting your favourite teams you can ensure results, live scores and fixtures involving those teams will be highlighted on the home screen.

What’s great about this app is that it’s all about the facts and the scores. There is no messing around with controversial opinions and debatable topics. You use it to check the scores and to check statistics. It is a very convenient app which I use often. You can be at one game and needing to know the score from another and Sky Sports Football Score Centre can provide that completely fuss free. It is always perfectly up to date. 

Another absolute 'must have app' for football lovers is ESPN goals. A personal favourite, ESPN goals is all about the premier league and all about the goals. If a goal is scored in the Barclay's premier league, ESPN goals allows iPad and iPhone users to see it straight away. A simple app it may be but much like the Sky Sports centre, it does the job. If you want to watch extended highlights and in depth analysis of the weekend's games then you will need to tune into Match of the Day or Football First but if you just want a quick, easy round up of all the goals from the Premier League, then this app is perfect. ESPN goal is free to download and does not require subscription to the ESPN television channel. One criticism I do have is that you have to endure a lot of adverts before watching the content. It can get awfully frustrating. 

Now whilst the apps I have discussed thus far are useful in a sports enthusiasts lives, this last app is just out and out a bit of fun. If you are going to purchase this iPad 3 or if you own a previous version of the device, you are more than likely going to get some sort of childlike game on there to play in your 'chill out' time. Keeping to the sporting theme, my suggestion is of course Stick Cricket. 

Now if you haven't played Stick Cricket, where have you been? My school days were wasted playing this game. If it wasn't for stick cricket perhaps I'd be writing for the Guardian instead of writing this blog. The fact it is now available for iPad and iPhone makes me worry about the rest of my degree. The game simply involves three buttons: forward, left and right. When the bowler sends his delivery at you, the batsman, you have to make your decision. Do you hit it forward, left or right? That is it. 

Doesn't sound much? Try it out here: http://www.sticksports.com/games/stick-cricket/