Official Tour de France iPad App - Review

The official 2011 Tour de France iPad App is now available from ASO through iTunes for £2.99.

They say:

Official 2011 Tour de France application for iPad powered by ŠKODA

By Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O)

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Description

The Official Tour de France Application powered by ŠKODA.

This is a must-have for cycling fans this July to stay up to date with the race as it happens. Get LIVE minute-by-minute race updates, real-time GPS Tracking of where the riders and breakaways are on the course, and after the race access highlight videos, daily race results and standings.

Features:

• LIVE Minute-by-Minute Race Updates and Breakaway Tracking
• LIVE GPS Tracking showing the location of the race on the map and race profile
• Highlight videos of every stage (streaming over 3G and Wifi)
• Results and daily standings for each stage
• Photos from each stage and Tour de France Twitter feed.
• Rider profiles
• Detailed profiles of all stages and categorized climbs

ŠKODA Auto the official sponsor of the Tour de France, the world's premier cycle race.

 

 

 

 

iPad Screenshots

I say:

This is all very promising and looks like £2.99 well spent - particularly when compared with the prices of the many Tour de France guides in print currently available through the nation's newsagents.

However, it really has to work, and work well to be of any value.

There are a few days left for ASO to iron out the bugs so this App can fulfill its promise, but they need to get on it fast...

So far, the things that have bugged me include:

Slow start up, poor quality video, crashing video and poor navigation (I couldn't find a way) between stage data.

The poor quality video is a particular disappointment as this is where the iPad itself excels. The fact that it keeps crashing, renders it almost useless.

It remains to be seen how this App will handle live data once the race actually starts. I expect this to be its real strength, but only time will tell.

The map data shown for Stage 1 on the access page doesn't appear to be matched by any of the other stages - it would have been useful to be able to scroll through, particularly if you were planning places to watch. You can find introductory info on each of the stages through the calendar function, but this is just not the same.

I understand from someone in the know that there will be an ITV Tour de France iPad App which will be "the nuts"... I do hope so, because this effort from ASO a couple of days out from the Grand Depart is pants.