Heavy tweeting messes up Olympics TV coverageJuly 30, 2012 - 14:43 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Heavy texting and Twitter usage by Olympics spectators apparently led to poor television coverage of the men's cycling road race, according to ZDNet. TV commentators struggled to provide accurate and up-to-the-minute information about the race, because spectators lining the route clogged up the local mobile data networks, Reuters reported. The athletes had GPS units that were supposed to constantly send co-ordinates back to the race organisers by SMS, but this was made tricky by the network overload. Without this data, commentators relying on the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) were left unable to accurately say how the race was developing. "From my understanding, one network was oversubscribed, and OBS are trying to spread the load to other providers. We don't want to stop people engaging in this by social media but perhaps they might consider only sending urgent updates," an OBS spokesman was quoted by the Guardian as saying. However, games organizers pointed out that the timings of the race itself were not in doubt, as there were precise timing points at the start and finish. Many of the people lining the race route would have been there to support the British hopeful Mark Cavendish, who ended up in 29th place. For months, there have been concerns over the strain the Olympics would put on mobile networks in London. All the major network have beefed up their capacity around the main venues, in an attempt to cope with the surge in demand by spectators and officials. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |