Words & Photos: Brian Sibande
Samsung Electronics has launched its Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games mobile app, Wireless Olympic Works (WOW), turning the world’s Android devices into mobile sports stations that fans can use to personalise their own Olympic Winter Games experience.
Samsung’s Public WOW app provides sports fans with real-time access to event schedules, latest reports on results, medal standings and Olympic records, consistently and fast. Public WOW is an extension of Samsung’s custom WOW for the Olympic Family, which is a wireless communications platform developed to ensure smarter communications and smoother, wireless operations of the Olympic Winter Games by offering news and information about the Games to officials and staff.
“Samsung is offering fans around the world the most direct access to Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and allowing them to design and personalise their experience in ways that are most relevant to their interests and passions,” said Michelle Potgieter, Director, Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung Electronics South Africa. “Our dedicated teams are hard at work year-round to ensure that the WOW technology is ready for use throughout the Games, both for consumers looking for the ultimate Olympic Winter Games experience, and for the Olympic Family utilising our technology to support Games-time operations.”
All Android users worldwide can download Samsung’s Public WOW app via the Samsung App store and Google Play, at no cost, obtaining unprecedented access to the excitement of the Olympic Winter Games.
Components of the Samsung WOW app allow fans to design their own Olympic Winter Games experience in the following ways:
Personalise your own Olympic Winter Games updates
Samsung’s WOW app for Sochi 2014 offers highly personalised, live Games-time updates ranging from medal counts to big moments that can be pushed to users’ phones in real time. A new cheering service will allow fans to send cheers to support their favorite athletes and countries.
Share your celebrations with social network features
Users can upload text and images instantly to share with other WOW app users and with their social networks, creating a global community around collective interests in the Olympic Winter Games and winter sports. Languages supported for the Public WOW app include English, French, German, Korean, Russia, Chinese and Spanish.
Learn about Olympic sports with an interactive, visual guide
The app offers information on all 15 winter sports at Sochi 2014 through a highly visual and engaging graphic user interface. A Visual Sports Guide will provide tutorials on each sport, including rules, equipment details and many other points of interest, bringing people closer to the excitement of the Olympic Winter Games.
Get the most out of your Sochi visit with an Olympic Winter Games venue guide
Fans attending the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi will have access to a location-based Olympic Winter Games venue guide through the Samsung WOW technology. The guide offers Olympic venue information and navigation services so visitors can feel truly integrated into the Olympic Winter Games experience on the ground.
“With its advanced technology in wireless communications, Samsung has played an essential role in the successful operation of the Olympic Winter Games. We believe the WOW app for Sochi 2014 will once again benefit the Games with more efficient and faster communications for the Olympic Family as well as fans around the world” said Timo Lumme, Managing Director, IOC TMS.
As part of the “Samsung Smart Olympic Games Initiative”, Samsung will provide around 18,000 mobile devices to the Olympic Family, including executives, staff and officials from the IOC, National Olympic Committees and organising agencies in Sochi. They will be connected to Samsung’s WOW service which will provide essential, up-to-date Games Time data and connectivity that is crucial to the Olympic Winter Games operation.
The Samsung WOW service was first launched during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games for the Olympic Family and has since evolved into a must-have resource for officials, attendees and fans worldwide.
About Samsung’s Involvement in the Olympic Games
Samsung began its Olympic Games involvement as a local sponsor of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. Beginning with the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the company extended its commitment to the Olympic Movement as the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category, providing its proprietary wireless communications platform, called Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) and mobile phones. These innovative mobile phone technologies provide the Olympic Family with real-time, user location-based information service and interactive communications. Samsung hosts various digital marketing campaigns to share the excitement of the Olympic Games with people around the world and enable everyone to participate in the Games through its smart mobile technology. Samsung’s commitment as a Worldwide Olympic Partner continues through to Rio 2016.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere through relentless innovation and discovery. We employ 270,000 people across 79 countries with annual sales of US$187.8 billion. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.
