Fergie's Tech Blog

Features of ESPN Phone Catch Beijing's Eye

John Murrell writes over on Good Morning, Silicon Valley (GMSV):

Walt Mossberg is a distinguished gentleman, a senior statesman among gadget gurus, so he's probably never said "WTF?!" in print, but he came close in today's review of the new ESPN-branded cell phone and service.

The phone has some nifty navigation if your entire life revolves around ESPN, but should your interests extend to the wider world of sports coverage, you are apparently out of luck. "ESPN has crippled the phone's Web browser by blocking access to some sites," Mossberg writes. "When I tried to go to several sites, including those of competitors like Sports Illustrated, I got a screen that said ESPN only allows you to go to 'reviewed' sites it believes 'work well on your ESPN phone.' That's an outrageous level of control, in my view.

You can get around this iron fist by doing a Google search in the Web browser and then clicking on one of the links Google produces, but that shouldn't be necessary." Off to the penalty box, ESPN; that's two minutes for obstruction.

posted by Fergie @ 2/16/2006 10:18:00 AM