Author: Richard Devine

Get the best World Cup 2014 experience on your iPhone and iPad with these five top apps!

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is finally here and football fans the world over are preparing to cheer on their nations down in Brazil. We’re really fortunate this time around, too, that our iPhones and iPads are even better ways of experiencing all of the action wherever we may be.

And so without further ado lets take a look at a selection of the best that the App Store has to offer!

FIFA

FIFA organizes the World Cup so you’d really hope it would also have a solid iOS application. And it does. It’s a relatively new app anyway but has also received a recent, major update to prepare it for the World Cup.

Full results and schedules, team information, the ability to check out some of the stadiums and cities hosting the games, match alerts and even a daily liveblog all adds up to one of the very best World Cup experiences you’ll get on your iPhone or iPad. A must download.

• Free – Download Now

BBC Sport

One predominantly for the England fans, but the BBC Sport app is definitely one to keep around. In the UK, BBC will be hosting around half of the games live and is promising 24/7 coverage of the tournament.

Throw in live coverage of the games the BBC will be covering, highlights of the rest along with every morsel of news, fixtures, results, team information and more, and the BBC will look after you from the first match right through to the final.

• Free (UK only) – Download Now

ESPN FC

ESPN is one of the many global providers of World Cup coverage and as such its ESPN FC app is a fountain of World Cup knowledge. With in-depth commentary, favorite team alerts and all the news and fixture information you can kick a ball at, you’re never far from the action.

As an added bonus, folks in the U.S. will be able to view exclusive video highlights of World Cup games. And who doesn’t want that!

• Free – Download Now

theScore

theScore is a very popular – and very good – sports app at the best of times and the World Cup is no exception. It offers similar features to many other apps mentioned here – like news, scores, live updates and alerts – but it does have one party piece in particular. Using the shot tracking feature you can see how and where all the goals were scored. And if you can’t watch it live that’s got to be almost the next best thing.

• Free – Download Now

Onefootball Brasil

Formerly known as TheFootballApp, Onefootball has released a special version of the app dedicated to nothing more than the World Cup. In-app live coverage is provided by talkSPORT radio for UK users while everyone else has access to the Live Ticker for minute-by-minute commentary.

Add to that a full planner, team and match news, videos and social features and Onefootball Brasil is one you’ll want to keep close at hand.

• Free – Download Now

Your picks

So there’s five pretty great apps that we think will give you a great World Cup experience on your iPhone or iPad. There’s a bunch more out there, though, so if you’ve got a particular favorite you want to sing out for then do so in the comments below. And let us know who you’re cheering for, too! No-one but England here, so who gets your backing?

After recent speculation, Google’s Chromecast has finally broken free of U.S. exclusivity and is now officially available in Canada and 10 countries across Europe. Pricing is similar to that of the U.S. Chromecast costing £30 in the UK and $39 in Canada, so it’s great to see we haven’t been charged a premium.

The 10 European countries getting Chromecast are Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Availability wise, hit up your local Google Play Store right now in one of those lucky 11 and you should see it front and center in the “Devices” area of the store. Other retailers will also be picking it up, including Amazon, Currys PCWorld, FNAC, Media Markt and more.

The Chromecast has been gathering pace in recent weeks and months, and Google opening it up to app developers leaves it with bright prospects for the future. Aside from its price, the other beauty to the Chromecast is its support for iOS as well as Android and Chrome. Google has also listed an initial batch of localized apps to get Chromecast support, which in the UK includes the BBC iPlayer. Something that some of us have longed for on our Apple TVs for quite some time!

If you’re thinking of picking one up, be sure to direct yourself to the links below for all you need to know on getting set up and running using your iPhone, iPad or Mac. For even more coverage, tips and tricks make sure you pay a visit to our buddies over at Android Central. Who’s buying?

• How to set up Google Chromecast using your iPhone
• How to setup and use Google Chromecast with your iPhone, iPad, or Mac

Source: Google, Android Central