The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Smartphones, and You

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics have finally arrived, and, despite the widely told stories about hotels not being ready and some of the venues not being to the sportspeople’s liking, these games will be perhaps the most technologically advanced ever. And, smartphones are playing a huge role in the advanced nerd-factor of the Olympics.

Watching the Sochi Games on Your Smartphone

NBC is game about the Games. The American TV broadcaster wants to get as many eyes on the Olympics as it can. So, it has released a pair of smartphone/tablet apps that will show the games. NBC Sports Live Extra has been set up to stream live more than 1,000 hours of Olympics coverage to folks who are able to verify that they already have access to NBC via their satellite, Telco, or cable service providers.

The second app, NBC Olympics Highlights and Results, will stream to people’s phones and tablets real time results and schedules along with replays and profiles of both well-known and obscure athletes. Talking about these apps, Gary Zenkel, NBC Olympics President, said, “Olympic fans will now be able to take the Winter Games with them wherever they go.”

The 2014 Winter Games and Smartphone Danger

When it comes to your smartphone, it is wise to remember the maxim, “Stranger, Danger.” And, when it comes to your smartphone at the Sochi Games, it is especially wise to keep on chanting, “Stranger, Danger, Stranger, Danger.”

ABC News is reporting that Russian gangsters and spies are at the games as well. However, they are not there to watch Shawn White dominate the Half Pipe. They’re there to hack into your smartphone. What makes this danger even worse is the fact that it is legal for Russian intelligence services to electronically spy on any and all foreigners within the country.

One American intelligence official called the thousands of visitors flocking to Sochi “an intelligence bonanza” for mobsters and spies alike.