TOP PICK: Basketball Live!

It’s that time of year, folks: the NBA Playoffs. Even when my beloved (and aging… *sniff*) San Antonio Spurs aren’t playing, I enjoy watching all teams play at this time of year. When I can’t watch a game, I have a couple options for up-to-the-minute scores… I could check my scores regularly using my mobile browser, but that’s a bit of a pain.  I could sign up for text alerts through ESPN Mobile, but I don’t like the idea of giving my number away and the updates aren’t frequent enough.

Fear not, friends! Your ship has sailed in, just in time for the playoffs.

If your predicament is like mine, MoreSolutions has a… solution… (cough)… for us: Basketball Live! ($1.99). Essentially, it utilizes the awesome webOS discreet notification system so you can be updated on as many or as few teams as you want.  Update frequencies can be as often as every 30 seconds, or every 30 minutes.  You have the choice of multiple alert types, ranging from mute to vibrate plus your choice of ringtone.  You can even turn blink notifications on and off to work with the app.  The developer was kind enough to include a tips/tricks button so you can read how best to use the app.

Tap a live score, and you have the choice to tweet the scores or open the live ESPN Game Cast. Nice.

How does it work?  Pretty darn well.  The app works completely in the background; the only time you open a card is to change your settings.  Updates have been spot-on for me:  during few first round playoff games that I’ve watched, Basketball Live! was pretty much in sync with the action.  To switch from one game to another, all I have to do is tap the basketball button in the left side of the discreet notification. Tap a live score, and it takes you right to ESPN’s GameCast webpage. Nice.

I really don’t have many complaints about this app.  It literally does what it says.  If I had one wish, it would be that the notification would pop up automatically right at game time. [Update! This was added. Very nice work!] Finally, it would be nice to see .

MoreSolutions has released other apps, called Baseball Live! ($1.99) and Hockey Live! ($1.99).  As I am not the biggest baseball or hockey buff I haven’t downloaded it, but if it works anything like its basketball counterpart, I think baseball and hockey fans alike will be in for a treat.  How ’bout a football app, guys? Or even better – a sports suite with all sports combined??

We at webOSroundup like this app so much we award it our highest honor, a Top Pick. Congrats to MoreSolutions.

Tap here to view the developer’s video of Basketball Live!