Apps

Nike Hyper Court wants you to play like an NBA star

Published

November 18, 2017

Rodneil Quiteles

Play basketball like your favorite NBA superstar — that’s the general hook behind the Nike Hyper Court. It’s an app, yes, but it’s more than just that.

The Nike Hyper Court app is home to hours of exclusive Nike content that shows different drills that young aspiring basketball players can watch and try to do on their own.

Nike says the majority of young players check YouTube for moves of stars they can borrow and add to their game. The app makes it easier for young ballers to watch drills they can try on their own.

The drills on the app are inspired by moves of popular Nike NBA superstars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, and the drills were made and supervised by actual basketball coaches and trainers.

To drive home the point of the importance of performing these drills, Nike put together a quick mini camp for the media complete with coaches and Philippine basketball stars serving as trainers.

But you won’t always be in the presence of the trainer, and that’s another advantage of having the Nike Hyper Court app. You get to watch the drills over and over so you have a good reference for when you try them on your own.

There’s also a little bit of gamification. You earn badges after successfully completing each drill. If you’re serious about stepping up your game on the hard court, you’ll definitely get hooked trying to perform and master all the drills.

Sounds great, right? It gets better.

Hyper Court is a Nike and Google partnership. Anyone who opts to try out these tutorials at any of the activated hyper courts around Metro Manila will be able to access the content for free.

The courts activated as of posting are:

Ususan Court, Tomasa Subd., Brgy Ususan, Taguig (Kobe Bryant Court)
Comembo Court, Comembo Talisay St., Makati (Kevin Durant Court)
YCL Court, Brgy. Quirino 2B Project 2, Quezon City (Kyrie Irving Court)

Two more courts will be activated in December 2017. These are:

Titan Love Court, 32nd St., BGC, Taguig (LeBron James Court)
Scarlet Homes Court, 642 E. Rodriguez Ave., Moonwalk, Parañaque City (Russell Westbrook Court)

Notice the fantastic artwork on each of the courts? Those were made by none other than New York Times Best-selling illustrator Arturo Torres. Some of his most notable works include illustrating books by author Shea Serrano — The Rap Year Book, Basketball (and Other Things).

The Hyper Court app can be accessed by going to hypercourt.ph. From there, the browser will prompt you to add the app to your phone. Visit any of the activated courts and proceed to jab step like LeBron, fadeaway like KD, or weave through the defense like Kyrie.

[irp posts=”21779″ name=”NBA 2K18 review: Not a swish, but still a made basket”]

Related Topics:Google NBA Nike Nike Hyper Court

Apps

Disney+ launches a TikTok-coded vertical feed called Verts

Published

March 13, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

TikTok has changed how we consume media. Everything is now vertical. Even the most established streaming services, often a bastion for traditionally horizontal content, is adopting the different format. Now, Disney+ is getting a vertical feed called Verts.

Like its contemporaries, Verts presents a continuous feed of content but tailored to show the plethora of titles from the Disney+ library. This might include the first scenes of shows or notable highlights. The hope, of course, is to direct users to the longform content.

Directly from the Verts feed, users can easily add the respective title to their watchlist or go straight to the title’s page. In turn, the feed is accessible from the homepage since it has its own tab.

According to Disney, early experiments with the feature have driven engagement to available content. Right now, the feed is mostly for clipping enticing content from shows. However, the platform will experiment further with the format for new ways to tell stories.

Though Verts surely stands for “verticals” in this case, “adverts” might fit better as its full government name. Still, it might be a useful tool if you’re figuring out what to watch for the night.

Currently, Verts is available for Disney+ subscribers in the United States. Disney also has plans to expand the feature to ESPN for sports-related content.

Apps

Google Maps is finally getting a 3D mode

The app will also have a Gemini chatbot baked inside.

Published

March 13, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Some of today’s navigation apps are living in the future. Instead of a two-dimensional map, these apps render the user’s surroundings in 3D. It’s a nifty upgrade that helps drivers more accurately visualize directions on the fly. Finally, Google Maps is getting a much-needed upgrade and will take navigation to the third dimension.

In a new update rolling out today, the new Immersive Navigation feature will bring your surroundings to life. The 3D view creates a render of the surrounding buildings, overpasses, and terrain around the car. It takes the guesswork out of navigation by showing precisely where to turn and what landmarks to look out for.

In the same vein, you can now use Street View to preview your destination before you arrive. Google Maps will also highlight your destination’s entrance, side of the street, and nearby parking.

Outside of how the map is visualized, Google Maps is also infusing its service with Gemini. The new Ask Maps feature will let you engage with the app in a conversational manner. For example, if you’re in the middle of a long drive, you can now ask Maps where the best place is to stop over and have a coffee break. Ask Maps will provide directions, a potential itinerary, and even helpful links to book a reservation ahead of time.

Now, availability for both of these features is still a bit limited. Immersive View is rolling out today to compatible devices and vehicles in the United States. Further, availability will expand over the coming months.

Meanwhile, Ask Maps is available now in the United States and India for Android and iOS. A desktop version is coming soon.

Apps

Apple Music, TikTok launch Play Full Song, a new music discovery experience

Rolling out worldwide exclusively through Apple Music

Published

March 12, 2026

GadgetMatch

Ever came across a viral 15 or 30-second music snippet on TikTok that instantly became your jam on repeat?

For years, TikTok has been a regular source of songs that have become part of our playlists. And together with Apple Music, listening to the music you discover has just gotten even easier.

That’s through Play Full Song, a new music discovery experience, which launches exclusively though Apple Music.

With the new feature, Apple Music subscribers can now enjoy full-length tracks that they discover on TikTok. That’s without ever leaving that popular streaming app.

Fans who discover a song that they love on their For You or Sound Detail page can simply tap the Play Full Song button to open up an Apple Music player and enjoy the song in its entirety.

From there, subscribers can continue listening to a personalized stream of recommended songs. That means no more need to switch apps and search separately.

The new Play Full Song experience helps music fans move seamlessly from the moment of discovery to deeper listening. It’s also designed to be instant and all within the same environment.

Moreover, users can also save their favorite songs to Your Music and add them directly to their Apple Music playlists.

Built using Apple’s MusicKit, full-length song playback takes place on Apple Music. This way, streams are paid within the Apple Music service, supporting artists and rights holders while giving fans a smooth, uninterrupted experience.

Listening Party also launched

The feature builds on the success of TikTok’s Add to Music App. This was previously launched to help artists and fans convert discovery on TikTok to a playlist save in Apple Music and other streaming services.

To cap the announcement, TikTok and Apple Music are also introducing Listening Party. This new feature is designed to bring artists and fans together around music.

It creates a shared environment where fans can listen to songs from their favorite artists in real time, interact with each her, and engage directly with the artist during the session.