The Lake Lanier Striper Club, with help from AT&T and Samsung Telecommunications hosted the first major fishing tournament with the results determined by a "virtual" weigh-in. No this is not some sort of Fish Tale, but new technology that allows participants to take a picture of, and record the length of the fish, while wirelessly sending a multimedia text message back to officials to determine weights.
The device doing this is the Samsung Rugby, and using AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network, competitors can release their fish back into the lake faster than they could before.
The Rugby is an amazing device. The military certified handset will hold its own against dust, water, vibration, shock, humidity, and temperature changes, making this the perfect venue to test this do-it-all device. The tournament winner will be determined based on pictures and measurements at the end of the day. Samsung provided 50 Rugbys for the day that competitors could also use for GPS navigation and Push to Talk capabilities.
AT&T and Samsung's technology helped make it a memorable day at Lake Lanier. This was the first event of its type, and other fishing tournaments are already inquiring about implementing similar procedures.
As an added bonus AT&T's 3G wireless network was used for keeping fishermen updated on current tournament standings and weather reports. A great day for AT&T, Samsung, and The Lake Lanier Striper Club.
