PING recently announced a major update to its popular iPING™ App for iPhone and iPod touch that adds a gaming feature. The iPING App now includes the iPING Skins Game that allows users to test the consistency of their putting stroke against friends. iPING Skins Game utilizes Game Center’s turn-based technology and alerts users to their next turn via the new Notification Center in iOS 5. The update is available now for current users, and new users can download the iPING App from the App Store on iPhone or iPod touch.
“With every feature we add, the iPING App becomes more valuable for the user,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman and CEO. “The new iPING Skins Game feature is exciting because it promotes friendly competition, which will grow and strengthen our global PING community. Of course, the real benefit of winning is that your putting stroke is consistent, which is the key to making more putts on the golf course.”
The iPING Skins Game feature allows players to compete from anywhere in the world or side-by-side. To initiate a game, a player chooses a three-, six-, or nine-hole match and can invite up to three friends to join, or let the Auto-Match feature locate playing partners. The game format follows a traditional skins competition where holes have point values, which increase throughout the match, and ties on a hole carry over until someone wins a hole (and the skins) outright. The person with the most points at the end of the match wins.
On each hole, a competitor rolls five 10-foot putts to establish his or her Consistency Score, reflected in a number similar to a golf handicap. The player with the best Consistency Score wins that hole and plays first on the next hole. iPING Skins Game also has a Party Mode for contestants in the same location. Party Mode uses AirPlay to show a live leader board on your HD television using your existing wireless network and an Apple TV.
iPING Skins Game is a new feature of the iPING App, available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
Both the iPING App and iPING Skins Game work in conjunction with a PING Cradle, which holds the mobile device and clips onto the putter shaft just below the grip.
Cradles are available at Apple Retail Stores in the United States, via the Apple Online Store, and from PING authorized golf shops. PING Cradles are available for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPod touch (4th generation).
