Jefferson Graham

USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — San Antonio Spurs guard Emanuel "Manu" Ginobili is a major tech geek who travels with two smartphones, an iPad and a Kindle.

With his team fresh off a first-round win in the NBA playoffs, he uses tech to keep up with the family back home in Argentina.

He puts his iPhone or Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on the dining table, for instance, for Web chats with his brother and father over family dinner. Via Skype or Google Hangouts on the Note 2, or Apple's FaceTime on the iPhone, Ginobili says, "I'm in constant contact with them. Sometimes I put my brother in a chair next to us, and he eats with us."

MORNING RITUALS

The first app he reaches for is WhatsApp to read texts from Argentina. Then he checks his e-mails and Twitter conversations.

As he heads off to practice, he opens the TuneInRadio app (free; Apple, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry) to listen to his favorite stations from the homeland.

"I don't listen to music. I'm not that type of guy." With TuneIn, "you choose whatever radio you want in the world and listen." His choice: Argentina talk radio. "It's fun. It keeps me updated and informed."

OTHER APPS

Ginobili likes to use his phones for photography and video. His two favorites:

• Snapseed (free; Apple, Android). "Most of the photos I take I don't post, so Instagram is not my thing. I like to edit them, make them look good, and keep them for myself. Snapseed is great for that."

• PhotoGrid (free; Apple, Android). He likes the app to make collages. "I can put 6 to 8 pictures of my kids together that are pretty cute."

He's also a fan of:

• Evernote (free; Apple, Android, Windows Phone). The app for note-taking is "very important. Whenever I have flights coming in or something to remember or keep track of something, I put it (in Evernote) and know where to go. I don't have to go through my e-mails every time I've got to find something."

• Circa (free; Apple, Android). Summarizes news from around the world in three paragraphs. "It gives you a good brief summary of what's going on."

TWEETS USUALLY IN SPANISH

Even though he plays for a Texas team, he tweets most often in his native language.

"Probably 60% of my followers are from Argentina, so I tweet more in Spanish. If it's something about the Spurs, I'll do it in both languages. It's odd — if I write in Spanish, Americans get upset, and if I write in English, Argentinians get upset, so I try to mix it up."

TECH ON THE TEAM

His coach, Gregg Popovich, doesn't use tech with the team, but other members of the organization do. When Ginobili requests background on opponents, staffers pick out video clips and "upload it to Dropbox. I watch it on my iPad later. Sometimes during the playoffs, you'll want to see how the other team guarded you. All those minutes are uploaded, so by the time you get home, the video is ready for you. … Now we have cameras in the roof telling you everything — every second you have the ball in your hands, every dribble. They don't know what to do with that type of data, but they are amassing an incredible amount. Soon, we're going to see a big change in stats."

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