Google’s Eric Schmidt announced that Google was activating 200,000 Aandroid phones per day, that’s an increase of over 100% from the same time last year and must be causing Apple a few nightmares. Though to put it in perspective, Nokia are still selling over 1.4m phones per day.

Google, Apple Microsoft and Nokia own the phone operating system (OS), but up until very recently Nokia (who did a deal with Yahoo Mobile) were the only company who didn’t own the back-end services too.
In times of old Microsoft made a huge mistake by just treating the desktop OS (Windows) as a bit of software and though made a lot of money selling software, they didn’t really own the use. Google changed that by taking control of search and monetising their web experience (and then extending that with other web based applications).

On the mobile front Google came out with guns blazing, challenging the existing OS vendors, by giving away everything for free. This has led to the wide adoption of the OS by handset manufacturers and has caused waves in the industry so much so that Nokia open sourced Symbian. Google also toughted developers by making Android easy to program and by giving away Nexus One’s at pretty much every Google sponsored event (everyone likes a free phone).

Even though Google’s mission statement may include the phrase “do no evil”, they’re not giving away Android for free for any altruistic reasons. Google is a commercial company out to make money and they’ll do that however they can.

With Google search, they can track your search habits and deliver targetted advertising based on that profile, they can also tie that to your Google Email account and any other Google services you run. Android moves this to another dimension. As soon as you get the phone you have to ‘activate it’ which really means tieing it to your Google account (Android only works in a limited way if you don’t). Since everything that you use one the phone sits on top of the Android OS, now not only to Google know what your searching for, but they know every site you visit, every call you make, what apps your using and what they’re accessing as well as that it’s all nicely tied to your Google account.

Google are very cagey about what information they actually keep and how much they tie back to individuals (publically they say it’s all anonymised) but on Android that’s all linked back to a real ID and there’s potentially a huge amount of information they store which is of course useful to Google themselves, but who else do they make it available to (maybe the security services/government?).
Android isn’t the only way Google are trying to harness more information, they’ve already released the Chrome browser which which can send your desktop viewing habits back to Google and shortly they’ll be releasing the ChromeOS which is a complete desktop (or notebook) ‘cloud’ based operating with limited local storage so again Google own everything that you do.

Google are ‘activating’ 200,000 phones a day i.e. aorund 1m per week, so that’s a lot of people that they’re gathering a lot of information about.

This week Lady Geek TV checks out the fitness apps with a difference.

We know how it starts. The huff and puff up your street while your Olympianesque neighbour sprints past with a cheery wave and an all-too-hearty, “Hello there!” Or maybe your favourite top is just that tiny bit too tight. Trainers laced up, gym membership at the ready, you vow this time it will be different – you will be fit. 200 meters later and you’re ready to collapse. How will you ever get fit?

This week, the Lady Geeks bring you fitness apps that WILL make a difference. The Lady Geeks show you how you can train your way to a 5K with the ingeniously named Couch to 5K for Android. Measure your progress and brag about your accomplishments with Sports Tracker for Nokia and prove those fitness skills with a crunch-off match thanks to Crunch Fu. You’ll be outpacing your smug lycra-clad neighbour in no time at all.

Get in touch before 6 pm on Monday 30th August and you can win the ultra cool Nokia X3. All you need to do is ‘like’ our facebook page at www.facebook.com/ladygeektv or follow us on twitter at twitter.com/ladygeektv.

The Lady Geeks look forward to hearing from you.

Nintendo’s ever-popular Pokémon series has more spin-off titles than you can shake a stick at. From puzzle titles to a game based around taking snapshots of the critters, Nintendo know the possibilities with the series are huge. Along with these games, once per home console generation, the series mascot “Pikachu” gets the chance to shine in a title of its own. This started with the N64 release “Hey! You! Pikachu!” that came with a microphone so you could talk with Pikachu, and “Pokémon Channel” where you watched TV shows with Pikachu.

Friends help as you progress

The Wii entry for this series is “PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Great Adventure”, this time instead of being a human protagonist befriending Pikachu, you ARE Pikachu. After being beckoned by the legendary Pokémon Mew, Pikachu and his pals are sucked into the PokéPark which is wholly populated by just Pokémon and set out into various zones. It’s clear from the outset that this title (like the other Pikachu-based titles) is aimed at slightly younger age group than the main series. It’s designed to be simple and fun without adding the complexity of the main games.

The game is played with Wii remote on its side so it’s got more of a classic control scheme. Pikachu moves using the D-pad and button 2 makes him jump while button 1 unleashes Pikachu’s trademark Thundershock attack. After a quick tutorial, the game quickly launches into the story about the PokéPark’s source of power, the “Sky Prism” shattering and having to collect the various pieces. This is done by beating the various challenges in each zone, and making friends with the Pokémon by beating them in skill games. These games come in 4 types; Chase, Battle, Hide & Seek, and Obstacle Hop. They pretty much are what they say on the tin (battle is about the closest the franchise comes to displaying real-time battles outside the anime) and take place in the large lands you explore.

There are a large number of Pokemon from all generations

In addition to befriending Pokémon, there is a number of mini-game “Attractions” to play. You need to complete each one once in order to get a shard of the Sky Prism. They range from races where you shake the Wii remote vigorously to a breakout style game that only uses the d-pad. Most of these mini-games are pretty short and offer a nice diversion from hunting around for Pokémon. It’s an additional nice touch that each mini-game can be played with a fair number of extra Pokémon. The biggest downside is that there are no additional levels or courses for each of these challenges, so once you have completed them with all the Pokémon, there’s nothing else to them. In a few of the motion-control games (in particular Pelipper’s Circle Circuit), the responsiveness is a little stiff, but most of the games run just fine. There are also little tasks for Pikachu to do in the Zones, and most of these are fine, though one or two require Pikachu to carry an object that slows him down. One instance requires walking past a Pokémon that attacks for no reason (the only ones in the whole game to do this, though larger Pokémon will attack Pikachu if he attacks them).

Don't mess with Pikachu or he'll zap you good

The game frequently rewards players for exploration and taking on tasks. However, once you have befriended a Pokémon (and maybe challenged them again on slightly harder mode to become “best friends”) there is not much more can do with them other than replay the skill game. Thankfully there’s a lot of Pokémon to talk to, but once the story ends (which will take maybe 4 to 5 hours depending), you start running out of new things to do. The game does add additional Pokémon to unlock on certain mini-games once you get the time record bonus for each individual critter you befriend, but because they are short courses they only add about an hour or 2 to the game. On the plus side, an arcade mode is offered to try and best your time with each one.

The lay of the land for most of the game is gorgeous. There’s plenty of landscape to take in and as you befriend Pokémon, it becomes more populated with active Pokémon playing together, and they all have wonderfully animated models. Certainly if you’re a fan of Pokémon and relish the idea of seeing the critters move in glorious CGI, this is the game for you. Most of the environments are inventive and fun. The last few Zones are a bit less inspiring in design, due to lots of grey stone walls and pillars, but it’s certainly admirable to see the effort that has gone into making this a believable world. The game also provides a photo mode that allows players to take pictures, which is great for relishing certain Pokémon appearances, or just for getting a funny shot of something.

Pikachu soaks up some rays

PokéPark Wii is short romp but an enjoyable one. If you’re a big Pokémon fan or even just enjoy the anime, you’ll get a kick out of this just for the sheer novelty of meeting your favourites, and playing as a Pikachu just as overpowered as the one in the anime. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and experienced gamers won’t find much challenge here, but the game manages to do what it set out to do quite well, and if you’re looking for a fun bit of gaming fluff, you could do worse than PokéPark Wii. It is hard, however, to entirely recommend at the full retail price it goes for due to its short length. If you liked the other quirky Pokémon titles, like Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Rumble, you will love this game. Everyone else might want to give this a pass.

Our guest blogger Gary Kemp puts Sony’s latest wireless headphones through their paces.

Before I start the review proper, a confession: I have never seen the point of cordless headphones. From my point of view – I call it ‘traditional’, although others might call it ‘stuck in the past’ – your music of choice is best heard through a decent pair of speakers.
Headphones are for when you want to take said music with you, or when you’re in some kind of studio. Thanks to Sony’s MDR-RF4000K wireless headphones, I’m a changed man. Well, at least when it comes to headphones.

I used to have a very old pair of Sony hi-fi headphones, which accompanied me to college every day. I loved the sound quality, but not the way they weighed my entire head down, or the two metre long cable that tried its best to loop itself around my feet at every opportunity.
Thankfully, Sony appear to have worked hard at both of these niggles.
These over-ear style headphones are much lighter (at just 300g) than their size would suggest, and sit comfortably thanks to a self-adjusting strap that cleverly doubles as an on-off switch. One earpiece has a discreet volume control, and the other one houses the (included) NiMH battery and charging connector.

Sony MDR-RF4000

Charging is a doddle – the headphones slip snugly into a neat, but necessarily large docking station – but listening whilst charging is not possible as a result. The docking station contains 3.5mm stereo and RCA connectors for hooking up to your audio device, and the cables required to receive sound and power.

Sony claims a 30-metre range for these headphones, but I suspect this may only be possible under laboratory conditions. During my highly technical, intensive testing – which involved pacing up and down the garden with the patio doors shut – the reception dropped off noticeably at about 10 metres, and got progressively worse any further out than that.

That said, if you aren’t pacing up and down your garden that far away, the sound quality alone justifies the price. Bass notes are satisfyingly thumpy, and trebles ring out clearly – after living with iPhone earphones, the clarity is startling. The stereo separation is wide enough that you can almost close your eyes and feel like you’re in the middle of a studio with the band around you.

Because they cover your whole ear, very little sound gets in from outside, and vice versa – it is possible to listen to music at quite high volume before it becomes audible to someone else, even if they are sitting next to you. As a result, they become ideal for listening to music when someone else wants to do something else, or – in my case – when your wife doesn’t fully appreciate the intricate harmonies of a popular Liverpudlian beat combo. Thanks to the standard connectors, this can extend to bed-bound TV watching, or even a little late-night guitar practice. These headphones are perfect for the person who wants to hear their music as it was meant to be heard, but without having to stay within two metres of their stereo/computer/TV/amp (delete as applicable) or disturb others.

Much as I may have been converted to the wireless crowd, there are a couple of flaws which stop me from giving these ‘phones a perfect 10. For starters, they have to be placed back into the docking station in a very specific way to start charging – on several occasions I docked them, only to have to re-position them a few times before the charging indicator lit. If you’re not careful, you could end up with unexpectedly dead headphones. Secondly, the sound can break up and distort if you accidentally set the volume too high on the device you are playing from – perhaps a noise limiter is in order for any future versions. Apart from that, they really are hard to fault – an easy 9/10 from me.

This week Lady Geek TV checks out the shopping apps that will change your life.

Another week, another argument over an empty fridge. You’re peaky, you’re having a bad hair day and the outside world is just not worth facing. Even the thought of yanking out your laptop and sitting down to do the shopping fills you with dread. There must be another way…

This week, the Lady Geeks have found their own third way. The Lady Geeks deploy the brand-spaking new this week Tesco app for Nokia’s Ovi store in a mission to fill your fridge with a minimum of effort.

Get in touch before 10 am on Friday 20th August and you can win tickets to the SOLD OUT V-Festival on Saturday in Chelmsford. Why pass on a chance to see Florence + The Machine, Kings of Leon and the Stereophonics? All you need to do is ‘like’ our facebook page at www.facebook.com/ladygeektv or follow us on twitter @ladygeektv.

The Lady Geeks look forward to hearing from you.

Poloroid 300

Everyone loves a picture moment… And although digital cameras are great and everything, nothing has ever really beaten a poloroid for momentary pics – for me at least! There’s something exciting about watching your photo develop in front of your eyes, not to mention the unnecessary flapping around!

When unboxing, the camera certainly didn’t have the wow factor as far as the new design went, however Poloroids have never really been known for their stylish appearance. Functionality was clear, simple and comfortable – even a child could use it with ease, as my 5 year old step son demonstrated. He was amazed at the instant photo developing, asking me if it was ‘magic’. The quality of the prints were top notch and all of a sudden, you forget the bulkiness of the camera.

It’s robust, easy to use and produces quality prints. A perfect present for all ages. Overall, I’d give it an 8/10. The camera comes in black, blue and red and retails at £79.99. Available now from www.firebox.com. The film costs £12.99 for 10 sheets.

V-Moda Remix Remote - ROUGE

I would give the V-Moda Remix Remote earphones a stylish 9/10.

Compatibility

It’s a Friday, which means it’s time to check out the latest viral game which is causing a buzz on the net! As part of their “Don’t Go Zombie” campaign, Virgin Trains have launched the first ever zombie game to use Google Street View. Simply by popping in your postcode, you can blast zombies’ right outside your own house! There are 3 difficulty levels, which correspond to the levels of stress experienced daily by commuters who use their cars instead of the train. A nice twist to this game is its use of Facebook Connect. If you end up being beaten by the hoards of the undead, your Facebook profile picture becomes ‘zombiefied’. Your friends can they save you by playing the game themselves.

You should also keep your eye out when you’re blasting zombies – Richard Branson is said to be appearing in the game himself as a zombie this Summer! Head to www.dontgozombie.com to try the game out yourself.

Thanks so much to everyone who nominated us. Girls n Gadgets is now officially in the final cut for the Cosmopolitan awards! Please click on the logo below to vote!

Please also look out for:

Fairytale Beginning in the Sex and and Relationships section and also the Stunning and totally lovely Miggy Likes the Internet in the Fashion & Style section.

Sonic and Tails

Most people that know me or meet me learn quite quickly I am a HUGE fan of Sonic the Hedgehog. I cut my gaming teeth on Sonic 1 & 2 with the Mega Drive Santa got me for Christmas 1993, from that point I lived and breathed Sonic as a kid. I read the comics, watched the cartoons, brought the sweets and even had the Pajamas to boot.

Since then Sonic has suffered a number of highs and lows. I’ve seen the series through the good times like Sonic Adventure, and accepted the lows such as “Sonic the Hedgehog” on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  He may of suffered some setbacks but Sonic is still my hero.

It seems theres a fairly large fandom that feels this way too, back in 2008 Sonic Stadium webmaster Svend Joscelyne and Sega Europe community manager (and webmaster of Sonic Wrecks) Kevin Eva joined forces with a number of  other fans to create Summer of Sonic. Since it’s inception it’s attracted the likes of Richard Jacques (who composed the soundtracks for a number of Sega titles including Sonic 3D and Sonic R) and Nigel Dobbin (comics artist – Beano, Digimon, Sonic the Comic).

Previous years I missed due to work or due to venue and date being announced a bit late. This year however the date and venue were announced early enough that I could finally go. I picked a corker of a year to go too, not only were E3 demos of “Sonic 4″ and “Sonic Colours” available (I’ll get to those in a bit) but Segas in-house band “Crush 40″ were in attendence too and were due to give a concert right at the end of the evening too!

The venue was dressed up with various Sonic murals, including a backdrop from Sonic 4 that a lot of people loved getting pictures in front of, and cabinets filled with rare merchandise. There were a large number of Xbox pods all running various Sonic titles, though the two “Sonic 4″ pods had queues even from the moment the show opened.  Sonic Colours was tucked away next to the stage, with a Nintendo Europe TV crew in attendence to catch peoples impressions of the Wii & DS exclusive title and event. During the event I was able to sample Sonic 4 and Sonic Colours DS;

Sonic 4 clearly was the main attraction for most fans, including myself. It was the E3 build with 3 acts of Splash Hill Zone including the boss. The game is bright and colourful, sporting some wonderful design that very much harks back to the original Mega Drive titles. Sonic looks great and his updated move set with homing attack and wall jumps are welcome additional elements. While it was fun, the physics did feel somewhat off at points and the acts were a bit on the short side. However Sega did delay Sonic 4 from summer to winter release in order to tweak it, so hopefully these issues will be already addressed once it comes out this winter.

Sonic Colours DS is an interesting title, developed by Dimps (the same team that handed the Advance series and Sonic Rush), it has many familiar elements from both series, including the boost bar and 2.5D design.  Gone are the tricks which are replaced by a speedy downward kick used to smash baddies and get extra bounce out of springs. The alien “Wisps” that Sonic has come to the aid of provide him with special abilities too, one turns him into a drill, while another turns him into a fireball that can be shot though cannons and self-destruct (without damage). While it certainly has all the hallmarks of a Sonic Rush title, it plays a little different and theres a bit more variation on routes and a few more platform bits. I watched some people play the Wii version and general verdict was that it was a lot like the daytime levels in Unleashed, which sounded pretty good to me. Both releases are shaping up well and are due November 12th in Europe.

With games out the way – the rest of the day was dedicated to signings and meeting new friends. The lovely Nigel Dobbin was there signing for people, doing sketches for “Sonic the Comic” fans and sold some fantastic prints and original art from the comics to boot. Crush 40 took a signing session and were a lovely duo. Jun Senoue composed a lot of music for the series since Sonic 3 and did an exclusive acoustic session in the middle of the day, while Johnny Gioeli took part in some of the stage events.

At the end of the day Crush 40 performed a 70 minute set of their greatest hits from the games along with some original tracks too. It was a stunning set and despite technical issues, the band gave an almost flawless performace. Ending with fan-favorite Live & Learn, an amazing end to a fantastic day!

Crush 40 – Live and Learn

Next year is Sonic’s 20th and to celebrate, Summer of Sonic 2011 will be held on June 25th. With Crush 40 hoping to return and the growing prominence of the convention. I’m sure next year will be a blast.