Get down on the dance floor

Harmonix have finally blessed us with Dance Central 2, with even more songs and dance routines to choose from and more excitingly a multi-player feature. Finally your friends can join in with you as you shake your bootie and attempt to master Rihanna’s Rude Boy routine.

Retro games are a must.

2011 sees the anniversary of many old school classic gaming heroes such as Sonic and Zelda, which has prompted developers such as Hyperkin to create consoles for retro games. Retron 3 and Supaboy are consoles capable of playing Nintendo, SEGA Genisis and Super Nintendo cartridges. For all you retro fans here’s a chance to play your favourite childhood games.

Make a smoothie out of an app.

Not only is Fruit Ninja available on Kinect this summer, but Halfbrick are releasing a new game for Facebook, iPhone and iPad. Fruit Ninja Frenzy has a ‘smoothie’ feature which allows you to personalise game play. From adding extra time to getting rid of those annoying bombs to including extra bananas, you can become a Fruit Ninja master of a game catered for you.

Zoom into Kinect

For those who don’t have the room for enthusiastic moves while playing the Kinect, Nyko have the solution for you. The Zoom is an accessory that clips onto your Kinect reducing the space you require in depth by 40%. It widens the camera angle so you can play closer to your TV without needing to rearrange your living room.

From Wii to U

Nintendo have finally unveiled their highly anticipated Wii U – a console that like a woman, can multi-task. With a brand new 6.2inch controller with a touch screen, microphone, speakers and an accelerometer, that will change game play, 2012 looks to be an exciting year for Wii lovers. Yes, this does mean you’ll have to wait for next summer to play, but with impressive graphics on the controller and the ability to share photos and video chat, it could be worth the wait.

The theme for E3 2011 may have been ‘experience for all’, with new content and consoles attempting to lure in wider audiences, but the presentation at the Expo seemed to cater for only one demographic: the male hardcore gamer.

At the majority of the stands in the expo were women with fake boobs wearing skimpy clothes. These types of models can make women feel intimidated and put them off gaming as it gives off a message that the product is only for men.

By taking this approach gaming companies are continuing to miss out on expanding their financial opportunities by limiting who they appear to target. Claiming to provide entertainment for everyone is not convincing when at the same time the tone of attraction is only for men.

According to Lady Geek research more than half of women are now gaming, yet over a third of those women do not identify themselves as gamers. This tells us that although women enjoy gaming they feel disconnected to the gaming world. Perhaps if the gaming industry toned down the sexualised female imagery, women would feel more attached to the world of gaming and purchases would increase.

7 months ago I went to the launch of the Kinect in London and was impressed with Xbox’s answer to the Nintednso Wii. Now witnessing the unveiling of more games and upgraded features at the world famous E3 I predict a successful future for Kinect and Xbox.

Attempting to address wider audiences with a much broader range of experience for consumers,  the Kinect and Xbox boasts a greater selection of new games. For the hardcore gamers this includes ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 3′, ‘Fable: The Journey’ and ‘Motorsports 4′. For the fans of classic games there is the brand new ‘Tomb Raider’, ‘Kinect Star Wars’, and the mighty ‘Halo 4′. Then for those who enjoy family fun there is ‘Kinest Sports 2′, ‘Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster’ and my personal favourite ‘Dance Central 2′, which finally allows multiplayer fun.

There is also an impressive upgrade for Xbox Live, which looks to dramatically change the TV entertInment experience. Rather than the click of a button it’s now all down to voice command “You say it, Xbox finds it”. In the past voice recognition has been found to be less reliable and even seen as more of a gimmick. However, Xbox claim the technology behind their voice command has vastly improved and will change gameplay.

Xbox Live has partnered with Bing making searching for games, films, TV shows, music and sports smarter, easier and much faster: giving you that extra time to make popcorn to eat while watching a film. The catalogue of films and TV shows has also expanded with the partnership with YouTube, giving you access to content from Sky and Zune.

My most favourite feature has to be ‘Fun Labs’. From Kinect Me, which allows your avatar to mimic your actual look; to FingerTracking, which allows you to create awesome 3D pictures; to Object Catcher, which allows you to create your own content. These fantastic new features demonstrate Microsoft’s attempt to not only widen the game player’s experience but also supports individual developers to be more creative. This all sounds very promising but what Xbox haven’t mentioned is who the new content created by you will belong to.

At this moment in time, at the very core of Xbox’s new launch, I am impressed with their attempt to expand the entertainment experience and their target audience. This is something that has been long overdue. Nintendo started it with the Wii and now I see Xbox taking that step further.

I do feel however, that there is more on offer for hardcore male gamers, especially those into fantasy warfare. Research from Women at Play has found that women represent a financial opportunity of £0.6 billion so could Xbox be missing out by deciding to target hardcore male gamers? However, Xbox have promised more games to be released this coming year, so let’s watch this space…

When Dell first invited me to their Female Entrepreneurial Conference (DWEN)- I was filled with trepidation.  An all women conference?  This was something I had not encountered before.  Would it be discussing maternity leave and flexibility at work?

It was nothing of the sort.  The purpose of the conference is to support women CEO’s/founders of small and medium size businesses by showcasing inspirational speakers and giving them a platform and a voice to discuss the next stages of growth of their businesses.

Last year DWEN took place in Shanghai and discussed everything from how to scale your business to how to manage your talent through to advice on acquiring funding.  Practical inspirational information jammed pack in a 2 day conference with plenty of cocktails in between.

Its an amazing conference with some of the most inspiring women I have ever met focusing on real business issues facing women like me.  A year on and I am still in contact with many of the women I met.  I get asked to go to lots of networking events, the majority I turn down, but I make time for this one due to the calibre of the women and the attention to detail by the organisers and sponsors.

This year- its in Rio on the 6th & 7th June.  Other than being a superb location (I know its a tough life), but on a more serious note, Brazil provides the ideal setting as nearly half of the country’s entrepreneurs are women and has made its way onto the world stage in the last decade as the world’s fifth largest country and eighth largest economy.  Not to mention being under the leadership of the country’s first woman president, Dilma Rousseff.

Above is a video of some of the amazing women I met.  Judith Clegg, CEO, Venturing Unlimited.  Joana Picq, COO, Thenextwomen, Helen Ridgway, Co-founder of Axicom, Helen Gorringe, Wiggly Wigglers.

You can join the DWEN linked in group and be part of the debate here. Content about the event can be found on Twitter via @DellBizWomen and by following #dwen.

I hope to see you there or if you can’t be there, please get involved in the debate.

Belinda

For any Brit or foreigner alike, this is an in-depth Royal Wedding package. Complete with satellite views of the procession, as well as several downloadable maps of different key areas of their royal promenade through London, this app from Appstillery Ltd. and MakkaMappa promises easy access to the entire procession. As well as following the procession you can track your own location, helping you to find the perfect spot to wave to the Royal couple as they pass.

iDo also includes a scheduled itinerary of the day to ensure you know where to be at the right time, whether it’s Kate leaving Buckingham Palace or the married couple departing Westminster Abby.

Unlike all the other Royal Wedding apps, this app is actually pretty useful if you are planning on going to see the procession. However, an annoying feature on this app is the necessity to separately download the maps onto the App. It’s not too slow but seeing as it’s described as a virtual map app, you’d expect them to be preloaded onto the app.

A final feature of the app is the ability to follow royal wedding tweets and post comments on Facebook, keeping you connected to the royal wedding community.

Available on: the iPhone, iPad, and Android.

Price 59p

As the Big Day looms, Lady Geek takes her shopping trolley down the royal aisle and loads it up with everything you need to make it an ‘appy occasion.

Blag the Royal Wedding: So you didn’t get invited to the Royal Wedding? Well, how about being the Royal Wedding planner? With Pocket Power Software’s Blag the Royal Wedding app, you can make all the big decisions right down to who sits at what table. Who needs an invite when you can be the Royal Wedding Planner – well, to your own virtual version of the big day, at least.
Platform: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch.
Link: Download it from iTunes
Price: 1.19

Dress the Royals: If you’re hard at work planning the Royal Wedding with Royal Blagger and still require a bit of hands-on Wedding fun to curb your appetite for all things regal, try WeAreApps’ Dress the Royals. This app gives you the power to make the royal family look as proper or as properly ludicrous as your heart desires for William and Kate’s big day.
Platform: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Link: Download it from iTunes
Price: 59p

ITN Royal Wedding App: You don’t need to be in the MI-6 to get the inside scoop on the Royal Wedding. With ITN’s Royal Wedding APP, you have access to the most interesting, sometimes outright silly, facts and updates on Will and Kate’s regal union.

Platform: Ovi/Nokia
Link: Download it from iTunes
Price: Free

Weakest Link: Royal Wedding Edition: You are the weakest link…goodbye! Imagine those familiar words with “Rule Britannia” booming in the background, and Anne Robinson wrapped in Victorian garb, and you have Weakest Link: Royal Wedding Edition. This app features over 1,000 trivia questions relating to the Royal Wedding and the history of regal matrimony in England.
Platform: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Link:Download it from iTunes
Price: 59p

Direct Debit is a brand new app that helps you organise out-going payments. It’s easy to use and what’s more, you can set reminders for when payments are due, keeping you up-to-date with your finances. For those concerned with the app’s security of storing personal information, fear not, you are not required to enter any account details or passwords. On top of that the app allows you to set a PIN for opening the app, so if you lose your phone your data is safe from peeping toms.

Available on iTunes

Price: Free

Believe it or not, women are gamers: Gamers with a load of purchase power. Women don’t give videogame advertising a second glance, and only 4% of game developers in the UK are women. But when it comes to women, we’ve found that casual gaming is anything but casual. There has to be some way to connect the clueless marketers, the under-developing gaming industry, and the countless women interested in gaming.

Find out more on 31^st March at 7:00 PM at the Apple Store on Regent Street.  Topics will include the many myths of women and gaming, and how to better market and develop products to target an untapped source of millions of pounds. A panel of experts will include: Belinda Parmar @BelindaParmar, Founder of Lady Geek, Ian Livingstone @Ian_Livingstone, Life President of Eidos, Paulina Bozek @Paulinabees, CEO of INENSU, Siobhan Reddy, Studio Director at Media Molecule, Renate Nyborg @Reante, Head of Business Development, A&N Mobile & TV, and Catharina Lavers Mallet, Senior Producer of Playfish.

This event is free of charge.

I’m beginning to worry about the welfare of my future children. I’m questioning whether I even
want children anymore. My maternal instincts have been pulled left and right and are now in tatters.
This is all down to a game, of course. Player beware: Tiki Towers will ruin you.

On the face of it, this is a nice little game with no cause for emotional concern. You build towers
and bridges from a supply of bamboo in order to get your monkey troupe from their box to their
goal, enabling them each to pick up a banana en route. If you’re not careful with your construction
work, the bridge will collapse as the monkeys swing and jump and hang on it. They don’t care how
carefully you have placed each piece of bamboo, how much thought has gone into making sure that
last banana is reached. They don’t care that if they would just walk in an orderly fashion it wouldn’t
matter that there isn’t quite enough support at the end of the bridge. If there is any faulty design,
the monkeys will discover and destroy it.

I am aware of the difference between monkeys and children. Number 1: Children are not monkeys.
Number 2: Monkeys are not children. But as I finish building my first tower and open the box
(Number 3: Monkeys can be kept in boxes; children shouldn’t be kept in boxes? ) to set the monkeys
free, I think of my nephew. He has just turned 2 and loves destroying things. Auntie Annie builds a
LEGO house; Archie pulls it apart. Auntie Annie builds a brick tower; Archie knocks it down. It’s a
bit annoying (the LEGO house was so good I was going to put it on Right Move) but look how much
fun Archie’s having! Finally free from their box, the monkeys seem to be having a lovely time too.
Oh no. I have created an attachment to a bunch of cartoon monkeys. And this is where the trouble
begins.

One structure I build has a weak connection. It breaks as my monkeys are mid-climb and they fall
down, down, down: gone. Two monkey skulls appear in the line-up. I am an unfit monkey mother!

One island (you unlock new islands if you progress well) has a lot of lava about. I should probably try
to keep my monkeys out of the lava, I think. The game agrees and tells me: Monkeys + lava = no-no.
I put my hand on my hip, metaphorically. Don’t you tell me how to look after my monkeys! I know
what’s best for them! The game obviously remembers my earlier double monkey murder.

I don’t expect everyone will get as emotionally involved with Tiki Towers as I did. Without that it
is still a fun game of logic, trial and error, and bananas. Hopefully it has taught me enough about
rudimentary bamboo construction that if I do have children, and they do need me to build them a
bridge, I’ll be able to get them to the other side without causing too much harm.

Tiki Towers has most recently been made available on Windows Phone 7, but is also available on
Android, iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and WiiWare.

Fed up with useless apps such as iburb and ifart? Think your
smartphone should have smart apps? Lady Geek is on hand to sift out
five apps that might just actually enhance your life…

(Also appeared in Company magazine- March edition)

1) Spotify
Now available on Ovi, Spotify’s gargantuan jukebox and offline
playlists make this app all the more irresistible. A word of warning,
however; publicising your playlists can make for ritualistic
humiliation if your guilty pleasures stretch to Manilow, Right Said
Fred or the Hoff.

Platform: Android, Ovi, Apple
Price: 9.99 a month for premium version (mobile & PC)
www.spotify.com

2) 3G Watchdog
My mum used to curtail my teenage phone-athons with a timely
unplugging of the cable, and this App is very much a third-generation
‘rental, tracking the data traffic sent over your phone’s mobile
network, and vibrating when you exceed your limit. And now it’s you
paying the bill, you might take more notice!

Platform: Android
Price: free/ Pro version for £2
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.net-rgruet-android-g3watchdog-zzA.aspx

3) Cut the rope
Chillingo’s latest multi-million selling app involves feeding a green
monster with candy, via a series of ever-increasingly complex
obstacles. This description may not seem much of a hard sell, but this
app has the dual benefits of simplicity and an addictive appeal.

Platform: iPhone
Price: £0.59
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cut-the-rope/id380293530?mt=8

4) Google Translate.
Don’t cancel the Mandarin lessons quite yet, but you might consider
replacing your phrasebook with this versatile translator. Type or
speak your phrase and it will translate it into 50 languages (the
voice recognition is actually surprisingly good), speaking it back to
you in a tone that will command respect in restaurants across the
globe. Could work on boyfriends, too…

Platform: Android
Price: free.
http://translate.google.com/#

5) Nokia’s Ovi Maps.
This free app provides walk and drive navigation for over 70 countries
worldwide, with pre-loaded maps and updated third-party content. Using
your phone’s GPS chip to work at where you are, the app provides
timely (ie not as you drive past the turn-off in question!)
instructions for those whose map and compass skills are, quite
literally, a lost cause.

Platfrom: Ovi
Price: free
http://maps.ovi.com/