Depending which day of the week you catch me on, I take a different view of location check-in services. I’m generally disdainful of Facebook check-ins, because I don’t want to tell everyone where I am all of the time. But, for some reason, I will happily check in on Foursquare. Perhaps it’s the fun of winding my friend up when he discovers I’m the mayor in another of his favourite locations… or perhaps it’s some contrary tendency on my part (most likely).

After a while, though, I do start to ask “why am I doing this again?”. Scott Monty, head of Social Media for Ford Motor Company (US) recently posted something on his blog that kind of kickstarted my thinking a little. Head on over and have a read or, if you don’t want to right now, check out this video:

So, the point of Foursquare isn’t just to check in and claim mayorships of venues (although that’s part of the game), it’s also about discovering new locations, creating recommendations for friends, meeting up with them, and earning rewards. Starts to sound a little more interesting now, doesn’t it?

The question I’ve got is, does Foursquare work when you don’t have many local friends on it, or your local businesses are not offering deals? The only function remaining, then, is to discover new venues based on what the general public have been checking in to and, I guess, that works. I’ve found new locations around town based on them showing up in the “Nearby Places” list, and have made decisions on whether to go there based on random people’s tips. It’s obviously a reduced experience, but it still works.

But, still, the biggest thing for me is that lovely moment when my friend turns to me and says, “no way… you’re the mayor here too!?”

What do you think of Foursquare, or of check-in services in general? Do they work for helping people find new venues, and helping businesses find new customers? Do they require critical mass of people and places to work well? Or is the whole thing a bit creepy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. 

 And the award for most unwieldy game title goes to… ((opens envelope)) … Super Crazy Guitar Mania Deluxe 4!

If you’ve played any of the Guitar Hero games, you’ll know what to expect here. Play along to the tune by hitting the right buttons at the right time… obviously you’ll be using a keyboard rather than a mock guitar. It’s surprisingly gratifying when you pull off a complex rhythm or combo.

You will need Flash and, while sound is not strictly required to play, the game is more than a little pointless without it :)

–> Click to Play <–

Science is fun! Seriously – poking around to learn how the world works and, perhaps, even making it a little better in the process. And if you’re lucky, you might get to blow something up :)

Every now and again, I realise that science can also be controversial. Or, perhaps, certain “discoveries” can like when the scientists at CERN appeared to have seen neutrinos moving at faster than light speed. But surely, if there’s one thing we can trust scientists to do, it’s to report on their experiments truthfully? Jen Rhee recently sent me this nifty info graphic that would suggest otherwise:

Created by: Clinical Psychology

What do you think about this? Do you trust scientists to report in an unbiased way, or are you of the opinion that there is always a bias in scientific research and reporting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

I guess when information is your business, you’re going to come under close scrutiny for how you put that information to use. Google‘s business is information – gathering it, packaging it up, and making it available to users. When they were just indexing websites there wasn’t too much controversy, but with the arrival of products like Gmail, StreetView, Buzz and, latterly, Google+, the information they had on hand got much more personal. And people care about their personal information.

Google’s latest update to their privacy policy is designed to do away with the many, many policies they have and create one unified policy instead. Why? Well, imagine you get an email that reminds you to schedule a family get together, or to find that funny video to send to your sister. Google wants to be able to share information across all their products, like Gmail, Calendar, Search and YouTube to allow that sort of multi-system integration.

Or let’s say you constantly talk about Jaguar cars in Google+ and want to find out about the latest model in Google Search… Google hopes to better tailor your search results based on information in their other products – picking up the cars rather than the cats.

This combined policy is proving controversial, though, with various groups and individuals expressing concern. One of the major concerns is that the new policy is compulsory – if you want to keep using Google products you have to accept that your data will be shared between them.

My question is, is that so unusual? If a company updates their privacy policy, isn’t it normal that you should have to accept it to carry on using their services? Obviously this is a very large update, but I don’t see anything controversial about it being compulsory. Where it gets controversial is the potential for trying all those systems together creating situations where your information is unexpectedly exposed and, given Google’s prior form with privacy, I can understand people worrying about that.

What do you think about Google’s updated privacy policy? Should they have consulted with users, or is it fair enough to make the new policy compulsory? Is it a good idea to link all their products together to aid the flow of information? Or is that just too big a risk? I’m falling into the “fair enough” category, but I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

According to water-protection specialists HzO, their water-proofing technology (or something similar) will be a feature of the next season’s top phones. The company demonstrated its tech by immersing phones and tablets in water at CES this year, and it’s impressing some key companies.

According to Pocket-Lint, Samsung and Apple are both keen to include the technology on their next flagship phones, the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy SIII, respectively. If these industry leaders add the technology to their phones, it may become an essential box to tick for other handset producers in the market, as much as HD displays, dual core processors and NFC are quickly becoming.

While we’ve seen waterproof phones before, they’ve always been either specialist devices (like the Motorola Defy+) or modifications to existing phones, rather than a feature of a normal handset.

While the news is certainly a PR exercise for HzO, I hope that we do see this technology become more mainstream. As someone who lives in annoyingly-consistent Brizzle (that’s Bristol drizzle, for you outsiders), something like this would make my life rather less worrisome.

This article was written by William Judd. William writes for Mobile Fun, the UK’s leading online retailer of iPhone cases and Jawbone accessories.

This is a guest post by Dilpreet Bhagrath on behalf of Fulton Leasing – a professional car leasing and contract hire company with the best leasing deals on all manufacturers and models, including Audi, BMW and Land Rover leasing.

There are many impressive British cars that do our country proud. Not only do these cars look effortlessly stylish and sleek, but they are also high-performing vehicles guaranteed to put the fun back into driving.

Land Rover is an iconic British brand as it not only represents power and style, but also has a strong presence on and off-road. It is a brand with such a unique build and design, and inevitably turns heads. Land Rover leasing is a popular option as it allows drivers to get behind the wheel of this innovative vehicle, without having to worry about depreciation of its value as you would with buying. Leasers can also work their way through the Land Rover family, as they can change their car every time their contract finishes. Range Rover leasing and Range Rover Sport lease deals are also a hit as these trendy cars exude a strong feeling of luxury.

Another car manufacturer which is engrained in the British automotive industry is the opposite of the large, domineering Land Rover – the humble Mini Cooper. Made by the British Motor Corporation, the Mini is a front-wheel drive with great road handling. Initially, it was put into production due to a fuel shortage which deterred people away from bigger cars. However, its popularity and success has grown immensely since then. The Mini Sports models have also experienced great success in rallying.

When discussing iconic and memorable British cars, there is one car manufacturer which cannot go unmentioned. This car has appeared in one of the most famous action movies in the world. I’m talking about Aston Martin, of course. Aston Martin’s collection of supercars have appeared in mega-hit movie James Bond. It is therefore instantly recognisable and associated with power and luxury. The Aston Martin DB9 is a particularly desirable supercar due to the exceptional adrenaline-satisfying drive it provides. Unfortunately, the hefty price tag which it comes with means the closest many of us will get to this British beauty is in the next James Bond flick.

Although many believe that other countries are further ahead in the automotive industry, it is important not to write-off our country too hastily as we have many British beauties that everyone would love to get their hands on.

What cars do you think do Britain proud? Jaguar? McLaren? The classic Mini? Let us know your favourite in the comments section.

It seems that whenever there’s an Apple event on the cards, the rumours fly fast and furious. Even for a smaller do like Apple’s education announcement, the pundits have been weighing in with what they expect to be released.

Ars Technica first reported that the event would be a showcase for Apple to release an eBook creation suite, along similar lines as GarageBand. The tools, which are expected to support the ePub 3 standard, may be partially based on the older iWeb software, which allowed Apple users to easily design and publish websites. Apple is also likely to announce that iBooks will support the standard.

The Wall Street Journal also published about the event, stating that they expect Apple will unveil new textbooks that are designed for the iPad, as part of a partnership with large American textbook publishers like McGraw Hill and Pearson PLC.

The latest word this morning comes from the WSJ again, who report that the initiative will be under the jurisdiction of Apple vice president of productivity applications Roger Rosner.

This is a fairly sensible and not particularly shocking story, but the fact it’s worthy of being published in the Wall Street Journal really speaks volumes about the influence this deal could have on the American education system – and Apple’s power to create media coverage on demand.

Tune in tomorrow to find out what Apple announces.

This post was written by William Judd. Will is a self-facilitating media node for Mobile Fun, the UK’s largest online phone accessories retailer including BlackBerry covers and a Bluetooth speaker.

Ah, it’s Friday – that must mean it’s time for something to have fun with. The Tickler is a flash game placing you in the role of a military robot gone wrong… you wander around the levels grabbing people with your extensible claws and, er, putting them out of their misery.

You can upgrade your claws’ reach, electrify them, add a laser, and so on. The sound can be safely put off without losing much of the gameplay experience.

Have a go and wreak some havoc! :)

–> Click to play <–

I have to admit it, I’ve occasionally wondered what it would be like to run my own Formula 1 team. The engineering challenges of developing the best car possible, the thrill of seeing my cars come home at the end of a race (hopefully in a good position) and the glamour of travelling all round the world.

Sadly, I’m almost certainly never going to find out what it would be like, but a great little game for Android and iOS devices does give me a chance to play around with some of the concepts.

You may remember, just before Christmas, Will Judd reviewed a game called Game Dev Story for us. In that game you ran a virtual software company trying to release hit games. Well, Grand Prix Story is another release by the same guys, and has you running a racing team instead.

So what sort of stuff do you get up to? There’s car development – which starts off very simple as you only have one chassis and a couple of drivetrain options available, but you can also research different body types, drive options, and upgrades like aerodynamic wings and improved engines.

You can hire new drivers, choosing to take on a rookie and train him up, or go for someone with plenty of skill and a high salary. Hire mechanics to repair the cars after a race, and to research and build new ones. All of these people can be upgraded in some way to improve their skills and get the most out of them.

In short, it’s the fun parts of team management without the grind of having to break up fights between your drivers or explain to the FIA why your car’s front wing seems to be flexing a little more than it should! It’s obviously very simplified, but it’s still great fun. It’s worth pointing out that this really is about team management, however – you won’t do any actual driving in the races. After all, that’s what you pay your drivers for.

The key to winning is research and knowing which setups work well at which tracks. Taking a road car to an off-road track will result in a poor finish. Some of the tracks reward cornering ability, while others require a good top speed. Some even need a setup that can cope with ice. Don’t expect anything like an accurate replica of Monaco, but by knowing the conditions at the various tracks on your race calendar you’ll do better than if you just approach it randomly.

That semi-thoughtful approach really works for me. You can pay careful attention to the details if you want, or can just have a bit of fun playing with cars, and it’s good either way.

At the end of the game (which is 14 “years” long) you can choose to start again with some of your technological advances in place. Just don’t think that by taking your most advanced car with you you’ll breeze through the early races… I tried it and still struggled!

Grand Prix Story is a fun little simulation of a racing team. It captures the essence of motorsport management without becoming overwhelming or delving too deeply into detail. It’s a great distraction and, if you do have an interest in motorsport, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Grand Prix Story is available from the Android Marketplace and Apple iOS App Store.

This is a guest post by Asha Stuttard. Asha is a technology writer with OMR UK.

If the history of technology development teaches us anything – it’s that it won’t happen as quickly as we think – nor in the direction we think most likely.

Remember all those science fiction shows of the 1950s, 60s and 70s? We now look at most of them with a wry “weren’t they crazy back then?” smile. But whilst they may have been tongue in cheek, they were also reasonably thought out projections of our future lives.

By now, we were all supposed to riding in noiseless solar powered cars that didn’t require drivers, merely coordinates. We were also supposed to be flying around easily in small individual flying saucers – or at the very least jetpacks.

And bringing things more up to date proves just how foolish we all continue to be. It’s just a dozen years since a few dotcom boom companies were anticipated to be ruling the world a few years’ hence.

And where are they now?

The same is true for driving. New car offers today pretty much always include things like navigation systems which have become one of life’s essentials – but who really thought the traditional road atlas would become so quickly obsolete? As for the vehicles themselves, conventional wisdom has it that we’ll all be driving tiny lightweight cars around enlarged cityscapes a few years from now, making today’s cutting edge hybrid technology seem antiquated. Except that “driver” will be the wrong term as the cars will automatically be navigating us around.

History has shown us that this either won’t happen in reality – or if and when it does, it will look very different from the way we imagine it now.

So don’t get drawn in too early. Be suspicious and distrustful of new technology – no matter what seems to be superior in actual usage. After all, if it was all about technical superiority, we should have spent the 80s and 90s watching Betamax videos!

What technology predictions make you laugh today? And what are you glad didn’t happen? How about the thought of living on instant food supplements? Tell us your technology-prediction stories and thoughts in the comments.