London 2012 – Android and iPhone Game Review

As Olympic fever reaches new heights in the UK, what better time to launch the Official London 2012 game for Android.

There are two versions of the game, free and paid (paid version gives you 3000 points and 5 max stamina points) , and an initial small download. The full size of the game is 72mb, so enable wifi before you launch it the first time..

On first launch, you are required to set up you character. You can choose a variety of faces and hair styles for your male or female character.

The first thing event I entered was 100m, the controls are simple. Hold two fingers on the screen to assume the start position, let go when the gun is fired…then tap the screen like mad to get some speed up. Be careful not to go too fast though, you will stumble and slow down.

As you can see from the screen shots, the graphics are pretty good, as such I’d imagine you need a fairly speedy handset to play it. It also eats through the battery as the handset is put through its paces.

Here is the full list of eatures:

- 9 Olympic events: 100M, 110M Hurdles, 100m Freestyle, Double Trap, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, 100m Butterfly, Kayak (K1) and Archery

- Train and customise your athlete with over 220 items

- 3 game modes: Training / Olympic / Challenge – 8 languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish

- Easy to play – difficult to master

- Enjoy authentic London 2012 Olympic venues

The creators have also created a nice you tube clip if you want to see the game in action before you download it. Click HERE

There are three events unlocked initially, the others require you to complete certain tasks successfully before you can try them.

There have been some comments on the Play Store about the permissions that the app requires to run. It does seem concerning that an app of this nature needs access to SMS, Camera, Contacts and Phone calls. Hopefully the creator will re-visit this or at least explain why such permissions are required.

Personally, I like the game, and it is a good way to waste a bit of spare time.

Links: Android Free, Android Paid, iTunes App Free, iTunes App Paid

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Lack of London Underground mobile coverage a national disgrace

Rating: Is there a sinister reason behind it?

Regular readers of GoMobile News will know we’ve long been a harsh critic of the lack of cellular connectivity on London’s Underground rail network (affectionately known as The Tube). As reported previously here and here Virgin Media is deploying Wi-Fi on London Underground stations ahead of this Summer’s Olympic Games. That system will only serve those standing on London Underground platforms. So, Ian Brown, CEO with wireless coverage specialists, Axell Wireless has made an impassioned plea to extend wireless connectivity on-board the trains as well. This would provide coverage for the full range of mobile voice, messaging and data s ervices. Why hasn’t it happen? Well, GoMobile News thinks there’s a sinister reason behind it. And the Chinese could be to blame.You have to concede that the conspiracy theorists have got some really convincing arguments. As Axell says, the company has installed wireless coverage systems in over 80 Metro Networks and its technology has also even been deployed in the Channel Tunnel. But not in London.

What’s more, Axell is a British company so the-powers-that-be can’t claim to be ignorant of the technology’s existence. (Axell isn’t the only company in this sector with British developed technology, either.)

It’s especially odd since Axell’s equipment has already been installed to provide public safety communications throughout the Tube.

Furthermore, Axell’s technology is designed to support multiple standards (GSM, 3G, LTE).

OK. So we’ve established that there are public services communications on the Tube but no cellular.

Why? Because the public safety networks conform to a specialist standard known as TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio). Which is very definitely not the same as GSM.

If you are going to run GSM in the Underground tunnels, then you are going to need GSM base stations.

But the London authorities even turned down the offer of such base stations for free. Why? Well the official reason is different. But the company which offered to supply said base stations was Huawei.

Not only is Huawei Chinese, it has extremely strong links to China’s Red Army. The thought of a Chinese company installing gear which would make it possible to listen into cellular calls made on the Tube was too much for the British powers-that-be.

Don’t try to deny that listening in over GSM is possible, the conspiracy theorists argue. Britain recently just got back four British hostages in Afghanistan because the UK and USA intercepted a GSM call.

GoMobile News suspects that the London authorities are waiting for the dust to settle after the Olympic Games when everybody has forgotten the feeble excuses put forward against taking Huawei up on its generous offer.

Then we might actually get cellular to work on London’s Underfground. Talking of which, doesn’t cellular work on the Heathrow-Paddington Express? We seem to recall that it does.

Hans Cett is an established freelance author and consultant specialising in the mobile communications industry. He also writes for Countdown2MWC - http://countdown2mwc.wordpress.com/

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