Lady Geek has been anticipating the launch for the Xbox 360 Kinect with our founder Belinda Parmar reporting on Channel Four News  and Lady Geek’s Relationship Manager (moi) at the launch party.

Held at the National History Museum’s Ice rink with performers such as the incredible Leona Lewis and Britain’s new boy band The Wanted, Xbox 360’s launch of the Kinect was a great way to get the show going.

After seasonal mulled wine and wobbly yet graceful laps round the ice rink I got to try out the brand new Kinect. Result: I’ve added Kinect to my Christmas wish list… (hint hint Santa).

Not only is the Kinect’s accurate detection of players’ movements impressive (including celebratory fist pumps in the air) the console warns you when you get too close to the device and TV screen. So unlike Nintendo’s Wii, which had to bring out safety straps to stop controllers careering into TV screens and people’s faces; the Kinect allows you to maintain your enthusiastic volley ball slam dunks and pumping dance moves without the fear of smashing your brand new HD TV.

There are a range of games to choose from, all incorporating lively gestures without a controller, making the experience more sociable and fun than any other console. What’s more the Kinect records your moves, so if prancing about trying to look like a professional dancer wasn’t embarrassing enough, after each game you get to see film clips of your moves on screen.

Ah well there’s always room for improvement –  Diversity better watch out.

To watch Belinda Parmar on Channel Four News see below…

Belinda Parmar on Channel Four News

PRESS RELEASE

The world of ‘apps’ is not just the domain of young geeky males. Lady Geek’s survey (conducted by YouGov) reveals that technology and software are no longer just the preserve of geeks, with women over 55 feeling liberated by their smart-phones.

The report highlighted:

• Of all survey participants, 39% of female smart-phone owners aged 55+ have downloaded one or more app to their smart-phone.

• Gaming was the second most popular category for over-55-year-old women in the survey, with nearly 1 in 5 female smart-phone owners stating gaming is their favourite app compared to only 1 in 15 of men in a similar age band

• The number 1 app for female smart-phone owners over 55 is Facebook, with 18% of survey participants in this group saying that a social networking app is their favourite app.

• 22.5% of female smart-phone owners over 55 found out about their favourite app from a recommendation from a friend, compared to only 12.9% of male smart phone within the same age band.

“We set out on a mission to understand how older women use technology and raise the agenda of these ‘forgotten’ women. We are so obsessed with youth and yummy mummies in this country we forget that a third of our population is over 50. The women we spoke to loved what ‘apps’ could do for them whether it be ‘snacking’ on a 10 min Bejeweled game or updating their Facebook page with new photos. A revolution is going on within this older group but no-one seems to notice or pay any attention to these women.” says Belinda Parmar, founder of Lady Geek, an independent company which helps technology companies understand women.

In the US, the number of women over 55 on Facebook is almost double the number of men in the same age group (Source: Inside Facebook, Feb 2009). Yet despite this growth, companies tend to ignore this ‘invisible and forgotten’ generation and pay little or no heed to what they want or need.

Methodology

For this report, Lady Geek in conjunction with YouGov SixthSense, ran an online survey a sample of 16,810 smart-phone owners. The number of men and women over-55 was 1,639.

Lady Geek also conducted some informal interviews with older women to understand how they engaged with technology.

Lady Geek helps technology and gaming companies understand women through female insight, intelligence and influence.

SixthSense, part of YouGov plc, is a provider of comprehensive business intelligence.

To interview Belinda Parmar the author of the report, or to obtain a full copy of the report, please contact belinda@ladygeek.org.uk