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More Steps versus actual Fitness Focus

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There's something of a myth in the world of losing weight and getting fit - it all comes down, for many advisors, to simply 'doing more steps'. So targets of 10,000 steps a day etc. Now take this with a pinch of salt, since I'm not a doctor, but plodding along at (say) 2mph for 10,000 steps will burn off less calories (and thus weight) than you might think. Meanwhile, the most cardinal body functions, heart and lungs, won't see much extra action and you won't get significantly fitter. Apple (and other smartwatch makers) know this, of course. Which is why, looking at the fitness rings that their gadgets and software put out, the 'exercise' ring hardly triggers when you walk for a solid 90 minutes and put on those 10,000 steps.  A real world data point here: I've been out walking the dog with friends for an hour, and between wrestling with leads and dogs who want to chase squirrels(!), I feel significantly whacked by the end. Worn out, in fact. And yes...

Android Vision Abandoned! (Pixel Fold et al)

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It's an old, old story, of course. Boy meets girl, no wait... the OTHER old, old story. Android device manufacturer has a vision produces a genuinely different, stunning piece of hardware, then  gets swayed by misguided user complaints that "it's not close enough to all the boring stuff that's available elsewhere" and so compromises its vision in a redesigned version 2 that's nowhere near as 'pure' as the original. And, as a result, often gets abandoned or forgotten. I have some examples. I'll go chronologically. You may not have heard of the Planet Computers Gemini - an Android-powered landscape-first QWERTY clamshell phone that was simply stunning - I reviewed it here in Phone Show 340, so do go watch: Yes this was a full smartphone, despite not having an outside display - a system of LEDs told you who was calling. If ever that happened - 99% of my device use these days doesn't involve phone calls! The Gemini was opened for almost everything...