With virtual worlds all the rage right now (our sister-site trendwatching.com's July trend briefing deals with youniversal branding), expect a slew of new metaverses to emerge over the next few months. One to watch is Naughty America, launching this summer.

It's an adult (18+) massively multiplayer online dating game, where players can create their own avatars and explore a 'sexy' world, or turn on their webcams for some real world 'action'. Real-world meet-ups can be arranged for as well.
In other words: a more than mature version of the Habbo Hotels and Neopets of this world, where members can sexually explore like never before.

Given the huge success for anything that involves social software, sex, and meeting up (adultfriendfinder.com claims to have over 20 million members!), Naughty America may well be the success its founders are expecting. And although they're inviting players from across the globe, there's a vibrant opportunity to set up Naughty Belgium, Naughty Singapore, Naughty Dubai, etc.

Oh, and while we're at it: since veoh.com, a video sharing site, recently banned and deleted all 'adult' material, they've lost the only thing that made them truly stand out amongst a sea of competition. And as youtube.com is eating everybody's lunch in the non-adult content arena, there's an instant opportunity here to start NaughtyTube.com as well ;-)

The newest addition to the niche restaurant scene is the dessert bar. Room 4 Dessert (New York), Espai Sucre (Barcelona) and our most recent spotting, ChikaLicious, limit their menus to creative concoctions that satisfy even the most ardent sweet tooth.

A tiny 20-seat eatery in New York, founded by husband and wife team Don and Chika Tillman, ChikaLicious offers a 3-course menu for USD 12, consisting of a sweet amuse, the customer's choice of main course dessert, and petit fours to top it off. The menu features dishes such as Honey Parfait in Blackberry Soup with Tarragon and Lace Crisp, and the signature Fromage Blanc Island Cheese Cake (described as 'heaven on a plate' by a customer on the restaurant's TurnHere video).

The owners explain: "The idea behind an all dessert restaurant was something that we'd been thinking of for quite a while. Here in New York City, if you want a really fine dessert that's taken seriously, you have to go to one of those fine restaurants. We wanted to create a place that would allow you to go have noodles across the street and then come here for a very nominal price to have a wonderfully treated dessert."

A fun idea that lets adults live out their childhood fantasy of skipping dinner and going straight to dessert. The dessert bar is also a welcome addition to regular restaurants that work with tight seating schedules and rush customers from appetizers to cheque. Less need to hurry through dessert if it can be enjoyed at leisure elsewhere. A delicious opportunity if there every was one!

Website: http://www.chikalicious.com
Contact: info@chikalicious.com

Last year, we featured a few tech-savvy lost and found services that let consumers label their valuables and recover them if lost or stolen.

A recent spotting came in from Singapore, where Bak2u offers various ways of securing expensive gadgets. Bak2u labels have ID numbers and can be stuck on portable devices. Owners register their items on Bak2u's website, and if an item is found, the finder can call a toll-free number to return the item. As Bak2u says, the service makes it easy for good Samaritans to return expensive gadgets to their owners.*

Of course, some finders would rather be keepers than good Samaritans. Which is where Bak2u's PhoneBak comes in. Launched recently, PhoneBak is stealth software that quietly alerts the owner when a thief turns on a stolen device after inserting his own SIM card.

How it works? PhoneBak lets a user select a friend or family member's phone number. The software can detect a change in SIM card, and when it does, it silently sends an SMS message to that preset number. The message includes the new SIM card's phone number, which means that the owner or police can track the thief and kindly request that the phone be returned.

PhoneBak software, which is priced at SGD 25.00 (USD 15/EUR 12.50), is currently only available for smartphones/mobile PDAs that run Microsoft's Pocket PC software. Versions for other phone operating systems are expected later this year. (zTrace offers a similar service for laptops.)

Considering the number of expensive mobile devices stolen every day, and the annoyance caused by subsequent data loss, this should be an easy sell to consumers around the world.

Website: http://www.bak2u.com
Contact: http://www.bak2u.com/contact.php / +65 6826-1085

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* A very similar tagging service was launched in The Netherlands a few months ago: redDog.

After featuring The Coffee Office on Monday, we were alerted to a very similar concept that was launched in London six weeks ago.

The Hubworking Centre (THC) is a business and meeting venue located in the heart of the City of London. Open from 8 am – 8 pm, THC provides flexible working solutions for business people on the move. Membership is free, and gives members access to a lounge with free wifi.

For those who'd rather work at a desk, hot desks are available for GBP 5 per hour or GBP35 per day. Members can also use the centre as their business address, with mail forwarded on a daily or weekly basis, for a cost of GBP 25 per month. Telephone answering is available, too (pricing on request).

Besides the lounge and hot desks, THC offers small meeting rooms, conference rooms and training rooms, all reasonably priced per hour or per day. Compared to traditional, larger business centres, transparency in pricing and flexibility are definite advantages. Mobile workers everywhere will love this concept, especially if well-designed, welcoming and easily accessible.

Website: http://www.hubworking.net
Contact: info@hubworking.net

A world's first, British UBC Media just announced a download service that will allow consumers to buy songs while listening to them on digital radio.

UBC Media, a radio producer that also develops technology products and services for the broadcasting industry, will begin testing the service on Chrysalis Group's Heart station, with plans for a full roll-out by December 2006.

The digital music download (DMD) service is expected to generate GBP 95 million of turnover by 2012, with a profit of nearly 10 million. These estimates are based on the assumption that in six years 25 percent of mobile devices will be equipped with digital radio service, with cell phones playing a big part. Korean manufacturers LG and Samsung Electronics expect to sell 500,000 digital radio enabled phones in the UK over the next 18 months and about 10 million by the end of the decade.

Payment will follow a credit plan along the lines of pre-paid credit used for mobile phone calls. Songs will sell for around GBP 1.25, which is 60 percent more than what's charged for a song downloaded from iTunes in the UK. Value is added by the fact that songs aren't only downloaded to the user's phone, but also to a web-based music library that will allow users to copy the download to their iPod or other mp3 player.

Will satellite radio be able to follow the same path? (US satellite radio broadcaster XM is currently in a row with record labels over a gadget that lets listeners record songs.) One to watch! And to partner with if you're in the phone, music or gadget industry.

Website: http://www.ubcmedia.com
Contact: info1@ubcmedia.com