Aiming to invigorate a stagnating housing market, Dutch ING Bank is helping potential buyers bid on houses that aren't yet for sale.

The bank's WoonWaarUWilt ("LiveWhereYouWant") initiative, which launched yesterday, lets clients make an offer on the house they'd love to own. ING is partnering with online real estate firm iBlue. After potential buyers fill in a form on www.woonwaaruwilt.nl, including their dream home's address and the initial offer they're willing to make, iBlue contacts them to discuss whether the offer is reasonable, and adjusts it if necessary. A mortgage consultant also determines whether the buyers would be able to finance the purchase.

iBlue then sends a preliminary offer to the property's current owners, explaining the situation and inquiring whether they'd consider selling. As with other 'Intention Economy' real estate ventures we've covered before (in Finland and elsewhere), the reasoning is that many homeowners aren't actively interested in selling, but can be persuaded to do so if the right offer comes along. By declaring their intention and backing it up with a lender’s financial approval, buyers can help eliminate the uncertainty associated with putting a house on the market. Meanwhile, the concept is a smart way for ING to get a head start on other banks when it comes to financing the transaction.

Making an offer is free for clients, but if the owners are interested in pursuing the offer, iBlue acts as the buyer's agent and charges a commission once the deal is done. The Intention Economy was first described by Doc Searls as follows: “The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages the simple fact that buyers are the first source of money, and that they come ready-made. You don't need advertising to make them.” Which offers exciting opportunities for businesses who are willing to shift from marketing to buyers, to facilitating their intentions.

Website: www.woonwaaruwilt.nl

As the environmental consequences of driving cars become ever more clear, consumers are increasingly aware of the benefits of alternative modes of transportation. Walkit is a website that promotes the power of walking as a healthier way to get around.

Walkit's goal is to help consumers make more informed decisions about whether they choose to walk for all, or part, of any given journey. The UK-based site currently offers walking routes for London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Newcastle/Gateshead, and plans to cover all the UK's major cities by the end of this year. Users looking for walking routes simply enter their starting location and desired destination, along with whether they prefer the most direct route or the least busy one; there's also an option to request a route "via" some other spot along the way. Thanks to a feature just added earlier this month, users going through inner London can request "fresh air" routes with the lowest pollution as well. Either way, Walkit then supplies the user with a detailed map and written directions, including distance, walking time, the number of calories burned and the carbon dioxide avoided by walking rather than riding in a car, taxi or bus.

Walkit first launched in London in late 2006, and over the course of 2007 it received more than 440,000 visits and generated nearly 670,000 walking routes. Glasgow is reportedly next on its list, and discussions are apparently also under way across the Atlantic in Boston. The site is supported by ads and sponsorships, including on-map icons and store locators.

It's pretty safe to say demand will only increase for alternative ways to get around, and there's no cheaper alternative than walking. Why not help consumers in a city near you rediscover the power of their own two feet? (Related: Downloadable shopping maps.)

Website: www.walkit.com
Contact: feedback@walkit.com

Spotted by: Mark Boreland

Start-up phone provider Ribbit aims to offer solutions to questions like: “Why can’t I forward voice messages like I can my email?” or “Why doesn’t my phone ring in my browser?”

Ribbit, which is still in beta testing phase and set to launch in the coming months, is headed up by Silicon Valley tech veterans who plan to load their phone service with applications previously unavailable from a single phone network. Instead of simply displaying a caller ID, for example, Ribbit will create a mashup of relevant information culled from social networks like Twitter and Facebook, revealing what the caller is currently doing/reading/watching.

What Ribbit is attempting, via its development platform Amphibian—is to combine all of the different ‘talk channels’ that consumers are using, and to overlay this unified communication hub with web-enabled features such as voicemail sorting tools and info-rich caller ID. Call routing is good example of their integrated approach. As explained by Ribbit: “Drag and drop personal call routing lets you connect all your phones together. It's your call—you determine where you want to take it. Route calls to Skype, MSN, Google Talk, home, office, or anywhere you want. Ring all, none, or some...answer one and they all stop ringing. And you can even move a live call from one phone to another.”

Additional applications will come from independent developers using Amphibian’s API. These developers—more than 600 have signed on so far—can sell the tools they create via Ribbit’s online store. That’s where the opportunity for tech-savvy entrepreneurs may lie. Ribbit itself will create revenue through access fees to its API, along with support services and sales of applications developed both in-house and by third parties. Ribbit isn’t alone in this space, of course. Heavyweight Google recently announced its open model Android operating system for mobile phones. Another major player, eBay, is under pressure to wring more profits from its Skype subsidiary. And Apple has plans to further open up its iPhone to third party developers.

Bottom line: the telecom industry is about to get even more lively, with lots of opportunities for small-scale developers to create their own profitable niches that serve consumers like never before.

Website: www.ribbit.com
Contact: info@ribbit.com

Spotted by: Mark Ingebretsen

Until recently there has been online dating—traditionally a matter of photos and profiles—and speed dating, which took the offline dating world by storm. The two were obviously a match made in heaven, though, because in the last few months several new sites have begun offering speed dating online.

WooMe, for example, which launched in November, is an online introduction platform that allows users to meet, see and hear people live in 1-minute conversations. Using a webcam and WooMe's optimized in-browser video and voice capability, users congregate online for five-minute "speed sessions" in which everyone gets to meet five new people. Users can create their own session focusing on a particular topic, or they can join one that's already scheduled. Either way, they decide whether they've been "woo'd" or not by each member they meet and pursue the connections with those they like. San Francisco-based WooMe is backed by the founders of Skype (Atomico Investments), Mangrove Capital Partners and Klaus Hommels, and its service is free.

Camlink, meanwhile, is another free service aimed at bringing speed dating to the web. Still in beta, the New York-based service offers online speed date sessions of mini-dates ranging anywhere from 1 minute "turbo dates" to 5 minute introductions. Sessions are all based on themes, such as "New York movie lovers" or "Jewish singles." During each date in a session, users vote whether they like the person they're speaking with or not; if both sides vote "yes" the system detects the match and users are prompted to select which contact information to share.

Finally, California-based SpeedDate, also free, lets users go on live, 3-minute dates through voice, video and IM, and then vote for those they like. Once again, if both parties click "yes" for each other, they are given the opportunity to contact each other and pursue the connection.

Dating is an area that just keeps on spurring new innovation. While all three of these sites are open to users around the world, the concept begs for localized versions. One to bring to an area near you! (Related: Dating 3.0, Group dating.)

Websites: www.woome.com — www.camlink.com — www.speeddate.com/date
Contact: info@woome.com — info@camlink.com — info@speeddate.com

Spotted by: Luke Humble and Ozgur Alaz

Companies including the likes of Google have long touted the potential of GPS-based advertising, and that promise recently came a step closer with a new, ad-supported GPS device from adNav.

adNav's Boomerang is an ad-supported mobile concierge system with built-in GPS navigation that's currently targeted at hotels, airlines and car rental agencies as an extra amenity for out-of-town visitors. The idea is that when a traveller arrives at one of AdNav’s partner hotel or other locations, they are offered the Boomerang for a few dollars a day (the goal is for it to be free eventually, adNav says). In addition to voice-guided GPS navigation, the Boomerang includes unlimited connectivity to the web through wifi and cellular networks. Local city and restaurant guides give users access to hundreds of pages of geo-coded information, allowing them to simply touch the desired destination and be seamlessly directed there via GPS, and there is also unlimited access to live flight information, weather, a language translator, a currency exchange calculator, a tip calculator and games. The Boomerang device can be customized and branded for each partner with the addition of such features as hotel concierge recommendations and constant connectivity to the concierge desk. Tele Atlas, Citysearch, Ask.com, FlightView and CustomWeather are among the providers of the Boomerang's content.

Brooklyn-based adNav has already rolled out the Boomerang in New York, with additional cities and locations to follow in the coming weeks through partners including DoubleTree and Omni Hotels, among others. Looks like a no-brainer for those in travel-related businesses, and a whole new world of opportunity for hyperlocalized advertising in general. The million-dollar question, of course, is how to bring this model to the mass market. (Related: Let your buses do the talking.)

Website: www.adnavinc.com
Contact: info@adnavinc.com

Spotted by: Marko Balabanovic

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Note: For many more examples of ad-sponsored freebies and other types of ‘FREE LOVE’, be sure to read our sister site trendwatching.com’s upcoming briefing on the subject, which will be online on February 26th.

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