Every parent of young children has an unwanted-toy graveyard somewhere in the home. Today’s prized playthings inevitably become tomorrow’s cast-offs, ready to be given away, discarded or boxed up in the garage. The alternative, offered by Texas start-up Babyplays, is to receive four to six toys by mail each month. Parents can keep the toys as long as they like, and send them back to receive a fresh batch. Monthly subscription rates range from USD 36.99 to 64.99.

Babyplays offers a range of age-appropriate toys, and depending on their membership level, parents can rent up to 10 toys a month. Besides reducing clutter, members can save money by renting instead of owning. You could call it the Netflix rental model applied to toys. We’ve seen start-ups tweak the rent-not-buy concept in innovative ways: in August 2007, we wrote about a German company, Lütte-Leihen, that sends parents a fresh batch of baby clothes that can be exchanged for new ones each month. The same model has been applied to women’s accessories, with companies like Bag, Borrow or Steal offering members access to designer handbags and jewellery.

A factor all of these firms must reckon with is the need to acquire an adequate inventory of items to accommodate customer whims—a potentially expensive proposition. That said, the rental model still has plenty of new potential applications. What’s key is that many consumers are becoming less interested in full ownership, opting instead for the convenience and flexibility of renting or fractional ownership. For many more examples, check out our sister-site trendwatching.com’s briefing about transumers.

Website: www.babyplays.com
Contact: support@babyplays.com

Spotted by: Bill McMahon

Thanks to YouTube, web surfers throughout the world have grown comfortable posting and watching online videos. So it’s no surprise to see niche sites pop up with videos focused on specialized topics. Last June we wrote about RealPeopleRealStuff, a just-launched video classified ad site that challenged users to create and star in their own commercials. RealPeopleRealStuff wisely sought out partnerships with newspapers to increase visitor traffic in a channel that—eBay notwithstanding—is still highly localized.

Now, just over half a year later, RealPeopleRealStuff’s founders have launched a sister site named VideoJobShop.com, a kind of Monster/YouTube/Craigslist/Facebook mix. For rates ranging from free to USD 25 or more, VideoJobShop.com lets employers post videos describing the work and benefits they offer. To help them, the site contains a lengthy library of pre-recorded videos describing common occupations. Job hunters, meanwhile, can upload their video resumes in the hopes of catching an employer’s eye. A widget lets them link their online resumes to their Facebook profiles.

VideoJobShop isn’t the only site harnessing video for job seekers. Back in 2006, we looked at HireVue, a site that lets job seekers tape their responses to employers’ questions, creating what might be termed speed-dating for employment. Then last fall we spotted CareerTours, where companies post videos touting the benefits they offer new hires.

The video employment space will no doubt continue to evolve, opening up fresh opportunities for entrepreneurs. Up until now, for example, these sites have been largely national in scope. So going strictly local could be an option. Focusing on high-demand job categories is another option. It’s not hard to imagine sites devoted to health professionals or video game programmers. Focusing on niches may be the best strategy for avoiding the danger that major sites such as Monster or its IT counterpart Dice.com will heavily promote low-cost video job descriptions and resumes, decisively trouncing new entrants. (Dice.com has already posted a thoughtful article on the benefits and pitfalls of video resumes.) Another entrepreneurial opportunity? As video resumes become more common, job seekers will need videographers and coaches to help them create professional, convincing and confident video portraits. And the same goes for employers seeking to hire. Something to explore and get started on soon!

Website: www.videojobshop.com
Contact: realpeoplerealstuff.com/contact

Consumers can buy blended fruit concoctions at just about any shopping mall or airport. But a Malaysian chain called Dessert’s Bar adds a twist by serving them up in a sophisticated cocktail lounge atmosphere. The menu at Dessert’s Bar is an unabashed homage to fruit, including items such as smoothies, sorbets, fruit salads, along with pancakes and crepes heaped with strawberries, melon balls and berries.

While sticking to non-alcoholic offerings, as befits a country where two-thirds of the population is Islamic, the fruit drinks at Dessert’s Bar are served in martini and wine glasses. Which adds a level of sophistication and makes the establishment a welcome alternative to bars and coffee houses.

Dessert-only restaurants have been around for a while. But like the three we profiled in 2006, many specialize in admittedly delicious yet calorie-laden creations. By contrast, Malaysia’s Dessert’s Bar focuses on flavourful indulgence without guilt. There’s a concept which could find a ready market in any city with a large health-conscious population.

Website: www.dessertsbar.com
Contact: hello@dessertsbar.com

Spotted by: Suki Goh

Last year we covered Blyk, which offers select users of its mobile phone service free minutes in exchange for viewing targeted ads. A new Belgian player is offering similar 'free love' by paying users cash to watch ads on their cell phones.

While Blyk operates as a mobile virtual network operator and offers the free minutes only to those who use its service, however, Pumbby pays cash to users regardless of the mobile network they subscribe to. When users sign up for Pumbby online, they simply indicate which network they use and how many ads they are willing to receive each day, out of a maximum of 10. Pumbby then sends those ads as WAP links via SMS, and for each one that gets displayed, it credits the user's account with EUR 0.44. The resulting funds can be used to pay the user's mobile bill, deposited directly into the bank or used toward purchases of DVDs, books or tickets to movies and exhibits.

Brussels-based Pumbby's service just launched last month, but with its cross-operator approach, its prospects are promising. Given that the mobile web is the next frontier for marketing and advertising, you can bet others won't be far behind....

Website: www.pumbby.com
Contact: infos@pumbby.com

Spotted by: Jean Friesewinkel

Who knew? London has 60,000 surfers, according to the British Surfing Association, a fraction of the roughly half million enthusiasts throughout the UK. Up till now British surfers basically had two options: don wet suits and brave the crowds at Cornwall and other close-to-home spots or hop a flight to catch the waves abroad.

But a GBP 20m outdoor wave machine along the Thames set to open in 2011 could create an urban surfers’ paradise in East London. The attraction is part of a huge planned sports complex called Venture Xtreme that will also include rock and ice climbing walls, mountain bike and skateboard courses, what’s touted as the world’s longest artificial cave system and a vertical wind tunnel that simulates a skydiver’s freefall. Venture Xtreme’s backers hope it will give active Londoners an exciting alternative to an after-work health club visit, the Guardian noted. An hour’s session in the surf reportedly will cost GBP 30, higher than rates charged by Adrenalina, the smaller wave-machine-in-a-mall-sporting-goods store we profiled earlier this month, but cheaper and more convenient than a day trip to the English coast.

And in fact, Venture Xtreme is the latest among several new and extravagant sports complexes located within major urban areas. Like Dubai’s famed indoor downhill snow-ski slope and a similar attraction called Xanadu now under construction in the New Jersey Meadowlands near New York City, Venture Xtreme will give city dwellers easy access to experiences they would otherwise need to travel for. While putting together a major development such as Venture Xtreme requires considerable access to capital, managerial acumen, not to mention political savvy, these new sports mega-facilities should offer plenty of other opportunities for retailers and service providers, which makes them worth watching.

Website: www.venture-xtreme.com
Contact: www.venture-xtreme.com/contact.html

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen