Created to help people swiftly exchange contact details without using business cards, Poken is a cute plastic creature that uses RFID to transfer data. When we featured Poken back in February, we added: "there's plenty of mileage in this idea, including bringing it to other audiences. Unless we're wrong of course, and professionals *do* want to high-five their pandas after a meeting."

Turns out that Poken ran into this issue—many business professionals weren't comfortable whipping out a plastic zombie, and the 64 contact limit on the original Poken was too constrictive. Smartly, they responded and today launched Poken Pulse, a sleek sibling to the first product line.

Poken Pulse has room for hundreds of contacts and includes an integrated 2GB USB memory stick, which explains the higher price of EUR 29.99. No software installation required, and it works with any operating system. In addition to slick black and white, Poken Pulse also comes in a few colourful versions, designed by Dutch artist Gaby Zwaan. Future features include flexible flash memory capacity, and allowing developers to create applications for Poken. Great to see a young startup rapidly responding to consumer needs it may not have anticipated!

Website: www.pokenpulse.eu
Contact: www.pokenpulse.eu/contact

Combine advances in medical genetics with the age-old pursuit of immortality, and it comes as no surprise that DNA storage is a growing industry. In such a personal line of business peace of mind is paramount for consumers. Recognising this, Swiss DNA Bank offers ultra-secure DNA storage that meets Swiss banking regulations. For a one-time fee of USD 399, customers can store both their self-swabbed DNA and up to 1 GB of digital data, forever. The DNA and the web servers are held in a former Swiss military underground nuclear shelter in Gstaad, aptly named Swiss Fort Knox. Subscription fees are invested in "conservative Swiss investment formulas", the annual interest from which Swiss DNA Bank claims is sufficient to sustainably cover storage costs.

By saving both DNA and digital 'memories' (in any file format), Swiss DNA Bank is aiming to preserve the fullest approximation of an individual for his or her heirs, who can buy access to their relatives' shared data for USD 69. The online data storage can also be purchased individually for USD 299, and will likely appeal to a separate market of consumers eager to keep confidential info out of the wrong hands. The encrypted "Forever Account" is accessible only to the holder of two passwords: one created by the user upon sign-up, the other generated by a constantly changing key card supplied by Swiss DNA Bank. (Related: Unlocking online assets in event of death — Genome mapping services.)

Website: www.swissdnabank.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

For some knitwear enthusiasts, the best sweaters, socks and hats are those someone knits for you—perhaps even one of Golden Hook's knitting grannies. For others, however, there's just nothing like the gratification of doing it yourself. Enter Wool and the Gang, a Swiss venture that sells all-in-one kits complete with everything that's needed to make a particular knit design.

Fourteen kits comprise Wool and the Gang's do-it-yourself line, each complete with the necessary yarn, a pair of wooden knitting needles, a pattern, a sewing needle and patches. Sweaters, scarves, hats and bags are all among the designs represented, each labelled according to its difficulty level, and a series of video tutorials is even available on the site for those in need of some extra guidance. Peruvian wool and cotton yarn kits are both available in a choice of colours at prices ranging from EUR 55 to EUR 159. Wool and the Gang also sells yarn and ready-made knitwear; its kits are available at Net-a-Porter as well.

While knitting kits aren't new, Wool and the Gang is targeting a specific niche: style-sensitive people who are new to knitting. Its tone and aesthetics clearly play to a crowd that also buys from American Apparel. And there's something satisfying about a kit that includes everything in one convenient package. It's much the same premise that's behind the stylish Safety Box, for example, as well as just about any starter kit under the sun. Pick your style, throw in a little video instruction, and you can tap into a whole new audience.

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

Spotted by: Karitas

Travellers looking for city maps and advice face an overwhelming array of alternatives, all competing with a slightly different approach. Whereas recent entrants such as Tripwolf, Offbeat Guides and TripIt all strive to provide some tailored package representing the best of what's on the web, however, a new Swiss startup aims to focus instead on what a local friend might say, presented artistically with hand-drawn notes.

Launched earlier this month, A la Carte Maps are designed to combine guidebook, tourist map and original art in one. Currently available for six cities—Barcelona, Munich, Zurich, Shangai, Tokyo and Washington, DC—A la Carte Maps present an array of each city’s best-kept insider tips on a beautiful, 70-by-42-cm, hand-drawn map. An accompanying welcome letter provides key information about the city in question, such as where to exchange money, how to get around, what to do on a rainy day, etc., while access to a comprehensive city database—provided with each purchase—adds even more insider information as well as the ability to create a customised itinerary. In addition to its curated "My City à la Carte" maps, A la Carte also allows seasoned travellers to create their own, customised maps of a city with their own notes and artwork. Both types of map are ad-free and matt-laminated, and are priced at EUR 8.90; A la Carte donates 10 percent of the profits from each map to a social project in the city it represents.

Maps have always been an essential tool for travellers of every kind, but in this era of technology-enabled mapmania, they are the focus of perhaps more attention than ever before. With its unconventionally personal and hand-crafted approach, A la Carte could stand out amid the sea of web-focused competitors. Where else could a low-tech and artistic approach provide a compelling alternative...?

Website: www.alacartemaps.com
Contact: www.alacartemaps.com/index.php?id=121

Spotted by: Yuan

Similar to eco-minded Comet Skateboards, which we wrote about back in 2007, Arniko Skateboards offers a line of slalomboards that combine sustainable craftsmanship with local production.

Whereas Comet uses a solar-powered factory in downtown San Francisco to produce its boards, however, Swiss Arniko taps small, local enterprises in Nepal, where artisans practice the traditional Nepalese art of woodcarving. Aiming to give such artists a global market, Arniko offers a line of 9 hand-carved skateboards crafted from varying timbers with unique hues. Available both online and in Arniko stores in St. Gallen and Kathmandu, the company's skateboards are priced beginning at CHF 169. Based on the classical slalomboard form, the compact boards are designed for urban transportation and can be used without much practice. A range of accompanying fashion articles and accessories—also produced exclusively in Nepal—are available as well. The Arniko website explains: "Our vision is to bring the Himalayan spirit to you, so that when you hold an Arniko Skateboard in your hands, you know that there are proud carving-artists in Nepal who believe their own capabilities can bring about change."

The majority of products today may still be mass-produced in nameless factories around the globe, but there's no doubt honey, sweaters, wind power and skateboards—to name just a few—can benefit from some (still) made here appeal. Add to that a solid product and a focus on social change, and you may just have a winner! ;-)

Website: www.arnikoskateboards.com
Contact: info@arnikoskateboards.com — nepal@arnikoskateboards.com

Spotted by: Gitte Meeussen

Pandas, bees, aliens and voodoo skeletons aren't the first things to spring to mind when you consider social networking. Unless you have a poken: a plastic creature that exchanges social networking details via RFID. After meeting and greeting in the real world, users who want to connect online can whip out their poken keyrings and 'high five' them. Details are transferred between the RFID chips, ready to be uploaded to a user's profile when the poken is plugged into a USB port.

The data is transferred to a personal poken database, which isn't yet another social network. Instead, it gathers and distributes details of new-found friends to existing networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Since users might want to connect with someone without immediately sharing their entire social identity, they can switch to 'ghost mode' by clicking a button on the poken. This allows them to reveal a limited amount of personal details before making a full connection online. Each poken can store up to 64 new contacts and warns its owners when it's nearly full.

Retailers sell individual pokens for around EUR 15, and Poken—a Swiss venture—encourages friends to pool together to buy a pack of 12 (from EUR 120 including shipping) directly from the company, aiming to achieve the critical mass required for the concept to be a real hit. It's a great example of online interactions fusing with the offline world, as described in the 'warm bodies' section of our sister site's briefing about OFF=ON. There's plenty of mileage in this idea, including bringing it to other audiences. Unless we're wrong of course, and professionals do want to high-five their pandas after a meeting... ;-) (Related: Connecting online and off with RFID for the masses — RFID collar tag helps dog owners meet new friends.)

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

Spotted by: Jochem de Swart

We've written about numerous no-frills hotels before, but it's just possible a new hotel in Switzerland may offer the fewest frills we've seen. That's because it's set up in an air-raid shelter, and it dispenses with nearly all the amenities hotel guests typically take for granted.

Located in the Sevelen commune in the St. Gallen canton of Switzerland, the Zero Star Hotel is essentially a low-budget hostel in which guests sleep in a shared, barracks-style room. Walls are concrete, there are no windows or heating—hot water bottles are all that's on hand to keep guests warm—and hot water itself is at a minimum. Beds range from bunks to more traditional double accommodations reclaimed from a nearby hotel that recently shut down, and guests must take turns showering in a communal bathroom. A live-cam broadcasting images from outside is the closest thing to a view. Flowers and scattered artwork supplied by artist-twins and founders Frank and Patrik Riklin of the Atelier für Sonderaufgaben are the only embellishments to the spartan, military style of the bunker, which must, by Swiss law, be convertible back to military use within 24 hours. Fifteen guests spent an inaugural night at the hotel in October, but it won't be available for public use until early this year. Rates will be between EUR 6 and EUR 16 per night, its founders say.

As belts tighten ever more, consumers may well be satisfied with fewer and fewer frills—particularly when presented in an artistic and creative way that creates a unique experience and provides rich storytelling fodder to share with friends. One to bring to a bunker near you....? (Related: Wine selling & storytelling.)

Website: www.null-stern-hotel.ch
Contact: info@sonderaufgaben.ch

Spotted by: Susanna Haynie

Gyms use it, broadband providers use it, DVD rental schemes use it, subways use it... Now it's time for taxis to adopt a flat-rate charge. Swiss start-up Taxmobil is planning to offer unlimited taxi use for a EUR 48 monthly fee. Customers will be able to buy a Taxmobil card online or from sales points around the city, and can call for a car to pick them up at whatever time they choose, travelling to any destination in the city. If two strangers are travelling in the same direction, Taxmobil may combine their journeys.

The key to Taxmobil's strategy is the fact that it doesn't own the cars it uses. Instead, it buys the time of idle taxis that are already out and about, creating a service that's affordable and convenient for customers, and could decrease congestion and parking problems if city dwellers trade in their cars for a Taxmobil card.

Böblingen in Southern Germany is likely to be the first town offering the service, starting early 2009, with other towns across Europe to follow. Travel is only permitted within a city, although members will be able to catch a taxi in other participating cities, too. As well as expanding the service's reach, Taxmobil will soon be extending its package options by complementing its standard EUR 48 subscription with cards for businesses and families. Discounts and member benefits will be made possible with the cards in future, too.

While public transport and bicycles are usually pitched as the green alternative to car ownership, there's something to be said for adding affordable taxis to the mix, offering people the option of individual door-to-door transport around the clock. How the system will work on rainy days, and whether EUR 48/month will leave any room for a profit, remains to be seen. One to watch!

Website: www.taxmobil.ch
Contact: www.taxmobil.ch/cms/front_content.php?idart=13

Spotted by: Susanna Haynie

We wrote about on-demand airline DayJet on two different occasions before it closed its doors a few weeks ago. Now a new Swiss company is taking a different approach to private jet travel by making the most of existing empty leg flights.

Launched in May, Geneva-based LunaJets takes advantage of the fact that many private jets fly empty when they return home after dropping passengers off or when they head out to pick passengers up. The company works with a select set of jet operators to maintain a database of all such "empty leg" flights, as they are known, and allows users to browse that database to find flights that match their own needs. Travellers can book anything from a single seat to a whole cabin on flights shorter than 2h30m; on longer flights, they must reserve the whole cabin. Booking and payment can both be handled online, and prices are fixed and open, beginning at EUR 890 for a single seat on a flight up to one hour long. Discounts are available for multi-seat purchases, and LunaJets can also work to reroute empty legs to suit a given member's itinerary. Weekend shuttles, on-demand services and a forum for members interested in sharing a cabin are available as well. LunaJets operates throughout Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the USA. Membership on the site is free for passengers and operators alike.

By offering benefits to both travellers and jet operators in the form of discounts and increased efficiency, LunaJets' model offers a win-win proposition that could prove to be more sustainable than creating a brand-new airline was for DayJet, particularly during difficult economic times. For travellers, this is one to try out; for operators, it's one to get in on ASAP!

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

Spotted by: Julian Lander

Skiers: active, athletic and often tech savvy, are ideal early adaptor candidates for mobile applications, especially when those applications make their sport more enjoyable and safer.

Case in point? Skimondo, a downloadable application for Nokia GPS-enabled phones. Like the Nike + Ipod kit that records a runner’s performance and provides audio feedback, the beta launch of Skimondo gives everyday skiers the kind of digital feedback once reserved for Olympic hopefuls. Using the free Skimondo download, skiers can easily determine their route and performance. Plus, by displaying both ski trail maps and more precise maps of mountainous terrain, Skimondo shows where each member of a ski party can be found at any given moment, whether they’re on the slopes or careening off piste through a pine grove. In fact, when coupled with a user’s mobile phones talk and SMS functions, Skimondo helps skiers quickly find out if someone in their group gets in trouble.

All that functionality requires some time to implement. And unfortunately, Skimondo currently works at just two Swiss resorts, Verbier and the 4 Vallées. Plans call for additional Swiss ski resorts to be added along with other European and presumably worldwide destination. For Skimondo’s founders, the biggest reward for their painstaking work will likely come in the form of a sizeable well-defined user base that will come to rely on the widget for other revenue-generating purposes—everything from making dinner reservations at the end of the day to clicking on a gear manufacturer’s coupon. And while Skimondo will compete with another promising ski tracking device called Satski, mobile applications (or widgets) hold great promise for entrepreneurs wanting to reach fans of other sports. Before long, we'll no doubt see widgets for hunters, cyclists and kayakers.

Mobile applications that target particular (sports) groups have several advantages: finding users is as easy as finding the special-interest websites they visit and the offline locations they frequent. Also, potential customers are generally willing to pay for products that will enhance their performance or experience. Something to work on if you’re in telecom or leisure! (Related: Ski lift tickets at a discount.)

Website: www.skimondo.com
Contact: www.skimondo.com/en/contact.aspx

Spotted by: Peter Shaw

With hooligans grabbing the spotlight more often than not, warm and cozy aren’t terms that are usually associated with fans of European soccer/football. A new Swiss venture called Sleep-In could change that. Set up in advance of the 2008 European Football Championship that will take place in Switzerland and Austria this June, Sleep-In enables area residents from both countries to offer their homes to visiting soccer fans. Visitors can list the type of accommodations they’re looking for, and local hosts choose their temporary housemates based on the write-ups that guests submit.

Besides access to accommodation that is low cost and in some cases free, the site’s overriding benefit, its organizers say, is the chance it affords both parties to meet new people. To make sure everyone is satisfied with the arrangements they negotiate, Sleep In exhorts its users to be truthful in the descriptions they place in their ads.

We covered a comparable website last year, which facilitated bed-sharing at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and, like Sleep-In, didn’t feature advertising. However, revenues from ads could fuel similar sites for other events. The concept’s chief advantage is that it’s relatively easy to launch. A few days spent piecing together a website, sending out press releases and garnering blog posts might be all that’s required to generate some handy extra cash.

Website: www.sleep-in.ch
Contact: www.sleep-in.ch/kontakt.php

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

Swiss Netgranny is a collective of 15 grannies who knit socks on demand and sell them online. Customers can choose their favourite granny from a gallery of 'Grosis', which includes information on why the women knit ('not for money, just to pass the time') or about their professional credentials ('at age 6, I taught my 4 year-old sister to knit').

Customers pick the colour of their socks, or opt for a surprise design. After placing an order, their personal sock-knitting granny will take approximately two weeks to knit the pair of socks, which are sold for CHF 39 (USD 33 / EUR 26) a pair, including delivery.

Netgranny was founded by Swiss fashion label Tarzan, who have created a product loaded with storytelling opportunities. While socks are generally a bland clothing commodity, this line of foot apparel lets customers pull up the leg of their trousers and share a great story with their friends or family. (Related: Full provenance sweaters and Mormor's baby clothes made by Danish grandmothers.

Website: www.netgranny.ch
Contact: mail@netgranny.ch

Spotted by: Sarah Fenner

Favouritz sells boxes filled with everything needed for an original and entertaining children's party.

Founded by Danish-Swiss Jeannette Domeisen, Favouritz targets the niche market of children's' birthday parties. A mother herself, Domeisen believes that children "deserve lots of smiles and happy memories from their childhood - especially on their birthdays."

To keep birthday parties fun for both children and their parents, Favouritz offers Party in a Box. The birthday child picks a theme, and parents order a box that comes with everything needed for a party, including outfits, decoration, games and a shopping list for themed food. Instructional photos are included to guide hosts through the day.

There are ten different themes to choose from, including Upside Down, Asian, Detective and Wild Animal, and the parties are suitable for children aged 5-12. A box for eight children is priced at CHF 299 (USD 249 / EUR 189).

The concept isn’t entirely new – similar initiatives include Birthday in a Box in the US. But Favouritz has a non-mass, handmade appeal. Adding to its charm, Favouritz actively involves children in product development. The company established a children's council that meets up twice a year, and its twelve young members give their opinions on everything from recipes and games to design and colours.

Making parents' lives easier by providing a fun theme and taking care of the details, this could be a great opportunity for creative minipreneurs everywhere.

'Native' Asian restaurant chains that may well make it big

Tasty and healthy, pan-Asian food has never been more popular. Wok and noodle bars are popping up all over the world, be it, often, with a very modest roll-out strategy. Eager to know which one will eventually turn out to be the Asian equivalent of Burger King or KFC? Some of the truly 'native' Asian chains you should keep an eye on:

Philippine fast food player Jollibee, which has 400 burger restaurants in the Philippines, has high hopes for its Chinese fast food chain Chowking. Not only is it rapidly expanding in the Philippines, but outlets are now in operation on the West Coast of the US, and a Dubai restaurant is in the pipeline.

Hong Kong based Café de Coral, an up-market Chinese fast food chain with more than 100 restaurants in the Hong Kong region, is set to conquer Mainland China, with branches popping up in special economic zones and coastal cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou, and regional town centers of Foshan and Jiangmen. It also has restaurants in Canada, where it bought the Manchu Wok chain in 2000, and in the US, where it operates under the China Inn, Fan Ting and Dai Bai Dang brands. According to their website, Café de Coral is more than interested in discussing franchising, JVs and other partnering business opportunities.

Thai Mango Chili goes after the fast-rice and noodle crowd in Thailand and beyond. It is owned by Thai Exquisine System and offers quick khao gaeng style meals (rice with a sauce-based topping) in its proto-type fast food restaurant in the heart of Bangkok.

So far, Mango Chili has received interest from franchisees in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, India and Saudi Arabia. A second concept outlet is being developed in Malaysia (source: Bangkok Post).

And last but not least, MTR Foods (Bangalore, India), which hopes to become the 'McDonald's of Indian food', is rolling out Indian fast food restaurants in Bangalore, Delhi, Bombay and Chennai this year (source: NYT). The company also has a sizable instant and frozen foods business. J.P. Morgan liked the idea so much they took a 28% stake.

So, whether you're an investor, an established fast food giant, a beer/soda distributor, or a budding fast food entrepreneur interested in representing these companies in your country of residence, there are plenty of spicy initiatives to get you going in this space.