New Zealand start-up Your Pure Honey is offering customers the chance to own a share of a beehive in and enjoy the Manuka honey it produces. A basic share costs USD 285 per season (September–May) and yields 2kg of raw honey (delivery costs are included). Those who their own personal colony can adopt an entire hive as a 'Premium Partner' for USD 2,500 and receive 20kg of honey at the close of the season.

Your Pure Honey is keen to establish a personal connection between partners and their hives. Each partner receives a personal link to a website that's updated throughout the season with photographs and videos of their hive, and the material is collated in a photo book and DVD at the end of the season. Like the vineyard shares and adopted olive tree that preceded this venture, it's all about creating a unique story and product that can be shared with friends.

And there's an extra dimension that should appeal to consumers: forest preservation. Manuka trees are often felled to create extra farming land. Your Pure Honey rents land from farmers (one hectare per hive), protecting Manuka forests and providing farmers with an alternative source of income. It's a sweet deal all round. (Related: Remote-controlled farming for city dwellers — Sustainable crowdfunded forest — Rooftop beekeeping at Fortnum's.)

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

Spotted by: luxist.com via Chris Turner

What's the simplest way to get from A to B with the aid of a machine? That's the question the New Zealand-based creators of recently launched YikeBike set out to tackle from scratch. The result is a super-lightweight folding electric bicycle, with eco-iconic looks. The YikeBike is the first production version of the Mini-Farthing design concept which has been five years under development. Departing entirely from the norm, YikeBike features a radically novel riding position, steering mechanism and wheel configuration. It's the evolutionary offspring of a Segway and a penny farthing.

So why the strange design? First, YikeBike does away with exposed mechanics (chain, gears, standard brake mechanisms etc.), replacing them all with a lightweight, 1.2 kW electric motor and "smart electronics". Allied with the carbon fibre frame, this helps keep the weight down to less than 10kg, reduces the need for maintenance and makes the YikeBike a breeze to carry in its case. The electrics also power safety features, such as anti-skid braking, brake lights and indicators. It's claimed that the design is the equal of its 120 year old predecessor in terms of stability, and even safer as the upright position increases visibility and allows the rider to jump off unimpeded in the event of a crash.

The YikeBike has max-speed of 20 km/h and a range of 9 km, so it should be up to the requirements of most commuters. Bikes are available for pre-order now, with expected pricing at a steep USD 3,500–3,900 (we're hoping that's an early-adopter price that will go down as production goes up). Seems like it could be just what the doctor ordered for the congested arteries of our over-populated cities. But there's just one thing a standard bicycle can do that YikeBike can't—keep people fit. The Mini-Farthing design is equally applicable to non-electic bicycles, though, and available for license—will you be the one to roll it out? (Related: Lightweight electric bike targets urban commuters — Honda unveils U3-X electric unicycle.)

Website: www.yikebike.com
Contact: www.yikebike.com/site/contact-us

Spotted by: Stephen Church

We’ve all experienced the frustration of meeting someone we’d like to see again—romantic or otherwise—but not knowing how to find them later. Now, for all those occasions there's blinka.me, which aims to give users a second chance to reconnect.

Currently in beta, New Zealand-based blinka.me offers a way to find those we've met just fleetingly at a bar, airport, conference or event, even if we don't know their phone number, email or name. Working on the basis of what it calls "moments"—specific times and places in which a meeting took place—blinka.me uses patent-pending technology to match up the people who met. Users begin by entering the details of their moment, including what happened and something about them and the person they'd like to reconnect with—"you tried to buy me a drink," for example. It's up to them whether to make the moment private or share it with other users, friends and followers to help get a match. Either way, if the other person involved enters the moment as well, both parties get an email notification. The two can then have a safe, private chat through blinka.me and decide if they want to pursue it further, including sharing profiles and personal contact information.

The site's founders explain: "We can see a language and culture developing around this—for instance, you see an old colleague at the airport but are rushing to get to your gate so you say, 'hey, blinka me and we can connect and catch up.' It works because you’ve run out of cards and you don’t remember his name! At a bar you see the girl of your dreams but you're too nervous ask for her number so instead you just say, 'hey, blinka me and maybe we can catch up later'."

blinka.me's challenge, of course, will be creating enough awareness of the site to make it likely that both parties in an encounter will enter the moment. Toward that end, the site's five-person team is currently seeking others interested in working on the project. One to get involved in early...? (Related: Electronic business card forges online connections — High-five the panda to connect online — Dating cards fuse physical & virtual connections.)

Website: www.blinka.me
Contact: duncan@blinka.me

Spotted by: Amanda Browne

Regular Springwise readers may remember Ponoko, the company that turns consumers' creative ideas into real-world, manufactured goods. Some 30,000 products have been made a reality using Ponoko since its launch back in 2007, and now the company has kicked off yet another initiative: 100kGarages, a site that connects creative consumers with small-scale, local garages that can do the manufacturing for them.

Soft-launched in May through a partnership between New Zealand-based Ponoko and North Carolina-based ShopBot Tools, 100kGarages is a community of workshops distributed around the world that are equipped with the digital fabrication tools needed to precisely cut, machine, drill or sculpt the components of virtually any creative project. "Makers"—or those with ideas—can post jobs on the site for items they'd like to get manufactured, including their ideal purchase price and delivery deadline along with sketches and details about colours, materials, measurements and so on. The site is powered by Ponoko's online "click to make" system, and makers can search for a workshop by location as well. "Fabbers"—the small-scale workshops with the necessary tools—can then bid on those jobs with their offer to do the manufacturing. Makers negotiate directly with fabbers on the details of the transaction; once the maker sends payment, the fabber produces and delivers the product. After the work is done, makers can rate and review the fabber in question.

Enabling anyone with an Internet connection to get almost anything custom-made and delivered from thousands of local digital manufacturers, 100kGarages aims to use "grassroots enterprise and ingenuity" to help "modernize school buildings and infrastructure, develop energy-saving alternatives, or simply produce great new products for our homes and businesses." One to put to work for *your* next big idea...?

Website: www.100kgarages.com
Contact: info@100kgarages.com

Taking a calendar-based approach to organizing personal finances, PocketSmith is a online tool designed to make budgeting easier than ever. Users input their scheduled salary, bill payments, rent and grocery bills and have each of these categories repeat weekly, fortnightly or monthly, which is made relatively painless through integration with Google Calendar, iCal and Outlook. PocketSmith then calculates all incoming and outgoing transactions to generate a six or twelve month forecast. Diving right into the ugly details, users can pick any given date and receive a predicted bank balance for that day. So there's no more wondering what will be left one week before (or after) Christmas.

If users are unhappy with their predicted balance, they can adjust their scheduled 'financial events' and immediately see the changes reflected in their projected cashflow, helping them set and aim for long-term goals. Subscribers can easily upload electronic bank statements; there's no need to supply confidential information.

While PocketSmith has joined a competitive arena—Mint seems to be the current leader of the webbased personal finance pack—its predictive powers could draw in a new crowd of consumers seeking to get a better grasp on their financial future. The basic version of PocketSmith is free, and subscribers can sign up for more premium versions at USD 5 and USD 12 per month.

Website: www.pocketsmith.com
Contact: www.pocketsmith.com/contact

Spotted by: Harriet Geoghegan

Rental cars need to be transported between offices. And travellers love freebies. Combine the two, and you get free rental cars, organized by Transfercar.

The New Zealand startup works with major car rental companies including Europcar, Apollo and Ace. Each rental company has a host of 'relocation cars' that need to transported to different branches. These are listed on Transfercar's website, along with the dates they're available, and interested customers can book online after registering with Transfercar. Drivers can also request to be notified by text message when cars are available for routes they'd like to travel. Most vehicles include basic insurance as well as ferry tickets between the North and South island, so no hidden fees. Rental companies often throw in a full tank of gas, too.

Although some rental companies already offer transfer cars at little or no cost, they rarely publicize the fact, and Transfercar is the first venture we’ve spotted that aggregates vehicles from a range of agencies, making the process far easier for consumers. Everybody wins: travellers with flexible schedules can drive for free, and rental agencies reduce their transfer costs. One to set up elsewhere? (Related: Car swapping for the holidays — Hertz subsidiary cuts frills and prices.)

Website: www.transfercar.co.nz
Contact: www.transfercar.co.nz/contact

Spotted by: P.J. Heta

Hand-in-hand with the joy of being a new parent comes exhaustion and the feeling of being overwhelmed, as anyone with children can undoubtedly attest. For entrepreneurs, of course, it's a ripe opportunity, and joining the ranks of those we've already covered comes Baby Angel of New Zealand.

Auckland-based Baby Angel was launched in 2007 by Rebecca Cass, a nurse with paediatric, neonatal and obstetric experience and also a mother herself. Targeting new parents who get sent home within days or even hours of delivery, Cass set out to create a service that provides all the extra care and support missing from those important first weeks at home. Baby Angel now offers a range of services including fresh food delivery, household help and in-home baby-care instruction. Everything from sweets to full meals and "pantry fillers" are available for delivery to new parents' door—dinner with dessert for a family of four or five, for example, is priced at NZD 80—while a variety of housework packages offer cleaning assistance, such as a week of help for two hours a day priced at NZD 495. Baby-care education, meanwhile—including a class just for Dads—is priced starting at NZD 360.

So helpful have Baby Angel's offerings proved, in fact, that consumers have begun ordering them for other people in need of extra care as well, such as the ill and bereaved, the company says. The Lesson? No end in sight to the opportunities for comforting, nurturing and pampering services! (Related: In-hospital spa services for new moms — Concierge service for busy moms.)

Website: www.babyangel.co.nz
Contact: www.babyangel.co.nz/contact

Spotted by: Margie Beattie

It wasn't long ago that we covered the Best Job in the World contest from Australia's Tourism Queensland, and now another popular destination has appeared on our radar for its own promotional innovation. Specifically, Tourism New Zealand has been using a mobile recording studio to collect international visitors' impressions of the region and then upload them to YouTube.

More than 100,000 people have viewed video "raves" posted on Tourism New Zealand's Have Your Say channel on YouTube, which now includes more than 1,400 clips of travellers from Australia, the US, UK, Japan, Germany, Canada and beyond expressing their thoughts and feelings about the country. The organization kicked off the effort in December as part of its "What Do You Say, UK?" campaign, focused on promoting word-of-mouth endorsements of the region among British travellers. Since then, Tourism New Zealand has been working closely with regional tourism groups along the way as it sent a fully equipped mobile recording studio—set up in a converted shipping container on the back of a 10-tonne flatbed truck—to about 40 towns around the nation. Within minutes of filming, each video diary is edited and posted on unpaid media channels, including the Have Your Say site and Tourism New Zealand’s consumer website; visitors can also post the videos directly onto their Facebook profile pages. The recording studio's mobile effort is scheduled to wrap up at the end of this month, after which time Tourism New Zealand will use select raves in future advertising campaigns.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton explains: "Social media is used by people from all walks of life to connect with people back home while they are travelling. Add to this that word-of-mouth is one of the most effective marketing tools to promote a destination, and the 100,000 views milestone shows that the [effort] has really proven its worth."

Indeed, the effectiveness of traditional mass-media ads is already debatable during the best of times, but during a recession? The cost of a mobile studio for a few weeks could seem like a bargain! ;-)

Website: www.tourismnewzealand.com
Contact: www.tourismnewzealand.com/tourism_info/about-us/contact-us/en/contact-us_home.cfm

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

Industry-specific social networks are something we've written about before, including FohBoh, which is dedicated to restaurateurs. Recently, though, we learned of another such vertical community that's dedicated specifically to designers, makers, purveyors and others involved in children's clothing and accessories.

Based in New Zealand, Skout Trade Fair is an online community that aims to help those in the children's products industry find each other and connect. To maintain the narrow industry focus, membership on the site is by invitation only, and only members can view its content. Participants can also lose their membership for engaging in unethical practices. Once granted membership, though, participants can join business forums, connect with other members, list events, upload photos of their work, join groups and contribute to blogs. A service called Skout Guide Dog is even available for mentoring, market research and consulting at a rate of NZD 85 per hour. Finally, members can also advertise on the site or join Skout Trade Fair’s Kid Products Directory for NZD 45 per year.

Skout is built using the Ning platform—which stands ready and waiting to help you create a community of your own for the vertical of your choice. Time to bring the shop talk online! ;-)

Website: www.skouttradefair.com
Contact: louise@skout.co.nz

We've written about pop-up innovations of many kinds, including Greenhouse by Joost, a cafe in Melbourne that was designed to showcase sustainable practices. That pop-up will soon disappear, but a new project in New Zealand recently opened the doors on a pop-up restaurant that was constructed 10 metres up a tree.

Located near Warkworth, about 45 minutes north of Auckland, the Yellow Treehouse is a pod-shaped restaurant that was built as part of a marketing promotion by the New Zealand Yellow Pages to prove that all the suppliers for any project can be found through its listings. Serving as a case in point, the restaurant opened Jan. 9 and will stay open to the public only through Feb. 9, according to the original plans. The Yellow Treehouse was designed by Pacific Environments Architects and is situated above an open meadow and meandering stream on the edge of the woods. It sits almost 10m wide and over 12m high, with the split-level floor sitting 10m off the ground. Acrylic sheeting makes the mostly wood structure weather-resistant, and access is via a 60m treetop walkway. Inside, the restaurant seats 18, with kitchen and bathrooms on ground level. Lunch, dinner and afternoon tea are served, but currently, all seatings are completely booked. The project is currently considering whether to keep the restaurant open beyond the original plan, according to its website. Meanwhile, its exact location is disclosed only to those with booked seating, making idle sightseeing impossible for the masses.

Besides serving as a marketing tool for its original sponsor, of course, the Yellow Treehouse is sure to provide a fresh experience consumers won't soon forget. The secrecy of its location and the scarcity of reservations, meanwhile, only increase its appeal. Whether as like marketing promotions or as genuine restaurants-in-earnest, similar efforts could take several lessons from this example! (Related: Pop-up nightclubs launch in Singapore.)

Website: www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz
Contact: info@yellowtreehouse.co.nz

Spotted by: Michael Eastgate

We've already written about Ponoko on two separate occasions, including its release earlier this fall of a tool to help shoppers and designers collaborate. Now, just a few weeks later, the New Zealand company has come out with another innovation that aims to make it even easier for consumers to get their creative ideas turned into real-world products.

Whereas Ponoko's original Designmake tool requires that consumers use vector art software (such as Adobe Illustrator CS, Macromedia Freehand MX, Inkscape or CorelDraw X3) or 3D modelling software to design their products, its new Photomake tool eliminates that requirement. Instead, users of the new tool can now simply draw their design using old-fashioned pen and paper and upload a digital photo or scan of it onto Ponoko's site. Then, as before, they can choose a material, get an instant price to have their product made and then send it into production.

Derek Elley, Ponoko's chief strategy officer, explains: "It's great for crafters, makers and artists. One of the cool things about Photomake is the quality of the result--it's truly hand-drawn. Because digital making is so very precise, every tiny bump in the hand-drawn creation is picked up and made for real. This gives a very natural and human feel to the things you make."

More than 10,000 consumers have already used Ponoko's original Designmake tool, the company says, and it's a safe bet that simplifying the process will expand those ranks further. Goodbye, barriers to entry--this is customer-made taken to a new level. That sound you hear is the global brain getting even bigger! (Related: More desktop manufacturing for consumers.)

Website: www.ponoko.com/photomake
Contact: www.ponoko.com/about/contact

Spotted by: Sven Ericksen

As our regular readers know, Ponoko manufactures products that creative consumers dream up. Users upload a design, and Ponoko makes the item and ships it to them, or to their buyers. Realizing that many consumers have great ideas for products, but lack the know-how to turn an idea into a manufacturable design, Ponoko has now added a clever new option: Ponoko ID.

Ponoko ID lets anyone submit a request, including a description (purpose, materials, colours, measurements, etc, plus links to relevant images, sketches or videos if they have them), as well as their ideal price and delivery deadline. Their request is then sent to a selection of designers who can put forward a bid by emailing a brief proposal to the shopper. After reviewing bids, the shopper can accept the one that best matches their wishes. Once the designer confirms the transaction, the request/bid becomes a binding agreement. The shopper makes payment to the designer (through Ponoko), and the designer creates the item. Creating transparency for both groups, shoppers and designers can review one another by leaving comments in their profiles.

Allowing consumers to have custom goods made to their own specifications is an interesting variation on the Intention Economy. As defined by Doc Searls: "The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages the simple fact that buyers are the first source of money." While most examples of the Intention Economy have focused on consumers making their intentions known in order to get the best prices from retailers, applying the concept to a product's conception creates a whole new world of opportunities for consumers and designers. "Consumers have grown accustomed to shopping at retail stores where mass produced items may fail to satisfy their needs," explains David ten Have, Ponoko's CEO. "Ponoko ID is the world's first online service for getting unique products custom designed just for you, without the costs and hassles involved in finding a designer, manufacturer and materials." (Related: Design-before-you-buy on German version of Etsy.)

Website: www.ponoko.com/ponoko-id
Contact: www.ponoko.com/about/contact

We've written about product life story labels on goods ranging from bananas to jewelry, and a few weeks ago a new example emerged from the world of apparel: New Zealand merino wool clothing company Icebreaker now allows customers to trace each garment they buy back to the sheep stations where the merino fibre was grown.

Back in 1997 Icebreaker started buying its merino wool direct from growers, a system it says was a first in the industry. Beginning last month, it began including on most Icebreaker garments an internal label bearing a unique 'Baacode' number. By following the instructions on an attached swingtag, customers can enter that code on the Icebreaker website and trace the wool in their garment through to its origins on the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Icebreaker sources its pure merino wool from more than 120 sheep stations and over 1 million sheep; through photos and video, customers can see the living conditions of the particular animals that produced their wool, meet the high country farmers who run the sheep stations, and follow the production process to the factories that knit, dye, finish, cut, manufacture and ship the garments.

"For us, sustainability is about transparency and being able to show the whole design of the business, which starts with the growers and continues through every step of the supply chain," explains Jeremy Moon, Icebreaker's founder and CEO. That's transparency triumph, and it's coming soon to an industry near you--if it hasn't already. Woe to the company that's still trying to hide behind an army of middlemen! (Related: Full provenance sweaters -- Dole's product life story labels -- A status story for spinach)

Website: www.icebreaker.com/site/baacode/index.html
Contact: cs@icebreaker.com

Spotted by: Sven Ericksen

Earlier this year we wrote about nvokh, a crowdfunded and crowdmanaged eco clothing company. Now BeerBankroll is taking a similar approach to the creation of a new, community managed brewery.

The British company has only partially fleshed out its site, but BeerBankroll aims to start a brewery and pub in which many of the key decisions are made by members. It is currently recruiting a minimum of 50,000 members, each of whom will contribute USD 50 in exchange for voting rights on ideas such as the company name, logo, product design, product mix, marketing plan, advertising and sponsorship. Once BeerBankroll has raised USD 100,000 after administration and overhead costs, it plans to begin discussions with a consulting firm—chosen by members' votes—which will then play a guiding role for the community. Assuming the concept goes well, profits will be divided three ways: one part to members in the form of reward points redeemable for products from the Beer Bankroll store; one part back to the company; and one part to charity.

BeerBankroll says it has no set timetable for achieving its milestones, preferring instead to leave that up to members. The company's FAQs do state that "if for some reason we are unable to get a brewing company started [...], then we will take the remaining money after administration and operating costs and give it to charity."

Meanwhile, beer lovers can also join OurBrew, a very new start-up from New Zealand that has similar ambitions, but aims to work with existing breweries. Will it prove feasible for tens of thousands of people to jointly make key decisions for these two breweries-to-be? Only time will tell. However, we think there's also an opportunity here for an existing organization or financial institution that can vouch for new crowdfunded projects and safeguard pre-funding money until the minimum amount of funds have been collected, return it to members if the project doesn't come to fruition.

Website: www.beerbankroll.com — www.ourbrew.co.nz
Contact: info@beerbankroll.com

Spotted by: Daniel Phillips & Matt

P.S. As always, we featured the above because we believe it's an interesting new business, and one that fits in with a trend we've been tracking over the past few years. However, as with most investments, please exercise caution before contributing funds of your own.

Tarzan fans have long yearned for the ability to swing from the trees like the Lord of the Jungle, and in recent years new opportunities to do just that have arisen around the world. Most recently one of our spotters came across Go Ape, a UK-based park that first launched in 2002 and has since expanded to 16 locations throughout Britain. Each of Go Ape's award-winning high forest adventure parks is essentially a network of rope bridges, trapezes and zip slides that stretches for roughly a mile through the tree canopy. Visitors can climb trees, slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, swing on Tarzan swings and walk over planks before zipping down to the ground again. All users are fitted with a climbing harness and given instruction before undertaking the course, which takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours to complete. Entry is GBP 25 for adults and GBP for children 17 and under; the minimum age is 10.

In Lyon, France, City Aventure operates two parks that also offer a variety of high-forest adventures. Attractions include rope bridges and Tarzan swings, along with the Tyro X-speed at Ste. Foy, a giant Tyrolean traverse 110 metres long that visitors can use to zip throughout the 4-hectare park. The courses take between 1 and 2 hours to complete. Both parks are built with environmental preservation in mind, including fastening systems that do not interfere with the trees' normal growth.

Adrenalin Forest in Christchurch, New Zealand, spans more than 1km with 4 pathways between 1.5 and 17 meters off the ground. Visitors to the park, which launched last year, negotiate a series of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and flying foxes from platforms constructed in the tree canopy. Last but not least, Thailand's Tree Top Adventure Park, set in the forest of Koh Chang, also offers an assortment of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and giant zip lines.

In this age of eco-awareness and experience-seeking, high-forest adventure parks like these offer consumers a way to satisfy both and gain some status skills to boot. One to bring to your neck of the woods?

Website: www.goape.co.uk — www.cityaventure.com — www.adrenalin-forest.co.nz — www.ekohchang.com
Contacts: businessdevelopment@goape.co.uk — info@cityaventure.com — contact@adrenalin-forest.co.nz — info@ekohchang.com

Spotted by: Junaid Kazi

Gas prices, urban congestion and environmental concerns have brought about a veritable renaissance in bicycle riding, as we've noted before, spawning initiatives like citywide bike-rental schemes and bank-sponsored bike-sharing programs, among others. A trend we haven't yet highlighted, however, is the growing number of urban bike stations.

The most recent example we've spotted just opened in New Zealand. Located in the Britomart in Auckland (a public transport hub), BikeCentral offers bicycling enthusiasts and commuters a welcoming place to park their bikes and transition into the next part of their day. In addition to safe, secure bicycle parking, BikeCentral members have access to private lockers, showers and changing areas. Coffee, fresh food and free wireless internet are also available, as are rental bicycles and an on-site repair service for minor repairs. All-inclusive rates start at NZD 25 per week.

Chicago's McDonald's Cycle Center at Millennium Park, which launched in 2004, is a 16,448-square-foot heated facility that includes free indoor parking for 300 bikes, showers and lockers, bicycle rental and repair, and a café. A monthly membership pass costs USD 20. Finally, on the West Coast, Bikestation is a not-for-profit organization that offers secure bicycle parking and more. Stations in five California cities plus Seattle offer a variety of services including bicycle rentals and repair, showers and lockers as well as 24-hour secure bike parking. Monthly fees are USD 12.

The way things are going, demand for centers like these will only increase. And how a combination of bike stations and shared working spaces? Help consumers reduce their carbon footprints, help the planet, and help yourself to some well-deserved profits!

Website: www.bikecentral.co.nz — www.chicagobikestation.com — www.bikestation.org
Contact: info@bikecentral.co.nz — info@chicagobikestation.com — info@bikestation.org

Spotted by: Roanne Parker

Since the dawn of the personal computer age, millions of us have attended training classes to learn how to build better spreadsheets and killer PowerPoint presentations. Now, as cell phones and other mobile gadgets become increasingly complex and loaded with features, entrepreneurs are finding similar opportunities in the mobile field. New Zealand’s Mobile Mentor provides hourlong one-on-one sessions as well as group training on how to use the rising number of features bundled with mobile devices. Plus, it conducts courses for phone-industry sales personnel on how to explain a mobile gadget’s advantages to customers.

While some consumers are naturally adept at dealing with a device's interface, menus and options, others greatly benefit from a bit of outside help. One of Mobile Mentor's first customers explains: "All it would take is for someone to sit down with me for 1 hour. I've tried myself, got instructions from Vodafone, but it's too hard." Case studies on Mobile Mentor’s website illustrate how mastering a phone’s features can reap impressive productivity gains. In one example, a real estate agent learned how to use her phone to record appointments. In another, a doctor learned how to better use email and other mobile device features while protecting patient privacy.

Mobile Mentor claims to have trained over 20,000 people, but the potential market is many times larger. Entire organizations are going wireless, communicating and accessing the internet via smartphones instead of laptops and landlines. To get the most from their investment, those organizations will insist their employees know how to use the full range of a device’s features.

The need for training will continue to increase as phones inevitably incorporate more features. That’s because unlike computers, a mobile device’s keyboard and screen are limited to what will comfortably fit in its owner’s purse or pocket. And while many mobile devices are likely to mimic the Apple iPhone’s friendlier user interface, a mobile device—owing to its size—will never be as easy to operate as a laptop with a full-size screen and keyboard.

Mobile Mentor isn’t the only outfit offering training, of course. US-based CompuTrain provides web-based and instructor-led courses for BlackBerry users. Also, the innumerable stores and mall kiosks that hawk mobile devices give buyers quick lessons. Given the fierce competition in mobile device retailing, customers may soon demand formal training as a prerequisite to buying. (Related, at trendwatching.com: Status skills—a value shift in status from from passive consumerism to mastering skills.)

Website: www.mobile-mentor.com
Contact: info@mobile-mentor.com

Spotted by: Paul Evans-McLeod

Medical recruiting agencies, like many others, typically focus on the nuts and bolts of the job when attempting to match up doctors and positions. Missing from that model, however, are many of the factors that can have just as big an effect on the success of the match—lifestyle factors like the surrounding culture, the availability of family-oriented services and activities, and the types of sports and recreation on hand nearby, all of which contribute to a doctor's ultimate happiness with the position. MedRecruit aims to pick up where other recruiting efforts leave off by explicitly including lifestyle in the process of matching doctors with positions.

Doctors who sign up for the free service, which currently serves just New Zealand and Australia, specify not just the details of their medical specialty and grade; they also tell MedRecruit what type of location they want and what sorts of family, cultural and recreational opportunities--skiing or surfing, for example. MedRecruit then helps find a good match among the hospitals and medical organizations it represents. Watchlists are available, as is 24-hour assistance, and MedRecruit facilitates all travel and accommodations. It even pays a 4 percent bonus to doctors who work exclusively through MedRecruit. Ultimately, the company says, the result is happier doctors and higher retention rates for the hospitals that hire them.

With thousands of jobs available at hundreds of hospitals across New Zealand and Australia, MedRecruit was founded last year by Sam Hazledine, a doctor and skiing champion who wanted to create better balance between doctors' work and personal lives. The same principle could well be applied to virtually every other profession, too. As everyone knows, happier employees translate into better performance all around—who's going to argue with that? (Related: Jobs for working moms.)

Website: www.medrecruit.com
Contact: sam@medrecruit.com

Spotted by: Natalie Ferguson

New Zealand-based Ponoko is offering consumers a new way to turn their creative ideas into real-world objects. After uploading their design to the website (in EPS file format), users can choose from a variety of materials. Ponoko then runs the design through a laser cutter. Besides offering access to professional tools to manufacture products, Ponoko also helps users bring their products to market. Once they’re ready to sell, members add photos of their product to their profile page, together with a description, pricing information and descriptive tags. If a product needs to be assembled before being shipped to customers, Ponoko delivers the bits and pieces to the designer. If the product is self-assembly, Ponoko can ship directly to the end-customer.

Equally important, Ponoko serves as a community where fledgling one-off fabricators and designers can exchange ideas and help solve each other’s problems. The larger goal, according to Ponoko, is to be a catalyst that helps bring personal manufacturing of individualized products to the masses. Users who aren’t interested in selling physical products can opt to sell or give away their design, for other manufacturers to produce and sell, which makes Ponoko stand out from creative consumer marketplaces like Etsy. As Ponoko explains: “By giving away the EPS files that make up your product, you allow other people to extend and improve your product, whether it's by trying out new materials, adding decoration or simply finishing the job.” Ponoko encourages licensing under Creative Commons, to stimulate users to remix each others’ designs.

Ponoko currently only offers two-dimensional sheet cutting, which limits designs to flat objects or three-dimensional objects that can be assembled from flat pieces. Plans for 3D printing are in the works. Available materials are plastics and various types of wood, which users so far have used to create jewellery, furniture, lighting fixtures and speaker boxes. The concept is mainly targeted to consumers who are good at the design part, but less interested in manufacturing, or just don't have access to the tools needed to produce something. While contract manufacturers are only interested in high levels of production, Ponoko takes down that barrier to entry, allowing designers to manufacture a single unit.

The startup launched in open beta in New Zealand recently, and will be rolling out worldwide over the next few months. Ponoko is looking to establish physical points of presence in other parts of the world. One to partner with for regional distribution or manufacturing? Or if you’re a brand that caters to creative consumers, then it’s time to figure out how you can work with companies like Ponoko to help your customers turn their creative notions into real-world products. (Related: eMachineShop.)

Website: www.ponoko.com
Contact: www.ponoko.com/about/contact

Spotted by: Bill McMahon

When it comes to software development, history has shown that niche products can often lead to profitable new markets. The challenge, of course, is discovering that the niche is there. microPledge uses the power of crowdfunding to uncover untapped demand and, in the words of its founders, "get software made."

The idea is simple. Anyone with an idea for useful software can submit it on the site. Others who like it can then pledge money to help see the vision realized. Developers browsing the site can submit quotes for creating the software; the one with the best quote after two weeks is chosen for the job. Those who pledged, meanwhile, get to have a say in how the product takes form. The New Zealand-based site was launched in August by three business-minded brothers. They explain: "Being people with plenty of ideas, we kept wanting to start projects—the kind we knew people would find interesting. If we could only get people to pledge to support them ... Then one day it dawned on us that we had to run the service ourselves."

microPledge currently focuses on open source projects, for which it receives no payment, but ultimately it plans to diversify to include a variety of commercial projects and to charge a portion of the funds pledged. The site also offers a USD 20 "incubator" service to help protect innovators' ideas. About 160 users and 75 projects have populated the site so far, and its founders are interested in mutually beneficial partnerships to help it grow.

In addition to a marketplace for software development, microPledge reckons its site will come to be viewed as a free market-testing service to gauge the reception for new software products and features. Interesting example of the intention economy at work: when consumers have to put their money where their mouth is, it's a pretty good bet you can believe what they say. Time to consider how micro-pledging could be applied to your industry. If not to raise funds, then at least to find out what your customers really want.

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

Spotted by: Adrian Scott