As attractive as those tight-fitting workout clothes might be, there's not much room to carry a notebook and pencil. With this in mind, Gym Technik created a digital tool that allows fitness buffs to track workouts and analyse their progress using something they're likely to have with them anyway: their phone.

Users can set up a Gym Technik account online at home, and then use their smartphone to access routines and data while at the gym, where they can also input data on weights, sets and reps, and track their performance with progress charts and graphs. Collected data can be submitted to Gym Technik's personal trainers for advice about achieving fitness goals, and users can access an extensive library of trainer-approved workouts. Gym Technik guarantees that its basic edition will remain free, but is working on a premium (paid) service.

While similar apps are available for the iPhone, there's still room for entrepreneurs to create mobile offerings beyond the App Store, helping consumers track and improve progress towards fitness or other goals, from weight loss and healthy eating to academic development and finance.

Website: www.gymtechnik.com
Contact: www.gymtechnik.com/support.aspx?mode=contact

Spotted by: Sharad Mohan

This Smarter Cities post is supported by IBM. Read more about building a smarter planet on IBM's A Smarter Planet blog.

The world of iPhone apps is increasingly crowded. And while there are several that help users to find convenient meeting points, MeetMe is the first one to integrate both Google Maps and Yelp reviews.

In order to find an appropriate meeting location, users input Point A and Point B, and the type of venue they'd like to meet at. For instance, users can pinpoint the best sushi restaurant halfway between Boston and Philadelphia, or a romantic hotel between York and Manchester. The USD 1.99 app then provides a list of suitable locations complete with Yelp recommendations. Once a location is selected, MeetMe emails both parties a map complete with driving directions. If users prefer to meet closer to one point or the other, the distances can be adjusted. MeetMe points out that the app can also help plan road trip stopping points. MeetMe works worldwide and, according to reviews, has fewer accuracy problems than most mapping apps. It's also ad-free, so users can be sure the recommendations they're receiving aren't promos in disguise.

In theory, the app could help cut down on miles traveled because both parties will be encouraged to drive the shortest possible distance, instead of relying on meeting points that are familiar to both, but might not be most efficient. Mobile applications like MeetMe aren't just convenient tools for consumers—if widely adopted, smart navigation can reduce miles travelled and hours spent on the road. It can also help prevent congestion by feeding commuters real-time and predictive road data about potential traffic jams. As our everyday tools become ever more sophisticated at navigating cities, opportunities abound for entrepreneurs than can help us unlock location-based data in useful and intuitive ways.

Website: www.aboutmeetme.com
Contact: ideas@aboutmeetme.com

Spotted by: Adam Finkle

Back in 2006 we wrote about cadeaucode.nl, a Dutch site that lets mobile users send each other gifts by text message. Now from across the ocean comes KangoGift, a new site that enables similar capabilities.

Launched into beta last week, KangoGift has partnered with a variety of gift retailers starting in its home base of Harvard Square, Mass. Now anyone in the world can visit KangoGift.com to purchase a gift for a friend or loved one in that neck of the woods, providing that person's mobile number in the process. As soon as they place their order, a text voucher for that gift is delivered instantaneously to the recipient, who can then redeem it as soon as they choose. Real-world goods currently on offer through KangoGift include gourmet sweets, foods and flowers, but a selection of free, virtual gifts are available as well.

KangoGift hopes to expand throughout the US in the near future. Retailers of gifts and treats: start lining up now! ;-) And for more on real-time commerce, real-time marketing and real-time everything else, check out trendwatching.com's latest briefing on NOWISM.

Website: www.kangogift.com
Contact: inquiries@kangogift.com

Social media can instantly connect large numbers of people who share interests and activities. Much like sporting events. The New York Mets are pioneering a way to unite these two forms of public interaction, by bringing social media into the stadium. Beginning this season, a Citi Field big screen will play host to an SMS marketing system that presents a whole new way for sponsors to interact with fans, and fans with each other.

Powered by txtstation, a company specializing in mobile marketing for sports and entertainment, the system boasts several features to get the crowd involved. Xerox is sponsoring 'Citi Field's Fan Photos', which displays a slideshow on the big screen of photos taken by supporters with their camera phones. 'Verizon Wireless Fan Choice Awards' runs polls on such topics as "Who is the Met's player of the game?", the results of which are displayed on the screen in real-time, while Caesar's Palace has sponsored a 'Fan Forum' that lets fans air their views on a given subject. Wise Snacks, meanwhile, is giving fans the opportunity to vote for their preferred 'Eighth-Inning Sing-Along' song, and Verizon is taking it to the next base by replying to messages from their network users with an invitation to visit their in-stadium store. It's all novel advertising that is sure to catch the attention of stadium-goers.

Similar systems are starting to pop up in all kinds of public spaces—concerts, clubs, shopping malls—as marketers take advantage of mobile connectivity to integrate levels of interactivity that are inspired by online communication.

Website: www.txtstation.com
Contact: michael@txtstation.com

Spotted by: Mobile Marketer via Judy McRae

As the number of people who are twittering continues to rise, more and more businesses are adding to their existing methods of communicating with (potential) customers. An innovative example was recently introduced by London's eco-taxi service greentomatocars. The company, which we covered when they launched back in 2006, claims to be the first private hire service in the UK to take bookings via Twitter. Users simply send a direct message to @greentomatocars with the booking details, receive a tweet back with a unique booking reference, and wait for a Prius to pull up. Besides using Twitter for bookings, greentomatocars also hopes to encourage debate about environmental issues.

Although Twitter hasn't released hard data on how many active users it has, the service seems to be having a profound effect on business-to-customer communication, enabling companies to engage in an immediate, ongoing and intimate conversation with customers and potential customers, creating a better mutual understanding and forging brand loyalty. (For more, see our sister-site trendwatching's briefing on foreverism.)

Website: www.greentomatocars.com
Contact: mail@greentomatocars.com