As we like to say, everything can upgraded, and everything can be personalized. And safety helmets are no exception. French brand Les Ateliers Ruby already sold bespoke helmets, and now also offers their high-end service online. Using the Ruby Costume A-La-Carte configurator, customers can choose from ten graphic decorations, 26 colours and three types of paint finish. Only one helmet type is currently available but another will be added later this month and two more models will appear by spring 2009. Prices are EUR 657 for a plain paint job or EUR 710 for a custom paint job.

For those who feel the configurator isn't enough for their personalization needs, the direct input of Les Ateliers Ruby is given as part of its offline Made-to-Measure service. Customers can make an appointment to receive expert advice on their envisaged design. Fortunately for worried parents and spouses, the emphasis on style hasn't sidelined safety: Les Ateliers Ruby ensures helmets meet national safety standards for both US and European customers, with Japanese requirements being met next.

Car sales continue to drop, but as reported by CNN Money, "scooter sales were up 66% in the first half of 2008 compared to a year ago, while motorcycle sales overall only ticked up 0.5%." Time to start catering to the new scooter set? (Related: Stylish helmets for urban cyclists.)

Website: www.boutiqueruby.com
Contact: contact@ateliersruby.com

Spotted by: Tristan Daeschner

When it comes to giving someone directions to a particular place, traditional maps can be imperfect tools, abstract and two-dimensional as they are. A new application built for Google's Android cellphone platform, however, incorporates pictures and personalization to help people answer the question, "Can you show me how to get there?"

BreadCrumbz is a mobile navigation application that lets users create directional routes on the fly. The software uses the phone's camera and GPS to take geo-tagged pictures of the user's route while Android's location APIs and Compass sensor track their progress as they navigate. Android's Maps API is then used to overlay route information such as arrows or notes on top of a map. The result is a personalized, picture-based map that users can email to friends or upload to the web to show others how to navigate a specific building or landscape. Voice capabilities are reportedly in the works. A demo on YouTube shows how it's currently done. BreadCrumbz was one of just 20 winners in the Open Handset Alliance's Android Developer Challenge, taking home a USD 100,000 award. It's available as a free download for the T-Mobile G1 through the Android Market.

Beyond just helping consumers give each other directions, BreadCrumbz also promises to let them share walking tours of a favourite city, for example, or document personal stories with location-based pictures and information. In the commercial realm, businesses could benefit greatly from picture-based maps that lead consumers to their door--or even illustrate multiple points along their supply chain. The possibilities are many--one to start experimenting with! (Related: Route planner with a wiki twist -- Advanced route planning for pedestrians.)

Website: www.bcrumbz.com
Contact: bcrumbz@gmail.com

Spotted by: Radha Rajan

We've written about sites that facilitate intention-based shipping in the US, France and the United Arab Emirates. Now, we're happy to report that the concept continues to spread, as evidenced by a new, like-minded site based in Houston.

Like those we've covered before, Citizenshipper enables peer-to-peer shipping by matching up people who have something to send with those intending to make a trip in the same direction. Designed for shipping anything ranging from a letter to a fridge, Citizenshipper is free for use by both CitizenSenders and those willing to do the shipping--known on the site as CitizenShippers. CitizenSenders simply post what they need delivered, the starting and destination ZIP codes, and how much they are willing to pay. When a shipper is interested, the CitizenSender receives an email, and can also log in to view the information on their Contract Bids page. CitizenShippers, meanwhile, post the routes they plan on taking, and are notified by e-mail of packages that need to be sent in the same direction. Payments can be handled through PayPal or offline, and Citizenshipper currently charges nothing for facilitating the transaction. The site does, however, incorporate a feedback system to ensure trustworthy participation.

Citizenshipper just launched in August, and you can bet more such sites are on the way. Which will emerge as the FedEx of P2P shipping? Time will tell. In the meantime, keep the localized versions coming!

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

Spotted by: Bonnie Larner

Myriad challenges face disabled drivers and their caretakers as they navigate the streets in their daily lives, not the least of which is finding destinations and parking accommodations that are handicapped-accessible. A new GPS navigation system from UK-based Navevo, however, focuses squarely on helping such drivers find the locations and parking they need.

Launched just a few weeks ago, BBNav includes many of the features found on standard satellite navigation systems, but it also adds information tailored to support holders of the UK's Blue Badge for handicapped drivers. Through a partnership with PIE (Public Information Exchange), the UK's leading publisher of disabled parking guides, BBNav offers comprehensive data about disabled-accessible parking and local council Blue Badge concessions, as well as more than 20,000 points of interest suitable for people with disabilities. Featuring a 4.3-inch-wide touch screen and Bluetooth hands-free calling, BBNav includes a database of 3,500 disabled-accessible car parks and more than 10,000 Blue Badge parking spaces that can reduce the time and uncertainty involved in searching for a place to park the car. Colour-coded and numbered icons are displayed on the map while en route, making it easy to identify parking lots as well as any waiting times or restrictions, and most spots are graded from 1 to 3, indicating the degree of accessibility to those with varying degrees of impairment. BBNav's mapping has also been colour-coded to reflect local rules for Blue Badge holders, so users can easily determine whether they can park legally on yellow lines, for example. The result? On a visit to an unfamiliar town, BBNav can tell drivers where to park, where the public toilets with disabled facilities are and which accommodations offer support for the disabled, among other key pieces of information. Due to be available next month, BBNav will come complete with street-level mapping for 150 major cities and towns in the UK, seven-digit postcode lookup and a six-month free trial of safety camera alerts. Pricing will be GBP 199.99.

Some 650 million people around the globe--or about 10 percent of the world's population--live with a disability, constituting the world's largest minority, according to 2006 data from the United Nations. As populations age, those numbers--and their collective spending power--will only increase. How can your brand better serve this segment of the population...? (Related: Network for people with disabilities.)

Website: www.bbnav.co.uk
Contact: sales@navevo.com

Spotted by: Zena Hockley

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