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Dutch hospitality group La Bergère is developing a new hotel in Maastricht, dubbed Hotel X for the time being, and is going to decorate it using furniture and knick-knacks purchased from ordinary consumers. The underlying concept for Hotel X is described as "style, sex and soup", which—in a nutshell—stands for design, attraction and authenticity. To find unique furniture and nostalgic elements that will create the desired look and atmosphere, Hotel X is calling on people to rummage through their attics, spare rooms and garages, and offer their unused objects for sale. People can upload a picture of the item they'd like to sell, along with a short description and their asking price. To give a sense of what they're looking for, www.stijlsexensoep.nl shows examples for a wide array of categories, from chairs and tables to art, ceramics, posters, 'collections', boardgames and even plants (cacti, preferably). While authenticity and nostalgia are design styles that hotels have been adopting for a while, this is an unusually clever way both to find remarkable pieces, and to garner interest in the hotel before it opens. Moreover, by encouraging people to look for cash in the attic, it taps into a very of-the-moment trend that our sister site trendwatching.com calls sellsumers: a recession-induced need for cash is fuelling concepts that help consumers make money instead of just spending it. (Related: Qbic, a high design, low touch hotel, which is also part of the La Bergère Group.) Website: www.stijlsexensoep.nl |
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Hoping to unleash everyone's inner artist, Vancouver-based Raw Canvas is a creative hybrid: bustling café and full-service art studio. Besides offering the usual café fare—organic coffee and tea, snacks, comfy couches and wifi, as well as wine, beer and tapas at night—Raw Canvas encourages customers to pick up painting. They can drop in at any time, buy a canvas and just get started in the open studio space that's connected to the café. Raw Canvas provides paints, brushes and all other supplies, and staff members and resident artists are on hand to offer encouragement and tips. Inspired by popular art jams in Hong Kong, Raw Canvas aims to provide a low-threshold venue where people can come in for a few hours and explore their artistic impulses without committing time or money to a series of classes. With, of course, the added pleasure of a latte or glass of wine. Canvas pricing varies by size, ranging from CDN 40 to CDN 80. If you're a café owner looking to add a new source of revenue to your business, be inspired and get creative! (Related: A being space for learning English.) Website: www.raw-canvas.com Spotted by: Erin K. |
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Although it may seem that everyone and everything is online these days, there’s still a fair portion of the population that isn't part of the social networking revolution. It’s not necessarily that they don’t want to be involved—professionals are realising the benefits of connecting online. However, it’s these professionals, especially those over 45, who are more likely to feel daunted by the latest wave of online interaction. Enter JumpStart Social Media, a web service to get the not-so-tech-savvy up and running with their own online profiles. For USD 89.95, JumpStart's webwise team will get users set up with a profile on either Facebook and LinkedIn and leave them with a reference guide. JumpStart uses a web-based questionnaire to determine the subscriber's needs, and then uses this information to create a personal profile. Everything is then submitted for review to the subscriber, who then approves (or disapproves) the profile. When users change their password on either site, JumpStart is no longer able to access their profile, which keeps the process secure. For people who have already set up an account on either site, a USD 9.95 personalised guide is on offer to help users get the most from their online profile. JumpStart is a new service from social marketing consultancy Digital Brand Expressions, based in New Jersey. It fits in well with the current focus on the importance of personal branding, and the rise of using social networking to establish oneself as an industry expert, attracting employers in a recession. One to set up for local or niche markets? (Related: Helping unskilled workers find employers.) Website: www.jumpstartsocialmedia.com Spotted by: Raymond Kollau |
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Proponents of free and open source software are already familiar with the benefits of a collaborative, sharing approach to design, and now the automotive world is getting a taste of its own thanks to a Netherlands-based effort known as c,mm,n. Sustainable mobility is at the heart of the motivation behind c,mm,n (reportedly pronounced "common"), an initiative from Stichting Natuur en Milieu (Dutch Society for Nature and Environment) along with the technical universities of Delft, Twente and Eindhoven. Aiming to provide a model for cars in the year 2020, the first collaboratively designed prototype car was debuted recently at Amsterdam's AutoRAI 2009 car show. Boasting zero emissions, the hydrogen-powered vehicle features a lightweight (and therefore fuel-saving) thermoplastic exterior and an interior including soy-based memory foam and other recyclable materials. What its developers call a "river display," meanwhile, is said to function like an iPhone with access to a variety of information including route-planning, carpooling and efficiency-maximizing systems. The vehicle is also optimised to minimize depreciation and repairs. Materials in the body, for example, last only three years; after that, the car is designed to be taken back to the factory and rebuilt. Most paradigm-busting of all, however, is that the car's blueprints are publicly available under an open source license, so its design can be used and modified by others as long as any derived works are shared with the public as well. More than 800 people are currently involved in c,mm,n through the site's "c, mm, nity" and developer's wiki. A video on YouTube (text in Dutch) provides a computer simulation of the c,mm,n in action. Given Generation C(ontent)'s penchant for contributing content and having a say in matters large and small, it's no surprise open source software is gaining ground. Will the same concept have "wheels" in the automotive world? Only time will tell. In the meantime, one to watch—and get involved in! (Related: Converting standard Corollas into electric cars — Open source approach to textbook publishing.) Website: www.cmmn.org Spotted by: Paul Coppes |
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Travelling by air is fraught with uncertainties, from delays to cancellations to lost bags. Savvy travellers can already use Delaycast to assess their chances of having to wait longer than they'd planned, and now another brand-new service helps them notify the people who matter to them once they finally land safely on the ground. ArrivedOK, a new service from Texas-based Eyeline Communications, lets air travellers automatically alert others that they've arrived at their destination. Users of the service, which just entered public beta, begin by scheduling their flight with the destination airport and expected arrival time, along with the phone numbers or emails of the contacts they'd like to be notified once they arrive. They can also compose personalized messages to be sent to different groups of recipients. They turn off their mobile phone during the trip, as generally required; then, when their plane lands and they turn it back on, ArrivedOK tracks their cell phone in the mobile network and instantly sends those tailored ‘Arrived OK’ messages to the designated recipients via SMS, email, Twitter or the user's blog. (Recipients must subscribe to a GSM/UMTS network for phone notification.) ArriveOK's technology is even smart enough to discern when a user turns on their phone much earlier than expected—indicating a problem—or when they turn it on in a country other than the one that was planned; in both cases, recipients are not notified, and the user receives an error message instead. The overall result? Not just a simpler and easier process on the traveller's part, but also a much less expensive one, since ArrivedOK alerts are three to eight times cheaper than calling or texting from abroad, Eyeline says. ArrivedOK is being beta-tested in 10 countries—Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Russia, South Africa and Spain—through the end of May, and is free during that time. One to try out, partner with, or otherwise get involved in? Website: www.arrivedok.mobi/hello |
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Back in 2007 we wrote about Flattenme, a company that makes personalized storybooks for kids by incorporating in each a photo and the name of the child who will read them. Now from Argentina comes StickieStory, which takes an interactive, sticker-based approach to much the same theme. Customers of StickieStory begin by choosing which story they'd like their book to be about—current options include "Space Adventure" and "Super Super," a superhero tale. They then upload photos of one main character and as many as three secondary characters, along with their names. From there, StickieStory creates a glossy and full-colour, 8.5-by-11-inch storybook with 12 pages, along with 3 sheets of stickers: one bearing the characters for the story, each customized with the appropriate face and name, and the other two with stickers for the contents of the story. Using the resulting StickieStory book is a combination of reading and play whereby kids place their stickers in the designated spots in the book as they follow along with the story. Pricing for each book is USD 19, and worldwide shipping is available. Our sister site trendwatching.com first wrote about gravanity back in 2003, but there's still no end in sight to consumers' love for products of any kind that feature them—their face, their family or at least their name. Vanity, thy name is everyconsumer; entrepreneurs, that sound you hear is opportunity knocking! ;-) Website: www.stickiestory.com |
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Ever since the internet became an integral part of daily life, we’ve become accustomed to securing a wide range of online identities with usernames and passwords. But what happens when someone passes away, leaving their family and business associates unable to access their email, online photos, financial accounts and other online assets? It’s a problem that San Francisco-based startup Legacy Locker aims to solve. Legacy Locker lets people store details for every online account they use, from Gmail and Facebook to eBay and PayPal. They can assign different digital assets to different beneficiaries, who are entrusted with access details in the event of the customer’s death or disability. Users can also prepare letters for the loved ones to whom they’ve entrusted their accounts. Legacy Locker, which launched last week, uses a multi-step verification process to ensure that the digital assets are as secure as a real safety deposit box. (Related: A virtual vault for information-age valuables.) Website: www.legacylocker.com Spotted by: May Almero-Cruz |
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Farmers markets have long been providing individuals with a place to purchase fresh produce, but until now there have been limited opportunities for individuals with gardens and fruit trees to distribute their own (leftover) crops. Portland-based Veggie Trader, which just launched last month, is a kind of online farmers market that connects individual produce sellers, buyers and swappers. The service was started as an effort by foodies on both coasts of the US to help other families eat well, save money and make the most of the environment—all while putting their backyards to work for the benefit of the community. How it works? Registered users post listings describing their excess produce and specify what they’d like to receive in return—food or cash. They can also locate food available nearby, either by entering their zip code or by listing their desired produce in the ‘Wanted’ section, which is organized into categories like vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs, etc. As more consumers take up urban and suburban farming, opportunities will grow for facilitators like Veggie Trader. One to set up for crop traders in your part of the world? (Related: More homegrown vegetables without the sweat.) For many more examples of concepts that help ordinary consumers make money instead of just spending it, check out trendwatching.com's latest briefing: sellsumers. Website: www.veggietrader.com Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann & Emma Crameri |
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Now that electronic communications have achieved near-ubiquity, we've seen several efforts to reestablish connections with the offline world, including Postful, Gratis-Post and Peggy Mail, to name just a few. Now targeting business users comes BlueMailCentral, another hybrid solution that lets users send paper mail electronically from within any application to recipients anywhere in the world. Users of Dutch BlueMailCentral—which incidentally was founded by Colin de Vries, of Handvertising fame—begin by registering for free and downloading the company's proprietary software. They can then create a letter using Word, Outlook or any favourite Windows XP or Vista application—Mac support is coming soon, the company says—and select the BlueMailCentral printer instead of their own. BlueMailCentral's software automatically retrieves the address in the document and sends the letter with the address through to its server. There, in turn, the letter is sorted according to country and postal or zip code, and then printed locally by a partner printing company in that country on recycled paper; a customizable and brandable preface page is also automatically created with the address positioned correctly. The letter is then inserted into a large-window envelope and presented to the local postal service on the same day. For most developed countries, delivery is within two or three days; pricing is by the country, including VAT, stamps, envelopes and paper. Online tracking is available, and letters can be recalled free of charge up until minutes before they're printed, BlueMailCentral says. BlueMailCentral is a closed system for privacy and security, and wherever possible it says it works with partners that have committed to reducing their carbon emissions. BlueMailCentral is still in the midst of launching, but it definitely has the potential to offer businesses numerous advantages—not just the OFF=ON connection, but also speedier delivery and reduced emissions since printing and mailing are both done locally. We wouldn't be surprised to see this type of service become standard through postal companies or shipping options like FedEx or UPS; one to get in on early in your part of the world? Website: www.bluemailcentral.com |
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Just as Helen of Troy's face launched a thousand ships, so one might say Google Maps is inspiring the launch of a thousand new applications. Case in point: Tokyo Jogging, a new mashup of Wii technology and Google Maps that allows users to take a virtual jog through the streets of Tokyo. Created by software engineer Ryo Katsuma, Tokyo Jogging functions much like Wii Sports Jogging. Users begin by downloading free server software from the site. They then connect their Wiimote to Google Maps' Street View, and hold the Wiimote while jogging in place in front of their computer. Google's Street View guides them along the streets of Tokyo, giving the impression of a brisk jog through the city. A video demonstrates the application in action. There once was a day where online was on, offline was off, and never the twain did meet. Those days are gone! Today OFF=ON and ON=OFF, as our sister site likes to say, and riches await those who can make the most of the intersection. Read up, be inspired, and start some mashing up of your own! (Related: Online game focuses on real-world kindness.) Website: www.tokyo-jogging.com |
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Everyone knows that baked goods tend to be best when fresh from the oven; the challenge for bakery customers is predicting when that might be. New technology from London agency Poke now removes the guesswork, however, by enabling bakeries to alert their customers via Twitter any time a new batch is done. Much the way fans of LA's Kogi Korean BBQ can follow the company on Twitter to find out where its taco truck is at any given moment, so BakerTweet allows bakers to keep their customers informed. But because bakery kitchens don't tend to be hospitable to electronic devices—replete as they are with flour, eggs and other messy stuff—BakerTweet uses a specially designed box that can withstand the messiest kitchen conditions. Bakers begin by creating an account online with BakerTweet using their regular computer, inputting all the baked items they want to Twitter about along with the body of the Tweet that will be sent out for each. Back in the kitchens, the wall-mountable BakerTweet box captures that information, allowing bakers to simply turn a dial to select which item they want to Tweet about at that moment ("Fresh Buns," for example) and then push a button to send the full Tweet wirelessly to Twitter. Customers following the bakery then get updated immediately when it's time to go get those buns. A video on Vimeo demonstrates BakerTweet in action. Poke staff originally developed BakerTweet for the Albion Cafe—its neighbour in Shoreditch, London, and currently the site of the only prototype device—for the very practical purpose of finding out the best time to go get stuff there. (To find out what's available, they simply follow @albionsoven.) However, as the company sagely notes itself, the technology is eminently applicable to just about any business that needs to communicate quickly and easily in real time about offers, pricing, stocks or other information. There's no word yet on pricing or availability; nevertheless, BakerTweet is not only a no-brainer to be implemented by bakers the world over as soon as possible, it's also yet another tasty illustration of the increasingly blurred lines between the online and offline worlds, as our sister site describes in its OFF=ON briefing. One to implement, adapt or partner with in the application of your choice! Website: www.bakertweet.com Spotted by: Core77 |
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Consumers have been able to book taxis by cell phone for some time now, but a new, Virginia-based service aims to expand that capability with a comprehensive—and nationwide—paperless approach that includes mobile ride tracking and payment as well. RideCharge allows consumers to book a ride, follow the taxi's progress toward their location and then pay the fare using their mobile phone. Users of the service can schedule their ride either online or via a mobile application available for iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile. To do that, they enter the time and place they'd like to be picked up along with where they'll need to be dropped off; RideCharge then displays options offered by participating taxi, sedan, limo and shuttle services in the area that meet the user's criteria. (In areas that don't yet have an affiliated company, phone numbers for local transportation companies are displayed instead.) After comparing options and making a selection, users can then view the status of their ride both online and in the mobile application, and a reminder is sent an hour before the pickup is due to take place. Finally, at the conclusion of the ride, users can pay both fare and tip with their mobile device and download an e-receipt, eliminating the need to keep track of paper receipts for reimbursement. Included in the charge is RideCharge's own fee of USD 1.50 per trip, according to Forbes.com. Aimed at business travellers, RideCharge promises to help corporate travel managers track and control ground travel expenses with a unified, electronic approach to what has been a highly fragmented and paper-based service. Currently, however, it serves only major US cities; one to partner with or emulate in other parts of the world? (Related: Unlimited taxi rides for 48 euros per month.) Website: www.ridecharge.com |
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We've written about 'curated consumption' on several occasions before, including such contenders as Ranking, Ranqueen and Stack. A new entrant in the area recently caught our eye, however, not least because its hand-picked offerings are sold through an upscale vending machine. U*tique bills itself as the world’s first interactive, automated luxury store for “life’s little emergencies and indulgences." Currently debuting at Los Angeles retailer Fred Segal, U*tique lets consumers learn about select luxury and personal-care products and have them conveniently dispensed to them with a swipe of the credit card. Only 50 products are available at any given time, and all have been handpicked by product specialists with backgrounds in global beauty, trend-hunting and innovation. Customers wanting to learn more about any of them can use U*tique to access ingredient lists, try samples or watch short videos for product explanations and demonstrations. The technology features an original touch-screen interface, interactive LED lighting design, and a behind-the-scenes robot that delivers products from secure storage into consumers' hands. Design help for U*tique came from Russell Greenberg, director of NYC-based studio RUX. Current brand partners, meanwhile, include industry icons Lancome, Bliss, C.O. Bigelow, Lancaster and Vosges Haut Chocolat, as well as rising stars such as Hourglass Cosmetics, David Kirsch Wellness, Lipstick Queen and Ketty Sean. U*tique CEO Mara Segal explains: "I wanted to help simplify the shopping experience for customers. Our store is like an interactive gallery, each item is hand selected and celebrated. Consumers can experience that wonderful kid-in-candy-store feeling—their eye is delighted, their desires are met, the only difficult part is choosing which treat to buy.” Segal hopes to install more U*tique automated stores in upscale nightclubs, hotel lobbies, locker rooms, shopping malls and airports over the next two years, according to a report in Trendhunter. One to get in on early....? (Related: Vending machine dispenses free samples.) Website: www.utiqueshop.com
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Hard on the heels of the other two contests we recently wrote about—one to spotlight the Great Barrier Reef Islands and one to recruit pilots for AirAsia—we recently learned of yet another contest being used for more than just promotional purposes. This time, the contest's stated purpose is to study how tourists use digital media. The prize? An all-expenses-paid weekend in Denmark. Created by Danish consultancy Seismonaut on behalf of Midtjysk Turisme, the 48 Hours in Denmark contest invites digital natives to submit a YouTube video explaining why they are the best candidate to go. The winner will receive a free trip for two to Aarhus, Denmark, with travel, hotel stay, food and entertainment expenses paid. In exchange, they'll be expected to blog, Twitter, lifestream, use Flickr and generally put to work whatever technologies they choose to document their travels. More specifically, they'll be required to take pictures and video clips as well as download Google Toolbar to document how they research the trip ahead of time; then, to blog, Twitter and otherwise document the details of the trip once they're there. Afterwards, they'll be asked to blog and review the trip for a little bit longer once they're home. The site explains: "We want you to tell us how you feel about it all… Do you miss wifi access at an attraction? Need more Google Maps info on a destination? Have a brilliant idea to how an attraction could enhance the experience through digital media? Let us know!" Contestants must be 18 years of age, and the deadline for application is April 20. The winner will be announced April 29. Of course, in addition to providing the region with insight into the habits and expectations of digitally proficient tourists, the 48 Hours in Denmark contest also aims to put an international spotlight on the region in a way that traditional ads can't. In that way, it's highly reminiscent of the Great Barrier Reef Islands contest; together, they suggest an emerging new way to promote tourism. Other destinations around the world: How about you? (Related: YouTube contest for eco-minded kids.) Website: www.48hoursindenmark.com |
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Handing over the car keys to a teen is probably one of the most terrifying acts a parent must perform, but next in line on the anxiety scale is surely handing over a credit card. Aiming to provide a safer alternative, BillMyParents gives parents the power to approve or deny any purchases by their teens before they're made. Unlike facecard, which we wrote about last summer, BillMyParents is not simply a prepaid shopping card. Rather, it's a payment method that puts control in parents' hands. Teens do their online shopping at a participating online retail website—currently, only gift cards can be purchased, as the service is still being launched. When they check out using BillMyParents, their parents are notified of their requested purchase. Parents who approve of the purchase can then enter their credit card information to complete the transaction; otherwise, they can deny it and their teen will be automatically notified. Children never get access to their parents' credit card information, and control remains squarely in parents' hands. Offered by San Diego-based Socialwise, BillMyParents charges USD 0.50 per transaction—a small price to pay, one could argue, for a little peace of mind. Currently, however, it's aimed only at US consumers. One to localize for your part of the world? (Related: Prepaid cab card: get home free.) Website: www.billmyparents.com |
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