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But the five winners are: Kirsten Ainsworth, Richard Kaisner, Fredrik Debong, Nicola Harris and @chrisyeo. Winners have been notified, and we'll be shipping those iPads as soon as they're available.
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And.... Drum roll.... It's time to announce the winners of our iPad contest. Many thanks to all of you for participating. If we could send everyone an iPad, we would!
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If stand-alone offices can be set up in people's gardens, then why not at the local marina? That, in fact, is exactly the concept behind WaterSpace, a Welsh company that offers self-contained floating office units designed to fit into a standard marina berth. The H2Office is a purpose-built floating office that can comfortably accommodate one or two workers. In addition to a sun deck above, the H2Office comes equipped with a work area featuring wood-like flooring and an L-shaped desk and shelving unit across the beam. A carpeted L-shaped “break-out” area includes a pull-out berth for occasional overnight stays, while an included kitchenette features over and under storage cupboards. Optional extras include teak-effect flooring, kitchen appliances and solar panels. Pricing for a standard unit is GBP 59,950 plus VAT. In addition to the possibilities for telecommuting office workers and waterfront retail or professional space, WaterSpace notes that its floating offices could also offer a way for marina operators to create an income-generating floating business park that makes use even of areas with water too shallow for most boating purposes. Then, too, there's the ocean—so to speak—of pop-up possibilities. Launched in December, the H2Office will be on display at the Ideal Home Show starting next month in London. One to check out, partner with or otherwise get involved in....? (Related: Pop-up cabins designed for stargazing — Foldable hotel rooms pop up as needed — In Malaysia, containers pop up as budget hotel rooms.) Website: www.floating-offices.co.uk |
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We've already covered a few wearable fitness devices that measure the physical activity of users throughout their day, but what separates Gruve from other monitors is the real-time feedback it supplies. The device has an indicator light that changes colour according to how much energy the wearer is burning over the course of a day, and it vibrates if the user has been inactive for too long: a polite reminder that it is time to get moving. Developed in cooperation with Mayo Clinic, Gruve keeps track of the user’s metabolic progress against his or her pre-measured metabolism. The information collected is then synced to the Gruve Online website, giving users the ability to view their daily calorie burn and weight loss progress. Gruve is priced at USD 199.95, which includes a one-year subscription to Gruve Online. Gruve’s targeted customer base is corporations looking to reduce their insurance premiums and employee healthcare costs by improving the health of what are often increasingly sedentary employees. It's a savvy strategy: the US Department of Health estimates that the annual obesity cost to American companies exceeds USD 120 billion. The health market should be on every entrepreneur's watchlist. Tracking and activity-based weight management products in particular are proving to be a growth market, with lots of room for regional distribution and adaptation. (Related: Wearable device tracks fitness data 24/7 — Wrist device rewards kids for exercising.) Website: www.muve.me Spotted by: Frank |
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As consumers see domestic refuse grow and their spending budgets shrink, making do with less becomes increasingly attractive. Aptly-named Make Do from Australia shows that this needn't be doom and gloom: their product enables people of all ages to make fun stuff out of waste materials such as cardboard, plastic and fabric. A Make Do "Kit for One" (USD 25) consists of a construction tool that cuts and perforates materials safely, 8 hinges and 30 connectors, which use a ziptag-style mechanism to fasten pieces together. As for what can be made, the imagination is the limit—suggestions on the site range from cufflinks to stage sets, and all manner of toys. Although such items can also be made using traditional glue and sticky tape, the focus of Make Do is on ensuring that everything involved is reusable. Packaged in a recycled cardboard tube, the components are designed to last, and are made from materials that can be recycled. The people behind Make Do aim to "inspire social change through playful creativity". That's social change on two counts: sustainable living and (re)kindling the imagination. Make Do adds value in the form of community workshops, educational resources for teachers, a newsletter/blog for inspiration and—with a nod to the open-source zeitgeist—downloadable construction plans. Website: www.makedo.com.au Spotted by: Justine Hofman |
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The internet has made it easier for people to support their favourite causes, but with so many different organisations to choose from, the process of donating can be overwhelming. Texas-based non-profit Givv.org aims to make charitable giving simpler by allowing donors to support all of their favourite organisations from a single location and with a single monthly payment. After completing the free registration, users set up their monthly giving budget and specify how and to whom it should be allocated. Givv.org then takes care of the distribution—donations are aggregated from various subscribers into a single payment to the charity. Since 'Givv-ers' don't subscribe directly to causes, they don't have to deal with multiple payments, or with the requests for more donations that are typically associated with direct registration with a charity. It’s also easier to stop subscribing through Givv.org than it would be to each individual charity. Donors can opt to make their 'Givvlist' public, and are able to submit other registered charities to the database, thereby boosting support for lesser-known causes. Givv.org is a non-profit itself, taking no fees from transactions beyond their own payment processing costs. One to get involved in, or to emulate for a new model of convenient giving in your part of the world...? Website: www.givv.org Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann |
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Niche social networking sites aren't new. We've written about plenty of them, covering a diverse range of people and interests including travellers, property owners, office workers, restaurateurs, people with disabilities, baby boomers and even dogs. So, who is the newest kid on the social networking block? FaceChipz, a safe, age-appropriate online networking site for "tweens" where friendship links can only be made as the result of face-to-face exchanges in the real world. Created by parents concerned about whom their kids were communicating with online, FaceChipz caters for tweens, who have outgrown traditional children's websites but aren't yet ready for the open social networking experience. FaceChipz has all the features of any other social network, but the one major difference is that kids can only interact with people with whom they've physically exchanged unique tokens—FaceChipz. The way it works is: parents register their child on the site for a one-time fee of USD 1. Kids purchase packs of five collectible FaceChipz tokens from select retailers and then register each token online by entering the unique code printed on the chip. Once the FaceChipz are registered, kids hand them out to friends. A receiver goes online and they also enter the chip's code. The FaceChipz database then confirms the friendship, and the two people are linked. It remains to be seen whether FaceChipz will be able to thrive alongside existing social network giants. But there's no doubt that tokens are a clever angle, providing parents with a sense of security while potentially unleashing the viral power of a schoolyard collectible craze. Website: www.facechipz.com Spotted by: Frederick Ashton |
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Speed dating has been around for a while in both the offline and online worlds, but it wasn't until recently that we saw it used to match up roommates. Sure enough, though, that's just what New Zealand-based Speedrenting does through weekly events at bars in Auckland and Wellington. Users of Speedrenting's service begin by showing up at one of the firm's hour-long Wednesday events and signing up. The price is NZD 12, which includes a free beer or glass of wine as well as a Speedrenting Matchcard and PIN. Participants then scan the room for people with opposing Matchcards—those who have rooms to rent or are in need of rooms, whichever the case may be—and chat with them briefly, making sure also to collect those people's PINs. Then, any time within the next 24 hours participants send a text message to Speedrenting indicating the PINs of the matches they'd like to meet again; if both parties text about the same match, Speedrenting will provide their respective phone numbers for offline followup. Alternatively, if a participant doesn't text in about any match within that designated 24-hour period, their PIN and Matchcard remain good for another week. Speedrenting aims to expand further across New Zealand; meanwhile, it looks like Flatmate Meetup offers something similar in Chicago while Easyroommate's FlatNightFever is already at work in the London area. One to bring to prospective roommates in your part of the world...? (Related: Mixers for moms & babysitters — More mixers for babysitters & moms.) Website: www.speedrenting.co.nz Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann |
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When we wrote about Gramlee's while-you-wait editing service back in 2008, we noted that there was still widespread opportunity for other contenders. So it wasn't too surprising recently to come across Wordy, a Danish company that provides quick-turnaround editing of a variety of documents written in English. Academic text, corporate literature, blog posts and web content are all among the categories of copy that Wordy's professional editors can handle, with specialized staff available to work on material focused on specific subjects. Clients simply paste their text or upload a file onto Wordy.com, or use a plugin for integrated editing (the company offers a plug-in for WordPress, and an API for use with other publishing platforms). Wordy then instantly returns a free price quote along with an approximate delivery time—EUR 7.68 for 26 minutes of editing on a 440-word document, for instance. If the client accepts, a Wordy copy editor quickly checks the text for grammar, spelling, punctuation and structure—the company can currently accommodate both UK and US English—and returns it in ready-to-publish form. After that point, the client has two business days to accept the work or request a re-edit. Wordy's 100-plus editors have already edited close to 80,000 words, with an average speed of roughly half an hour for a 400-word document. Over the course of this year, meanwhile, the company is hoping to scale its platform to begin editing documents written in other languages as well. One to try out—or get involved in? Website: www.wordy.com Spotted by: John Greene
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A few months ago, we covered nAscent Art, which offers a wedding registry service for original art, allowing friends and relatives to make donations towards buying a piece of art for the happy couple. While nAscent was limited to work by New York artists, Giwaza is a gift registry for any piece of art. Launched as Artmigos.com in 2007, the California-based site now returns rebranded, and with improved functionality and security. Giwaza offers a few ways to go about arranging a collective gift. Visitors to the website can choose a piece from a gallery of work by participating artists and dealers. Alternatively, if anyone spots a piece of art elsewhere that they'd like bought for them, they can submit the details to Giwaza, who will contact the seller to make arrangements for a collective purchase. Finally, consumers who know they want some artwork but haven't yet decided on a particular piece can set up a fund for donations, and fill in the blanks at a later date. Operating outside the domain of traditional wedding registries—which typically don't feature a wide range of art—Giwaza paints an attractive picture for celebrants looking for a unique memento for a special occasion. Giwaza takes a commission using a graduated scale: 19% of the first USD 5,000, 13.5% of the next USD 5,000, and so on. When shared between a group of contributors, this may seem a price worth paying for a gift with a status story. Are there other original gifts missing from registries? Website: www.giwaza.com Spotted by: Andrew Damron |
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We've written about several food brands that provide consumers with detailed information on the sources and background of their jam, bananas, coffee and other foods. Now, a premium chocolate company has taken product life stories to the next level by incorporating a transparent commitment to rainforest conservation. Launched in 2008 and now expanding worldwide, San Francisco-based Original Beans offers a direct link between its customers and the conservation work it supports. For each bar sold, Original Beans plants a tree in the rainforest where the bar's ingredients originated. Each bar carries a certificate inside the wrapper with a lot number that designates the location of a new tree. By entering the tracking code on the company's website, customers can not only trace where the cacao beans in their individual bar were grown, but also what their contribution is to the chocolatier's rainforest replenishment efforts. Hence the company's mantra: "One bar, one tree, go see." Original Beans offers three varieties of single-origin chocolate, from Ecuador, Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The company is allied with farmers' co-ops in these areas, who plant rare cacao trees plus a mix of trees necessary for lively biodiversity. Incorporating ecological and social costs into its pricing model means each 3.5oz (100g) bar of Original Beans chocolate is steeply priced at USD 12. Even for an indulgence that helps the environment, it remains to be seen whether customers will be willing to regularly pay double digits for chocolate bars. But there's no doubt that it's smart to empower consumers to see a direct, measurable positive effect on the environment with their purchase, especially when brands find engaging ways to share those benefits. How else will companies experiment with, and up the ante on, "life story labels"? Website: www.originalbeans.com Spotted by: Roelof le Roux |
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It's been more than three years since we wrote about Japanese Design Barcode, with its clever and whimsical UPC designs. Proving that the idea still has plenty of merit, New Jersey-based Vanity Barcodes just launched a similar service to help businesses take advantage of what it considers the little-known marketing potential of the decorative barcode. Vanity Barcodes offers an ever-growing library of stock barcode designs that are customizable with any unique product UPC or similar code format. Birds, cows, candy bars, paint brushes, books, flowers and purses are all among the standard designs Vanity Barcodes offers, with customized pieces available as well. All codes are pretested for scan compliance to ensure that they work just as well as standard barcodes. Pricing ranges from USD 375 for one barcode design to USD 200 for 10 or more; supported code formats include UPC, EAN, JAN, ISSN, ISMN, ISSN, UCC EAN-128 and GS1-128. The result, Vanity Barcodes says, is a barcode that goes beyond functional to serve as a powerful brand asset—and it's pretty hard to argue with that, we must confess. One to try out on your own product packaging—or to emulate for specific niches or industries? (Related: T-shirts that talk code.) Website: www.vanitybarcodes.com Spotted by: swissmiss |
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Withings is a French company that develops smart and hyperconnected objects. Their first product is a wifi body scale. Like other high-end personal scales, it not only determines someone's weight, but also estimates their body fat and lean body mass. What sets this scale apart is that it automatically transmits that data to the web. Next time the user is online, they can access their Withings dashboard, which displays graphs of their data over time, alongside recommended healthy ranges. The dashboard can manage up to eight users and the scale can recognize which person it's weighing. Users can even opt to automatically broadcast their weight on Twitter, and an iPhone app is available for tracking information on the go. Website: www.withings.com Spotted by: Jim Stewart |
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It's no secret that brands can inspire love, and sites such as Hollrr and Thinglink are built on that fact. Now, starting with a concept much like Saatchi & Saatchi's Lovemarks, MyBrandz has built a virtual stock investment portfolio based on the top 20 “most lovable” brands. Now in beta, MyBrandz provides an online community to unite fans of the best-loved consumer brands. Aiming to test the correlation between brand love and success on the financial markets, the Brands Love Portfolio is based on the top 20 most loved brands on the web. Those brands were chosen using MyBrandz's proprietary algorithm, which takes into consideration 28 different parameters including the number of positive mentions on Twitter and the number of Facebook fans. Apple is the No. 1 best-loved brand, according to these measures, followed by Starbucks, Google, Playboy and Disney; Nike, Sony and Blackberry are also on the list. Taken together, the Brands Love Portfolio has shown much higher results than the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 indices, MyBrandz says, with an annual return of about 64 percent. Currently, the Brands Love Portfolio functions only as a virtual one, but anyone can follow, test and compare it with other indices. MyBrandz plans to continue developing it, however, possibly eventually releasing it to the market as a new investment product. In the meantime, the Israeli company recently launched its “Own Your Brand” contest whereby members can win real shares of their favourite brands by submitting related content and winning “hearts” from fellow users. It stands to reason that consumer love should be a predictor of a brand's financial success, and what better way to gauge that love than through the buzz generated by the online masses? Of course, whereas MyBrandz focuses on the top consumer brands globally, the same model is crying out for application to specific industries or regions. One to emulate on a localized or niche basis! Website: www.mybrandz.com |
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Back in 2007, we noted Babyfy's TripAdvisor-like reviews of hospitals' maternity wards. Now we've discovered RevaHealth, an Irish website that provides a similar service for all medical tourists. Targeted primarily at consumers from the UK and Ireland, the site features more than 100,000 clinics from Boston to Bratislava, offering a range of procedures such as dentistry, cosmetic surgery and fertility treatment. RevaHealth's value comes from the search features and the richness of the information it provides. Searches can be filtered according to location, specialization, treatment and special services. So, for example, a search for "dentist" can be narrowed down to "cosmetic dentist", or even to a female dentist in Istanbul who can put on veneers. When users click on a clinic, there's usually a map of its location and a list of services offered and their prices. The clinic details may also include languages spoken, facilities and user reviews. Clinics can add themselves to the directory for free, but have to pay between EUR 200 and EUR 9,500 per year for a premium listing. RevaHealth is a triumph for transparency in a sector where consumers really can't have enough information—if you're going to let someone in a foreign country cut you open, you want to be confident that they're the right person for the job. And while there's been a boom in directories and review sites, there are still niche areas where consumers will welcome a comprehensive, accessible directory with reviews. Website: www.revahealth.com Spotted by: Jonathan Kyle |
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Whether it's burgers, brownies or popular books, consumers increasingly favour bite-sized portions. That fact apparently hasn't escaped Pearson Education's FT Press, which just launched a brand-new imprint offering a variety of condensed business classics and original essays packaged in pint sizes for e-readers. FT Press Delivers offers its new, controlled-portion content in the form of Elements and Shorts. Elements focus on one simple idea relating to work or life based on content from existing FT Press books, offering expert perspectives and solutions; they're priced at USD 1.99 each for 1,000 to 2,000 words. Shorts, meanwhile, are original pieces published in partnership with New Word City that focus on business-oriented topics and lessons from some of the leading business thinkers today. Pricing on Shorts is USD 2.99 each for 4,000 to 5,000 words. Both formats are accessible via computer and electronic devices, including the iPhone, and are available via Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and the Sony e-bookstore. More than 240 titles are currently available, from contributors including Jim Champy, Brian Solis, Michael Abrashoff and Seth Goldman; by year's end, FT Press Delivers aims to be offering a total of 500 titles this way. “There are people who only want to access pieces of what you write,” Champy told the New York Times. “I don’t think they have an appetite for reading a long, serious business book.” Indeed, that's snack culture at work, as our sister site would say, and it's diminishing appetites for full-sized portions the world over. What can your brand offer to satisfy snack-minded consumers...? (Related: Music site offers updated playlists in 22 genres — Healthy snacks, delivered by mail in serving sizes.) Website: www.ftpress.com/delivers |
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