|
|
|||
December 29, 2010 |
|
||
|
Back in 2007 we covered Life Trackers, a site that let consumers create an ongoing record of their lives by forwarding significant comments, photos and other content to a central email address. Now tapping similarly into the life-caching trend is Moment Garden, which aims to let parents securely save and share the important moments of their young children's lives. Each user of Moment Garden's free service is given a custom email address to which stories, photos and other updates can be sent from any internet-connected device. Friends and family can contribute updates and comments as well, making the “garden” of contributed special “moments” a collaborative effort. Parents can show off the result with an interactive timeline and slideshow; at the same time, however, it's completely up to them to decide who can see that final product. There's clearly no end in sight to consumers' desire to document their lives. How else might parents or others want to record and preserve their — or their children's — life experiences...? (Related: Clipped over the ear, tiny video camera records continuously — Auto-snapping camera documents its wearer's life — Crowdsourced tagging tool makes photos searchable.) Website: www.momentgarden.com |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
Thalys, the high-speed train that connects Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, is targeting business travellers with a new seating option in first class. Starting next month, the rail company will offer a meeting room for four people located at the front of the train. The meeting space, dubbed 'Le Salon', is a private room with four comfortable chairs and a conference table, plus standard first class amenities like complimentary wifi, meals and newspapers. Travellers need to book Le Salon in advance, with prices around 10% higher than four individually purchased full-rate first class tickets. Le Salon will no doubt appeal to small teams preparing for business meetings and conferences, as well as leisure travellers willing to pay a premium for guaranteed privacy, peace and quiet. In addition to helping customers make the best possible use of their time on board, Thalys recently launched carpooling-thalys.com for passengers interested in carpooling before or after their journey. (Related: Global business network with workspaces for members — Social network for Air France-KLM travellers — Meeting rooms, upgraded — Barcelona Hilton hotel reserves rooms for a siesta.) Website: www.thalys.com |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
Cardboard boxes have been the focus of numerous innovations already featured on our virtual pages, including eBay's initiative to reuse them. Continuing the eco-friendly, reusable theme, Boxsmart offers a central place for companies to buy and sell used and surplus boxes. For companies with boxes to get rid of, Arizona-based Boxsmart will sort and process each load by hand, carefully inspecting them and separating the good ones from the bad. Unusable ones get recycled, while Boxsmart resells the good ones. The companies unloading the boxes, meanwhile, earn 50 to 100 percent more from Boxsmart than traditional recycling efforts would bring in, it says, and without requiring the purchase of any new equipment. For companies in need of boxes, Boxsmart carries a huge inventory of deeply discounted obsolete and surplus boxes as well as used shipping and bulk boxes. With an inventory of more than 3 million boxes in more than 800 sizes, Boxsmart offers savings of between 25 and 50 percent over the prices of traditional stock or custom corrugated boxes, it says. While the traditional recycling model focuses on baling scrap corrugated for export to foreign markets for reprocessing, Boxsmart takes a greener approach with no reprocessing and no exporting. It also employs more than 500 physically and mentally challenged adults throughout the US. Currently, Boxmart operates several US warehouses and serves the United States, Canada and Mexico. One to partner with or emulate in your area....? (Related: Boxes made of cardboard laden with seeds — Matching buyers and sellers of cardboard boxes.) Website: www.boxsmart.net Spotted by: Michael Sarlitt |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
DJs, promoters, label reps and 'professional party people' from the Netherlands have persuaded Dutch airline KLM to add an extra flight to its roster. In a new twist on crowd-buying, the initiators of Fly2Miami made a bet with KLM on Twitter to organize a non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Miami. If Fly2Miami could get 351 seats reserved before December 6th, KLM would add a flight to its schedule on 21 March 2011, specifically for people attending the Ultra Music Festival and related parties. The initiative was prompted by a Dutch filmmaker tweeting about the lack of a direct flight from Amsterdam to Miami, a query that the airline's Twitter team rapidly responded to with a wager. Exceeding everyone's expectations, the flight was fully booked within five hours. "We can rightly call it a first — the first time KLM will deploy an aircraft following a request on Twitter", said Martijn van der Zee, vice president of e-commerce at KLM. “Social media are becoming more and more important to KLM to offer information and service to our customers.” From Carrotmob's crowds rewarding positive environmental change, to Groupon's daily deals for groups, crowd clout — turbo-charged by social media — provides companies across industries with new opportunities to empower consumers while improving their bottom line, or at the very least, their brand image. (Related: Furniture shopping with the crowds — Broker creates local groups for collective solar purchasing — Travel agents bid on consumers' dream trips — Crowd clout for social and political change.) Website: www.fly2miami.nl |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
We've already featured numerous writing-focused sites over the years, including several that aim to help authors get early feedback on their work. Page 99 Test is one recent example, but Figment serves a broader purpose by allowing writers and readers alike to share, discover and connect. New York-based Figment is a free community where users can share their writing, connect with other readers and discover new stories and authors. Covering everything from sonnets to mysteries, sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, the site enables those using it to "heart" a piece of writing, offer comments and follow the authors they like. Writers can choose to make their stories public, private or available only to select people; early access codes can even be shared with trusted readers for advance feedback. Writing, reviewing and entering contests all earn participants badges on the site, which can also be used via a mobile version. Android and iPhone apps are coming soon, as are SMS capabilities. Figment reminds us in many ways of Instant Encore, a like-minded site in the music world that not only fosters connections between fans and performers of classical music but enables online sales and donations as well. Who will partner with or emulate Figment to bring similar capabilities into the mix? (Related: Free e-book streaming and sharing with ad support — A curated marketplace for self-published books — Leanpub encourages authors to publish early & edit often — Crowdsourcing site helps publishers find new authors — HarperCollins hopes crowds will spot next bestseller — Selling books by the chapter.) Website: www.figment.com Spotted by: Mike Westdijk
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
It seems safe to say that women's panties never used to travel so far nor so wide. First, we saw Canadian Panty by Post, which offers panties by curated subscription. Now, we just recently came across KnickerMail, which sends luxury panties in place of greeting cards. Daring Christmas seasons-greeters, for example, begin by choosing what colour of unisize panties they'd like to send — available choices include black, purple and red. They then select the text they'd like to include on the accompanying card, and take care of the address and payment details. From there the knickers get sent on their way, and senders are advised to “prepare for the reaction. Chilling a bottle of champagne and sourcing black candles recommended.” Pricing is GBP 29. KnickerMail is yet another example of what our sister site calls the maturialism trend. Time to bring a little extra spice to Christmas — or greetings in general — in your part of the world? (Related: Five hands-on examples of the MATURIALISM trend — Breath mint brand lets customers redeem points for vibrating toys.) Website: www.knickermail.com Spotted by: Evelin Pullerits |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
For people suffering from conditions such as epilepsy, asthma and severe allergies, there is always the possibility that their lives will depend on the assistance of untrained strangers in the event of a seizure or incapacitating attack. We've already seen temporary tattoos for kids used to convey life-saving information in such events, but recently we came across a device that offers a more comprehensive solution. The Press Don’t Panic device allows audio information in any language to be recorded and stored by the wearer for playback when they need help. Instructions with emergency procedures and other essential medication can be recorded ahead of time. Then, in the event of a seizure or attack, either the wearer or a bystander can press the device's clearly marked button to initiate playback, giving those nearby the information they need to offer meaningful help. Launch pricing on the device is currently GBP 29.99. Medical conditions are one of the great levelers in this world, particularly when the help of strangers is required. It seems safe to say there will always be a market for inspired solutions that make such conditions easier to bear. (Related: Medical comic books for kids explain serious diseases — Emails warn patients about health-changing weather — Internet-connected pill reminder caps.) Website: www.pressdontpanic.com Spotted by: Ken Green |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
Hard on the heels of our story about Fast Society's iPhone app comes word of another mobile app for real-time group communication. Available for both iPhone and Android, GroupMe is a free tool from New York-based Mindless Dribble that gives groups of friends private text messaging and instant conference calls. Users of GroupMe — which is now in beta — begin by entering their name and telephone number to start a group. GroupMe then generates a unique phone number for that group and sends it to the user. From there, the user can add friends to the group and send everyone group messages. The group's number also serves as a conference line, so dialing it will ring everyone in the group. A photo sharing capability, meanwhile, lets users send photos to all members of their group at once. As many as 25 people can be included in a group at any one time, but users can create as many groups as they want — one for their basketball team, one for coordinating a surprise party, one for the PTA, one for updating family members while travelling, etc. (See GroupMe's blog for examples of how people are putting the technology to use.) Like Fast Society, GroupMe does not require that users have a smartphone — every phone that can send and receive text messages is supported. It also currently works only in the U.S. Another one to help bring to other parts of the world! Website: www.groupme.com Spotted by: Parul Rohatgi |
|||
|
|||
|
| |||
|
|
|
|
