PointRoll, a provider of rich media marketing services, has launched a new polling feature called Pollster.

Pollster provides a unique tool for online advertisers to drive user interaction and gain insights to the minds of online community users. As online ads are viewed, Pollster instantly reports interactive survey results. Web audiences can respond to any number of questions regarding current events and issues, movies, brands, products, or even weigh in on upcoming events to instantly see how their answers compare to the larger online community.

The benefits of this new polling feature? Survey users have the ability to share opinions and attitudes, while advertisers can capture valuable information about brands, products and positioning.

Read:
Polls Show Consumers React Well to Pollster [Clickz Network]
Rich Media Vaults Some Polls [MediaDailyNews]

You can now order a pizza from the comfort of your mobile phone - if you reside in Australia.

Mobile marketing company SMS Response Australia has launched Australia's first SMS ordering system where consumers can send a text message to their local take away store to place an order.

The system uses a combination of SMS and email: the customer SMS' their order to the store's number. The store receives the customer's order as an email.

"SMS ordering is a no-brainer from a customer's perspective. You're watching a movie, pick up your mobile, key in a few codes and press send. No need to be on hold, or even speak to an operator," says SMS Response director Kerryn Marlow.

"But from a store's perspective, getting an order via SMS on a handset was impractical. They need to see the order and print it out," adds Marlow.

The solution was to incorporate email into the order process. SMS Response's system receives the customer's SMS, turns it into an email, and then forwards to the store's computer where it is automatically printed out.

The system also sends an acknowledgement SMS back to the customer's phone to advise delivery or pick up time.

"All the customer has to do is wait for their order to arrive. Or if they order a pickup, just SMS their order ahead and pick it up on the way home," says Marlow.

The SMS ordering system also allows retailers to build a loyal database and conduct cost-effective marketing campaigns to their customers.

Read: SMS Response Australia press release

Tina Sprigg is a classic example of an entrepreneur battling against many other competitors successfully by making a specific niche for herself in her industry. Guess what she did? She actually created her unique fashion medical bracelets and sold them to clients who hated wearing any medical alert jewelry because these pieces usually look really dull and clunky. From the Sun Herald:

Most children, notes Sprigg, reject the traditional medical jewelry because they don't want to call attention to their ailments. Her creations, on the other hand, are viewed more as fashion. The essential metal plate is there, of course. But it's upstaged by an eye-catching beaded band. The nameplate (which bears on the front the wearer's name and the medical alert symbol and on the flip side the specific medical warning) is provided by the customer. To assist customers, Sprigg's Web site, www.beadin-beagle.com, has a link to Oneida Nameplate Co.

Read: Medical bracelets get fashionable look [The Sun Herald]

...and so, they are usually more than willing to spend that extra bucks on goods and products that make their dogs' (or cats', if you'd prefer) lives more comfortable. See, for example, the Dog Dish from Everyday Studio. As described on Josh Rubin's blog:

Dog Dish, from Everyday Studio, is a simple yet functional solution for the design sensitive dog owner who wants to go the extra step for his pooch's ergonomic well being. Otis and Logan are stumpy little guys, but for the longer legged dog, it's important to place her food and water dish at a height that doesn't strain her neck. The stainless steel frame is wall mounted so the height can be optimized perfectly for your pet.

RTV China is launching a big cross-media campaign all over China, reaching 30 million contacts per week via radio, audio/video, MMS, iTV, SMS and print. The new campaign called Cool English is special in the sense that it is not to teach boring school English but cool slang and trend talk about topics ranging from dating to sports and travel. The campaign includes the "Slang of the Day" via SMS, a radio program called "Talk da Talk", as well as video and audio MMS. It is further enhanced by cooperation between radio stations, magazines, book publishers and SMS providers of China telecom all over China.

Sometimes, it's better to speak to your target audience in their own language. If they prefer a fun approach, then give them that. If they prefer to receive content through SMS, give them that too! RTV China’s CEO, Axel Klopprogge points out: "It is ideal that we can support the weekly one-hour radio show and daily new phrases with SMS service to enhance the learning factor. This combination of radio and telephone is a perfect new approach which is tailored to our young target group – and much more fun than a dull textbook."

Read: RTV China press release

There's a new low-calorie, low-carbohydrate way for adults to consume alcohol in The United States, and you don't even need a glass. It's AWOL, Alcohol With Out Liquid, and for the first time, it is available in The United States after successful debuts in Europe and Asia.

AWOL consists of two components: an oxygen generator and a hand-held vaporizer. Tubes from the generator attach to the vaporizer. The user chooses an 80-proof spirit, which is poured into the vaporizer. Oxygen mixes with the alcohol producing a mist which is inhaled through the mouth. When used responsibly, there is no evidence to indicate greater risks from using AWOL than consuming alcohol in the traditional way, according to the AWOL press release.

Because this method of consuming alcohol reduces the effects of a hangover and is low-calorie, it has proven to be a hit with drinkers. But it has sparked debate in public health and law enforcement circles due to the possibilities for abuse.

Still, it would be wise to use the same concept of bringing greater convenience to consumers in your F&B business, if you have one.

Read:
Vaporize Me - Is inhalable alcohol a good idea? [Slate]
Spirit Partners, Inc. Announces United States License to Market AWOL - Alcohol With Out Liquid

Travellers love to take a guided tour of the place they have come to see. Although there are companies that provide walking tours, often the price is quite high. If you're unwilling to spend the extra bucks, you would probably end up planning a self-guided tour. There are some books and websites that provide information on the must-see sights and sounds of the tourist sites, but nothing sure beats hooking up to a digital audio player and listening to your virtual host point out the experiences you would not want to miss in that particular holiday spot!

The New York Times reports:

Outside the Internet, self-guided strolls are increasingly going high tech, with audio CD guides available at a growing number of hotels, museums and tourist offices. Perhaps the next breed of such guides is in digital audio devices that have been primarily music repositories. Discovery Walks (www.Discovery-Walk.com) provides a glimpse of this trend. The company rents light, compact MP3 players that include 10 individual walks for $31.25 a day, including tax, at $1.25 to the euro. Only Paris walks are offered so far, but the company is planning a significant expansion. In March, Discovery Walks will allow users to download tours directly to their MP3 players, and the roster of cities will include New York, London and Rome, as well as many Mediterranean cruise ports. Prices have yet to be determined, but the port cities will include Venice, Monte Carlo, Cannes and Barcelona.

Read: Tours on Foot Planned Online [New York Times]

In recent days, news headlines are dominated by how the rapid growth of Asian countries like China and India is providing lots of opportunities to strike it rich. With the Iraq war and terrorism in the Middle East, one could be forgiven for overlooking the region as a potential growth market. Despite its many problems, the Middle East continues to hold a lot of promise for the world's capitalists. The region won't be spared from the culture of consumerism, as highlighted in an article by an Egyptian newspaper.

If we try to imagine what the cities of the Middle East will look like in 20 or 50 years time, we might predict that the majority will consist of creeping slums and rampant poverty, coexisting cheek by jowl with international hotels and large spaces dedicated to consumption and leisure time for those who can afford it. Disneyfied satellite cities in the desert will provide suburban annexes for the well-to-do. Modern communication systems and technologies, at least in the formal sector of the economy, will be as efficient as those of any Western country.

Read: Brave New Mall [Al-Ahram Weekly]

The mobile phone is becoming more and more useful. It has even become a tool for you to check whether you've bad breath! From Reuters:

A German telecommunications company said on Tuesday it is developing the first mobile phone that will alert users when their breath is bad or if they are giving off offensive smells. The phone will use a tiny chip measuring less than one millimeter to detect unpleasant odors, a spokeswoman for Siemens Mobile said. A research team in the southern city of Munich is developing the device using new sensor technology.

Read: New German Mobile Phone to Detect Bad Breath [Reuters via Yahoo! News]

Sick of blatant plagiarism of your content on the Internet? Fear not. Thanks to a new free service called Copyscape, you may be able to stop people from lifting content from your site and using it at their site.

How do you use the Copyscape service? Simply go to the Copyscape homepage, type in the address of your webpage that you want to check for possible copyright infringements, and Copyscape will throw up a list of webpages that seem to have content very similar to yours. Should you find out that plagiarism has indeed been committed, you can then act to have your content removed from the offender's webpage. Some useful tips on seeking legal assistance is also offered on the Copyscape website.

Copyscape is powered by Google Alert technology and uses the Google Web APIs. In the future, Copyscape may release a commercial version which allows you to set up automatic daily searches and have email reports delivered to you.

Read:
Tracking the culprits in Web plagiarism [Philly.com]
Who's profiting from your intellectual property? [PublishingCentral]

In a real jewelry shop, you can just walk in and the salesperson will attend to you personally, with recommendations on which pieces suit you best and what the latest fashion trends are. But what happens if you're trying to buy from an online jewelry e-tailer? Will there be anybody to serve you personally? Well, the answer is yes, at least at TokenStyle. DailyCandy reports:

Put an end to such mishaps with TokenStyle jewelry, a site featuring earrings and necklaces constructed of drop-dead-gorgeous stones like garnet, topaz, and cherry quartz, strung along dangling chains and wires. Some of the pieces have an exotic flair and are named after far-off lands, like Kyoto or Sydney. Best of all, you get suggestions for clothing to match specific styles. Can't decide whether you'd actually wear the daring Goa earrings? Problem solved: Token tells you they pair perfectly with fall's '50s-inspired skirts. It's just one way of ensuring that you make good choices.

Read: Token Gesture [DailyCandy]

...just use your mobile phone and you'll be able to find your way home!

That is, if your mobile phone is fitted with a route finder. This navigational feature is available from Netherlands-based Route 66 which has set its sight on offering such navigational software for mobile phones simply because it's the only device that everyone carries around all the time. Although rivals of Route 66 were quite successful in introducing route finders to handheld computers, the mobile phone market is relatively untapped yet. Herein lies the great opportunity.

How does the whole thing works? We quote from Wired News:

To address the mass market, navigation software companies have tried to make route finding as easy as placing a call. Just slip in a memory card loaded with the necessary software, and it will automatically load the road maps of an entire country and hook up to the wirelessly connected GPS module that pinpoints the location to a few yards.

Already, T-Mobile Germany has begun offering subscribers a free Nokia 6600 phone loaded with Route 66 navigation software. But if you want to buy the components separately, the software and GPS module will cost you 399 euros (USD 493.60) and a smartphone will set you back by 400-500 euros.

Read:
Phone Home and Find the Way [Wired News]
Route 66 Press Release

All sorts of innovative (you might say weird) advertising methods are popping up. We have in the United States liquid crystal display screens that show Internet-based Flash animations to people seeking to relieve themselves in public restrooms. Although marketers have thought of placing indoor advertising in restrooms before, it is the first time that people are seeing Flash advertisements at eye level. Looks like most patrons of the restrooms in which the advertising screens are placed do not mind having this form of commercialism intruding on their space, according to an article by the Arizona Republic.

Read: Public restrooms are latest advertising battleground [The Arizona Republic]

This is interesting:

At least one Chinese restaurant in Manhattan is sending out delivery orders in cartons adorned not with the traditional "Thank You, Enjoy," but with something a bit more jarring: an advertisement for Cingular Wireless, a purveyor of cellular phone service. From a distance, the boxes are indistinguishable from millions of similar Chinese food containers, but closer inspection reveals that one side reads "I H New York." Another bears the message "Cingular Wireless: Swing by one of our retail locations below."

Read: With Egg Roll, You Might Get Advertisement [New York Times via Alt Terrain]

You probably would have came across taxis with eye-catching colours and logos on their exteriors driving along on the highway already. Now, this form of car advertising is being extended to private cars - with great results. In fact, private car advertising is now being taken seriously by companies seeking a cost-effective medium of reaching their target audience.

Already, new companies are being formed to facilitate this form of car sponsorship. Agencies like AdsOnCars or Ads2Go have built up a database of potential car-owners who are willing to display the ads on their cars. In return, these drivers are paid with cash. Most come to know of this simply money-making opportunity through word of mouth or from having seen similar sponsored cars elsewhere. The agencies then collect relevant demographics information so that advertisers can target their ads according to the type of audience which is likely to be exposed to the sponsored cars. They can actually choose drivers who match their target audience and who fit in with their brand. This is razor-sharp advertising at its best!

This innovative form of advertising is superior to traditional advertising media because it allows the advertiser's brand to be brought physically to places where it is not normally seen, such as like the supermarket or the gym. Brand awareness is indeed strengthened!

Plenty of opportunities here: for marketers, this is a cost-effective form of advertising your goods, while for advertising agencies, car advertising is a new area for you to make your niche in!

Read: Auto Ads Drive Brand Awareness [BrandChannel.com]

CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter Issue 6 - September 9, 2004

New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:

• Wear Your Mobile Phones
Mobiles are set to become wearable products which express the owner's personality. You're going to see watches, bracelets, and necklaces that are actually mobile phones!

• A Vineyard... in the Concrete Jungle
Calling all passionate wine connoisseurs and aficionados! Crushpad Inc. has great news for you! City dwellers (and practically anyone) will now have a place to select, sniff and crush your own grapes.

• Tiny Dots That Protect Your Car
You have paid thousands of hard-earned dollars for your dream car. If some evil car thieves stole it, it would be a surprise if you don't blow up like a volcano. Thanks to DataDots, if this ever happened in real life, you would be able to recover your precious car in a matter of time.

• God and Mobile Phones
If you are in need of faith and religious inspiration, your mobile phone may be able to help you out. For Christians, The Pope's Thought of the Day will be especially useful!

• Solving The Working Parent's Dilemma
Are you a working parent who is too tired to cook after reaching home in the late evening, but who still wants to let your family taste home-cooked food rather than takeout food? ConAgra Foods has the solution for you!

• The Music Jukebox In Your Phone
Imagine... you could actually have a mini-jukebox in your mobile phone! T-Mobile has recently launched Ear Phones, introducing a totally new category in music.

• Talking To Your Car
Come October, Honda will be the first carmaker to include in some of their models, technology that enables drivers to converse with their cars about where to go and how to get there. It uses a voice-recognition and text-to-speech technology from IBM.

• Whimsical but Practical
Have you ever wanted furniture that are practical but yet have a whimsical element for your precious child? Well, you can find all those qualities in Italian firm MAGIS's furniture designs that include Upside-Down Chairs, Puzzle Carpets, Football Tapes and so on!

Have you ever wanted furniture that are practical but yet have a whimsical element for your precious child? Besides wanting the furniture to be well made, you probably would also want something that is modern, edgy and has an emphasis on fun for your child. Well, you can find all those qualities in Italian firm MAGIS's furniture designs that include Upside-Down Chairs, Puzzle Carpets, Football Tapes and so on!

MAGIS takes furniture designing with an explosive, transgression-driven force to a whole new level that has never been risked before by furniture manufacturers. Useful, functional and tasteful is what creates joy for the consumers' eyes and hearts. That's why MAGIS products are selling well - they are functional and sleekly designed.

Besides, furniture bought from MAGIS are quality-driven and accessibly priced. As a result, MAGIS is able to produce furniture that are perceived as technologically advanced and aesthetically innovative products for kids. This is seen in the 'Me Too' collection line as well as the countless designs MAGIS boasts. At the risk of being accused of trying to sell their furniture to you, we recommend that you try out one of the delightful furniture pieces that MAGIS have got to offer to your kids today!

Let's Get Down To Business...
The designers at MAGIS and other furnishing companies have increasingly realized that people now want modern and fanciful quality furniture for their kids; hence, a contemporary design with that whimsical kid-appeal is particularly important nowadays if you're targeting families that treat their children like royalty. Besides that, we can see that MAGIS's uniquely designed furniture are of good quality and emphasize practicality (for example, the products are stain-resistant). Lesson: by incorporating appeal (to amuse the kids) and quality (to please the parents) in your product, it will definitely sell well!

Related Ideas & Trends
Making Magis [Metropolis Magazine]
Design-Conscious.co.uk Description
Questodesign.com Description

Are you lost or not sure if you have taken a wrong turn? Or have you found yourself in unfamiliar territories? Too embarrassed to frequently stop at the gas station to ask for directions? Well, fear not! Come October, Honda will be the first carmaker to include in some of their models, technology that enables drivers to converse with their cars about where to go and how to get there. It uses a voice-recognition and text-to-speech technology from IBM.

This technology can produce maps and "speak" turn-by-turn directions. In addition, drivers can make phone calls or adjust the air conditioning, all while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. What more can a driver ask for in a car, given this safe and elegant solution to giving your full attention to driving without having to worry about getting lost anymore?

Let's Get Down To Business...
The success of Honda lies in the fact that they are able to empathise and place themselves in the shoes of their clients - drivers. The Honda vehicles are the first to integrate text-to-speech into a navigation system, according to analyst firm ABI Research. By eliminating the need for accessing a touch screen or keypad to look for a destination, Honda is allowing people to focus on driving. Honda recognises the fact that their clients, the drivers, need to concentrate on driving and that they do need help at times, perhaps in checking for directions or simply, opening a car window. They have thus cooperated with IBM with the latest technology and produced a very user-friendly car that will definitely attract customers as it makes driving a whole lot easier!

Thus, we do encourage entrepreneurs wannabes to put yourselves into the shoes of your clients and identify what they truly need and want, and produce your good(s) accordingly, while making it user-friendly of course. And if ever needed, you can cooperate with another company of a different sector to help in product development, just like what Honda and IBM did.

Related Ideas & Trends
Finally, a Car That Talks Back [Wired News]
You Too Can Talk to Your Car [InternetNews.com]
IBM Case Study [IBM]

Mark Pelletier, a master electrician working for a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Minnesota, has invented a car alarm that may be able to save the lives of the dozens of children who die due to hyperthermia each year in the United States.

It's really sad to hear of accounts of children dying of hyperthermia after being shut up in a car on a warm day. Small children heat up very quickly because of their size, making them especially vulnerable to dehydration and heat stroke. On a hot day, the temperature in a closed car rises rapidly. If the car is unfortunately unventilated, the child is at danger of getting dehydrated in a very short time.

Thanks to Mr. Pelletier's patent-pending invention, such cases may be reduced or even completely eliminated. New York Times describes the invention:

One of those is Mr. Pelletier, who after watching a television news report of a child's death several years ago, decided to focus on the problem, approaching the automobile as he would a piece of industrial machinery. He came up with a programmable circuit board that turns on motion-detecting sensors when a closed-up car reaches a certain temperature (say, 88 degrees). If motion is detected, an alarm goes off.

We do hope that this invention would help to save lives (and of course, make a tidy profit as well ;-)

Read: Crying Out When a Child Cannot [NYTimes.com]

Imagine… you could actually have a mini-jukebox in your mobile phone! T-Mobile has recently launched Ear Phones, introducing a totally new category in music. Ear Phones enables customers to browse, download, store and play CD quality, digital music for the first time ever in their T-Mobile phones.

Music is already mobile. Just look at the phenomenal success of the iPod, Apple's best-selling digital music player. But now, Ear Phones go a lot further: it lets T-Mobile customers browse, download, store and listen to music in their mobile phones - wherever they are, whenever they want. There is no need for a separate digital music player; no need for downloads to your PC too. In addition, Ear Phones is simple and rapid. With just 3 clicks, you can browse and download the songs of your choice! Uniquely, Ear Phones also enables customers to download music before it is available in the shops. And not to worry, all major handset manufacturers and giants of the music industry - Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, and so on - back the Ear Phones. This gives subscribers a whole range of choices from the different record companies.

Let's Get Down To Business...
The folks at T-Mobile have recognized one important demand of today's consumers: instant gratification. In a fast-paced society like ours', consumers demand convenience and speed. With the rapid download of songs anytime, anywhere into your mobile phones, this is sure to please many consumers, especially youngsters and executives who are always on the go. People everywhere are passionate about music, and they have an increasingly personal relationship with their mobile phones. Surely, Ear Phones is a perfect marriage of both trends. CoolBusinessIdeas.com thinks that incorporating such concepts, where new innovations or ideas can satisfy more than one need of the modern consumer, is likely to make your product a success. Try to think out of the box, making the impossible become possible. Who knew, 50 years ago, that music could have gone mobile (or that mobile phones would have been such a phenomenon today)?

Related Ideas & Trends
T-Mobile Press Release
T-Mobile Turns Handsets Into Mini Digital Music Players [Silicon.com]

Are you a working parent who is too tired to cook after reaching home in the late evening, but who still wants to let your family taste home-cooked food rather than takeout food? ConAgra Foods, seizing on the opportunities presented by the typical working parent who reaches home so late that eating takeout food from restaurants has became the norm for the family, has launched Banquet Crock-Pot Classics, the first complete meal designed and created for Crock-Pot slow-cooking.

Banquet Crock-Pot Classics contain all of the high-quality ingredients needed for a slow-cooked meal, such as tender meats, fresh vegetables, hearty potatoes and perfectly seasoned sauces. If you were indeed a super-busy working parent, you would appreciate the short time needed to prepare the ingredients for slow-cooking. Because the chopping and cutting of meats and vegetables are eliminated, it takes less then five minutes before you can chuck the ingredients into your Crock-Pot (a brand of slow-cookers) and rush off to work. Six meals ranging from Beef Stew to Creamy Chicken Pasta perfected for the slow cooker are available in the Banquet Crock-Pot Classics line; no more time-consuming searches for special recipes are required on your part. At the end of the day, Banquet Crock-Pot Classics welcome home families with the inviting aromas of a slow-cooked meal.

Let's Get Down To Business...
Consumers already recognize the great taste and flexibility of slow-cooking; 80% of American households own a slow cooker (Source: NFO World Group). Banquet Crock-Pot Classics are designed to make slow-cooking even simpler and more satisfying. It would do your business good to improve on and make more convenient an experience which consumers are already familiar with.

Today's families are increasingly leading busy lives and are almost always on-the-go. Some may have been compelled to sacrifice the time they spend with their family. CoolBusinessIdeas.com feels that the products you sell should help to reduce the stress felt by key members of the family by accommodating their different schedules. A product that makes time spent with the family more relaxing and rewarding will certainly attract busy consumers!

Related Ideas & Trends
Frozen Stroganoff in Just 10 Hours [New York Times]
ConAgra Foods, Inc Press Release

If you are in need of faith and religious inspiration, your mobile phone may be able to help you out. For Christians, The Pope's Thought of the Day will be especially useful!

A mobile service by Acotel Group, The Pope's Thought of the Day is a daily premium SMS, or text message, containing thoughts, prayers and guidance taken directly from the Pontiff's teachings and delivered to you on your mobile phone. US consumers of AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless and Cingular can subscribe by sending a SMS containing the words 'POPE ON' to the number 24444. Beginning the following day, the Pope's Thought of the Day will be delivered as a premium SMS to the subscriber's mobile phone at 12:00pm Eastern Time (ET) each day, seven days a week. Each message costs $0.30.

Let's Get Down To Business...
The mobile phone, it seems, is increasingly adding spiritual enlightenment to its whole host of other features. Apart from the Pope's Thought of the Day, there are certainly many other similar services in the market today (there is a mobile phone that indicates the direction of Mecca to help Muslims in their daily prayers), all vying to attract the rising numbers of spiritually oriented phone users worldwide. With the ease of collecting micro-payments with the mobile phone, this trend represents a new opportunity for the mobile market. Precisely because of the mobility of the mobile phone, anyone can receive anything, anywhere! Have you thought of how you could jump on the bandwagon too? ;-)

Related Ideas & Trends
Cell Phone Users Are Finding God [Wired News]
Sermon on the Mobile [Wired News]
Qiblah Indicator [Springwise.com]

You have paid thousands of hard-earned dollars for your dream car. If some evil car thieves stole it, it would be a surprise if you don't blow up like a volcano. Thanks to DataDots, if this ever happened in real life, you would be able to recover your precious car in a matter of time. In fact, DataDots would be able to prevent your car from being stolen in the first place!

What are DataDots? Invented by DataDot Technology Ltd, the DataDots system is a state-of-the-art identification technology. Each DataDot is about the size of a grain of sand and is laser-etched with unique information directly associating the car with its owner. Up to 10,000 DataDots can be spray-glued on the engine and most other parts. This makes it very difficult to car-thieves to refurbish the stolen car and pass it off as a new one or sell the car parts because the dots can be easily spotted with a high-power magnifying glass. Also, they shine under ultra-violet light and are almost impossible for thieves to find and remove (Source: DataDot Technology website). The DataDot system ensures that stolen cars can be easily identified and traced back to their rightful owner.

You can count on these tiny DataDots to deter potential car thieves. Cars protected with this technology have cheeky "Protected by DataDot Technology" warning labels that send a clear message to thieves, as the cars will be "Too Hot To Handle!" Recovered cars can also be easily identified by the police when they're reported stolen.

Let's Get Down To Business...
Obviously, cars that are protected with the DataDots system will be able to command a premium. In today's society, security-obsessed consumers are willing to pay more to ensure that their assets can be kept safe and secure from thieves. We recommend that you invest in the research and development of technologies that can protect consumers' assets or incorporate some form of a security feature into your products, especially if they are very precious to your customers!

Related Ideas & Trends
Spot-On Solution for Car Thefts [Wired News]
DataDots Document
Cars For The Playstation Generation

Calling all passionate wine connoisseurs and aficionados. Crushpad Inc. has great news for you! City dwellers (and practically anyone) will now have a place to select, sniff and crush your own grapes. Wine enthusiasts can now be actively involved in sorting and crushing of grapes, or you can place requests for made-to-order wine that Crushpad will produce specially. Isn't it great that you can express yourself through your very own custom-made wine?

Crushpad is a community winery located in the heart of San Francisco. At Crushpad you can create your own ultra premium wines without moving to wine country and building a winery. Whether you are a professional winemaker looking for custom crush or a wine enthusiast that wants to make your own wine for the first time, Crushpad is for you.

For home winemaker and seasoned entrepreneur Michael Brill, the idea of turning a hobby into a business was a no-brainer. Brill first came up with the idea for an urban winery 10 months ago. Brill then started looking for a space to accommodate the massive fruit presses and barrels that will produce and house wine for customers of differing skill and interest levels.

From his home in Missouri, amateur winemaker David Dain Smith said he is thrilled to be making his own pinot noir and syrah. "Not all of us are blessed with the opportunity to live in California," Smith said. "It is great to have access to the knowledge base they bring to the process." (Source: The Examiner)

Let's Get Down To Business...
At Crushpad Inc., they emphasize community, sharing and learning from others, from beginners to professionals. This will appeal to all their consumers as many would be keen to learn and make use of this service that Crushpad Inc. provides, where other wine-makers do not. Also, the novel service of allowing consumers to custom-make their wine is certainly attractive to wine-enthusiasts. It gives people the freedom to express themselves or create their own unique taste. What better way to attract and to exploit the different tastes of your customers than to provide them with the opportunity to custom-make their own products, with ingredients provided by your company (like in the case of Crushpad Inc.)? Try this concept out, and you need not try to please the different tastes of consumers with your ready-made products again!

Related Ideas & Trends
San Francisco's New Custom-Crush Service Makes It Easy to Be a Vintner [Wine Spectator]
Crushing Fun [The Examiner]

When the mobile phone was first introduced, it was as big as a lunch box. Since then, the mobile phone has undergone countless transformations. It became smaller, more colourful, sleekly designed, and featured newer technologies. Now, mobiles are set to become wearable products which express the owner's personality. You're going to see watches, bracelets, and necklaces that are actually mobile phones!

These fashionable and wearable mobile phones will make their way into your life very soon. In the US, 20% of mobile phone users will likely be donning these wearable phones by 2007 (Source: BusinessWeek). Already, Nokia has introduced a new product group, Nokia Imagewear. The first products in the series are the Nokia Medallion I & Medallion II and the Nokia Kaleidoscope I. They provide unique and new ways for users to express themselves.

The Nokia Medallions are designed for carrying, wearing and displaying images reflecting the owner's personal style or emotion. To express your personality: 1) take a photo with your camera phone, 2) upload it via infrared to the Medallion, and 3) wear it either around your neck or as a bracelet using a wrist strap. Cool, eh?

With the small Nokia Kaleidoscope I, you can upload digital images and easily store and carry them with you. A full color virtual display, together with infrared transmission and discrete good looks, makes the Nokia Kaleidoscope I an ideal pocketable "viewer" for sharing selected digital images with friends and family (Source: Nokia press release).

Let's Get Down To Business...

Consumer gadgets should be designed for people who want to stand out from the crowd. There are many who want to be different and able to express their own personalities. Cater to this desire by allowing the user to enhance his/her image in a very personal way. Also, 'thinking out of the box' is a most important value in business. It differentiates your products from your competitors'. Nobody told us that one day, you could be wearing your mobile phones!

Related Ideas & Trends
Nokia Imagewear Product Page
Your Lapel Is Ringing [BusinessWeek]
The Future of Mobile Phones [Trendcentral.com]

It's not uncommon for would-be customers to take a car for a test-drive or try out a new TV set before buying. So Maytag decided to extend that test-drive concept to the electrical appliances it sells, such as dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators and cooktops. In Maytag's try-before-you-buy stores, consumers looking for a clothes washer can be seen doing a load of laundry to see if an appliance lives up to its advertising claims. Similar, you might see a shopper considering a new oven tries one out by baking a batch of cookies right in the store. And, shoppers are pleasantly surprised by this try-before-you-buy idea!

Influx Insights reports:

The atmosphere is welcoming and home-like, even down to the playroom where you can drop off the kids while you shop. The success of these test stores is measurable in the almost 70% close rate, meaning 70% of customers that walk in the door actually purchase. But the concept store also creates rich experiences of the maytag brands, helping facilitate a worthwhile, tellable story for customers to bring back to their circles of friends in a category where word of mouth and friends' advice is the consumer's primary method of research.

Read:
Try it before you buy it [HeraldNet]
Sony's answer to the Apple Store [PaloAltoOnline.com]
Not Satisfied? Full Refund Available

3 college buddies in Cleveland, USA has invented a portable cooling wrap called the Keg Wrap that keeps beer kegs cold on the beach, backyard or pickup truck. To a party host who often ends up with warm, leftover beer due to a lack of ice that has long melted, the Keg Wrap would be something indispensable.

The Keg Wrap (currently still under development) is something like a heating blanket, but one which chills instead of warms its contents. The great ‘pull’ factor of the Keg Wrap: it is portable and can be brought to any party, anywhere. It has a plug that can be used with an electric socket or a car battery power source. Yeah, you could keep a beer keg cold by packing it in ice in a closed container, but you’re going to require lots of ice for the whole night. A small refrigerator will also do, but you’ll need a continuing source of electricity. So, the Keg Wrap is the perfect solution for party-goers!

Sometimes, you can come up with new innovations by simply finding a solution to everyday problems, much like what the 3 buddies did with the Keg Wrap. Look around you more; who knows, you might just come up with a money-spinning solution to a problem that has bugged you and many others for long?

Read:
Trio of Fraternity Brothers Dreams Up Cold Keg Idea [USA Today]
Case student to brew up solution to keep beer kegs cool [Case Western Reserve University]

eCommerce-Guide.com has an article about CyberSource’s "Bill Me Later" alternative payment service. As described in the article, alternative forms of online payment to credit cards are part of a growing trend in the e-commerce domain.

Alternative payments are also being pushed as a way to boost sales. New research suggests that accepting multiple payment types can help in converting visitors to buyers. And financing available through non-credit card methods provides similar pay-as-you-go features without comparable interest rates.

Read:
Merchants Gain "Bill Me Later" [eCommerce-Guide.com]
Web shoppers' new option: Bill me later [CNet News]

160Characters Association has an article about a SMS service that delivers traffic and train reservation information to subscribers with SNCF French railways.

The SMS+ service enables travellers to find out whether the train is on time, delayed or cancelled. If the reservation has been made through the web site Voyages-sncf.com, bookings can be cancelled. Regular travellers can also make bookings. Sending the message INFO 8991 that will respond with a message confirming the status of the train. The service costs 0,35 Euros for each enquiry.

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