BusinessWeek: Anyone who wants to join Xianz, a Christian social network, needs to abide by a set of rules that read more Ten Commandments than terms of use. Rule No. 2, for instance, bars cursing and "derogatory words." The next one bans name-calling: "You may express your disagreement with someone's point-of-view, but personal attacks…are prohibited."
Compared with the relatively permissive atmosphere of such leading social networks as News Corp.'s MySpace, the ground rules make Xianz sound downright restrictive, liable to drive away many of the teenage and twentysomething audiences flocking to social networks these days.
On the contrary. Xianz is among a bevy of new religion-affiliated sites that are drawing the faithful from across the Web in growing numbers. Year-old Xianz, which bills itself as the faith-based MySpace, has grown to 500,000 unique visitors and has 35,000 registered members, says co-founder Bob Hutchins.
Social Networking for the Faithful [BusinessWeek]
USATODAY: In the race for ever-thinner displays for TVs, cellphones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all — a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video.
Sony released video of the new 2.5-inch display Friday. In it, a hand squeezes a display that is 0.3 millimeters, or 0.01 inch, thick. The display shows color images of a bicyclist stuntman and a picturesque lake. Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough.
Sony develops paper-thin video display [USATODAY]
BusinessWeek: For years, airlines have sought to emulate the low-fare, low-cost business model of Southwest Airlines, the much-studied pioneer in the cutthroat aviation game. Terror attacks? Exorbitant jet fuel costs? Little matter, the profits still flowed at Southwest, as its ultrafrugal ways kept pace with expenses.
Now a new generation of discount carriers is set to make Southwest look downright generous. The latest breed is borrowing a page from Ryanair, the Irish carrier that roiled airlines across the continent with near-zero fares and scant amenities—and became the biggest European airline in the process. They're charging for seat assignments, checked bags, early boarding, and more. Want some water? Get your wallet.
The latest entrant in this niche of extreme budget travel, Skybus Airlines, takes to the air on May 22. The Columbus (Ohio) company is led by a small band of commercial airline veterans, including several from Southwest. Its pitch is based on using second-tier airports, lean staffing, Internet-based ticketing, revenue from beer and snack sales—and super-cheap fares starting at $10.
Get Ready to Pay for Peanuts [BusinessWeek]
Wired: Imagine being in a dragster, peeling out from zero to 100 in three seconds, then keeping your foot to the floor for a full six minutes until you reach 17,500 mph.
On Friday, the Kennedy Space Center will open the Shuttle Launch Experience, an amusement-ride-cum-astronaut-flight-simulator designed to mimic the 17,500-mph liftoff of a NASA shuttle orbiter. The 44,000-square-foot attraction isn't just a ride; it's a flight simulator on par with what astronauts in training experience, says Bob Rogers, CEO of BRC Imagination Arts, which built it.
"This isn't an imaginary flight," says Rogers. "This is real."
The $60 million project employs seat rumblers and shakers that rattle riders through the turbulent main engine start, the firing of the solid rocket boosters and then their separation. Air bags in each seat sink and rise to capture the sensation of extreme acceleration. The shuttle's windshield, an 84-inch high-def screen, is enveloped in fire when the external tanks separate. Inside the capsule, riders are subject to an onslaught of 13-channel sound, from the roar of the engines to the commander barking instructions. Low-frequency sound vibrates the riders' chests, evoking the feeling of being unable to breathe.
New Attraction Simulates Shuttle Launch at 17,500 MPH [Wired]
New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:
CULTURE & MUSIC
Free Music by We7
A new platform called We7 has developed a system that does just that. Currently in beta, We7 gives brands the chance to communicate with users by "grafting” a short (around 10 seconds) audio or video ad to the front end of the file.
Hail The iRosary
The iRosary converts the iPod’s white headphones into a hybrid prayer bead that can be shifted and then heard as an “audio bead” during prayers, which are themselves monitored via the iPod’s integrated calendar. As an added bonus, the iRosary accommodates for various degrees of piousness by allowing users to choose between three settings.
Bassline Needed
A social networking site with a musical slant, Indaba Music gives users a place to not only share their own music, but also facilitates public and private sessions through which multiple artists can collaborate on recording projects.
SERVICES
Providing a Thriving Office
Thriving Office is a CD, filled with office sounds, that home businesses play it in the background while they’re on the phone to sound more established.
Timeshare Canine
Leased cars. Vacation condos. And now, timeshare dogs. FLEXPETZ lets dog lovers who don't have the time or space to be full-time pet owners make playdates with dogs from breed-rescue shelters.
TECHNOLOGY
Secure ATM
Magtek, a company that has developed a product, MagnePrint, for recording the unique magnetic media signature for all credit and debit cards scanned through its readers. The first scan by a MagnePrint reader creates a template against which all subsequent scans are compared.
Yoyo Phone
ModeLabs has created a series of concept phones that run off sustainable energy sources. One concept phone looks like a yo-yo that hangs around the user's neck and continuously harnesses both solar and kinetic energy using a pendulum and voltaic cells.
CONSUMER GOODS
No Poison Spray
Most pesticides I've used are full of toxic chemicals, but this spray doesn't have anything like that. The active ingredient is natural mint extract, which is a neuro-toxin. It works just as well or better than any spray I've tried, and smells very minty.
AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL
A New Way of Farming
Julian Cunningham started Swallow Crest Farm in 1999, a few years after moving his family to this scenic area on LaBrant Road. He taught a preschool for three years before deciding his heart was in farming -- and he wanted to grow the healthiest food possible.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Instant Rice
Instant noodles have been around long enough that we take their 2-minute preparation time for granted. Now Japan brings us Hotto! Raisu - specially packed rice that can be served up as a piping hot meal, just by pouring water over the packaging. No cooking required!
RETAIL
Grand Opening
It is precisely this commercial whimsy that inspired Canadian brothers Ben and Hall Smyth to create GrandOpening, a space that will constantly reopen every three months. GrandOpening is currently a ping-pong parlor equipped with full-sized table and recording facilities so you can watch your performances on YouTube.
ADVERTISING
Toilet Advertising
Call it ingenious marketing or just plain bad taste, but a company promoting its laxatives on a bus stop billboard on busy Avenida Faria Lima in São Paulo has incorporated toilet lids attached to the seats where bus passengers sit and wait to further drive home its message.
GADGETS
Solar Lighter
If you are an adventurous animal then lemme give you some dope on the solar powered lighter. This solar-powered lighter doesn't actually create an open flame, but it does create a series of sparks that should be capable of lighting a BBQ grill.
View this issue of the CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter by clicking here. Subscribe for free by clicking here
Iconoculture: Leased cars. Vacation condos. And now, timeshare dogs. FLEXPETZ lets dog lovers who don't have the time or space to be full-time pet owners make playdates with dogs from breed-rescue shelters.
FLEXPETZ members pay $40 a month, plus a daily fee, and can reserve their dog of choice online. But before part-time companions start tossing Frisbees to Fido, they must go through mandatory training with a certified FLEXPETZ handler.
Not all dog lovers can care for canine companions 24/7. Renting a favorite breed for a few hours or several days is a great option for consumers who travel a lot or live in buildings that don't allow dogs.
FLEXPETZ fetches dogs for part-time owners [Iconoculture]
Gizmodo.com: If you are an adventurous animal then lemme give you some dope on the solar powered lighter. Now if I have set you to wonderland as to why is this a key object for the adventurous, then the answer is cause it works for the people that go camping and run out of matches or gas on the lighter. At the same time it can be used at home for emergency situations since it can be charged with any kind of light. There is a bonus point which is the base that can be used to open (beer) bottles.
This solar-powered lighter doesn't actually create an open flame, but it does create a series of sparks that should be capable of lighting a BBQ grill. So in all reality, it is the environment-friendly lazy man's flint or sparker. And will cost around $19. I gotta go… can’t wait to get my hands on this ‘hot’ thing!
Solar powered lighter [Gizmodo.com]
TrendCentral: While the terms “free” and “legal” aren’t usually used together to describe the business of music downloading, a new platform called We7 has developed a system that does just that. Currently in beta, We7 gives brands the chance to communicate with users by "grafting” a short (around 10 seconds) audio or video ad to the front end of the file. Custom tailored to each user through demographics and preferences supplied by the user, these ads in turn provide revenue to the artists. And after about four weeks, users are given the option to have the track ad-free. Users can play their DRM-free files on any device, and can share these files via We7 with whomever they’d like.
Ad-supported free music downloads [TrendCentral]
Thriving Office: Want a successful and thriving business environment? Here's the creative and innovative CD to enhance your working environment.
Thriving Office is a CD, filled with office sounds, that home businesses play it in the background while they’re on the phone to sound more established. In addition to eliminating uncomfortable silence, it also masks domestic noises, such as kids and dogs. Many people also play it when they’re off the phone, reporting that it increases their productivity. And big companies have started embracing it, too. One 39-minute track is “Busy” and the other is “Very Busy”. Was recently featured in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
Providing a Thriving Office [Thriving Office]
JoshSpear.com: In today’s fast-paced world, young Catholics are finding it hard to slow down enough to say the rosary. The Catholic staple, wherein “we say fifteen decades or tens of Hail Mary’s with an Our Father between each ten, while at each of these fifteen decades we recall successively in pious meditation one of the mysteries of our Redemption” is apparently thought to be monotonous (no way!) by the young faithful. In order to address this pressing issue, a “critical concept design” has emerged in the shape of the iRosary, which attempts to make the rosary more attractive and flexible for younger believers.
The iRosary converts the iPod’s white headphones into a hybrid prayer bead that can be shifted and then heard as an “audio bead” during prayers, which are themselves monitored via the iPod’s integrated calendar. As an added bonus, the iRosary accommodates for various degrees of piousness by allowing users to choose between three settings: “Infidel,” which recites the entire prayer for the listener to follow along to; “Believer,” which only displays the right prayer in the mode; and “Shepherd,” which allows the user to listen to music and hear the sound of the beads.
Now Praying: The iRosary [JoshSpear.com]
Crave: The way the particles land on a given credit card magnetic stripe are as unique as individual snow flakes or human fingerprints. So says a Magtek, a company that has developed a product, MagnePrint, for recording the unique magnetic media signature for all credit and debit cards scanned through its readers. The first scan by a MagnePrint reader creates a template against which all subsequent scans are compared.
MagnePrint is designed to prevent "skimming." Online carders buy credit card information from a black market database then copy that information onto a blank physical card using a machine that costs around $250. The skimmed card is then used in an ATM or a retail environment as though it were the original card until the credit or debit limits are maxed.
Technology 'fingerprints' valid credit cards, flags bogus ones [Crave]
Cool Tools: Most pesticides I've used are full of toxic chemicals, but this spray doesn't have anything like that. The active ingredient is natural mint extract, which is a neuro-toxin. It works just as well or better than any spray I've tried, and smells very minty. I've been fighting roaches this spring, mainly in the kitchen, and my dog has become pregnant. I have never been a fan of the toxic chemicals in most roach sprays, so when I found this at the hardware store I decided to give it a try (it was also less expensive than the more toxic stuff I'd been using). I sprayed the baseboards and everything in my kitchen, and I found that not only does it kill on contact, the roaches seem to avoid it like the plague for about a month. I have also used it to spray and kill spiders, and it was just as effective.
Victor Poison-Free Ant & Roach Spray [Cool Tools]
Bigfork Eagle News: Julian Cunningham started Swallow Crest Farm in 1999, a few years after moving his family to this scenic area on LaBrant Road. He taught a preschool for three years before deciding his heart was in farming -- and he wanted to grow the healthiest food possible.
Local wildlife helps him control pests, for instance. He’s put up 40 “swallow houses” to attract swallows and bluebirds, which eat almost all the insect pests that might threaten the three gardens full of vegetables and berries. Hundreds of swallows swoop through the air overhead, fearless of the humans in their midst.
“We have no mosquitoes,” Cunningham said as the birds flitted around, catching insect prey.
The fertile Creston soil is “as good as it gets” for raising produce, he said. To lengthen the growing season, he starts his cool-season crops in greenhouses and “hoop houses” that look like mini-greenhouses made of white plastic sheets draped over half-circles of plastic piping anchored in the soil. Hoop houses allow Cunningham to plant directly in the soil while providing the protection of a greenhouse.
Indeed, the hoop houses are full of mature mixed lettuces, arugula and other salad greens by early May. These are the first crops that will be delivered to more than 100 families who subscribe to the bounty of Cunningham’s farm. He and Kip Drobisch of Raven Ridge Farm in Kalispell are partners in a “community-supported agriculture,” or CSA, enterprise.
In a CSA arrangement, families and individuals pay a fee at the beginning of the growing season. Each week they receive a box full of locally grown produce harvested within hours of delivery. Deliveries start in mid-May and continue through October. Cunningham delivers in Bigfork, Lakeside, Polson and Kalispell. Most customers come to a central location to pick up their “shares.”
A 'new' way to farm [Bigfork Eagle]
Popgadget: Instant noodles have been around long enough that we take their 2-minute preparation time for granted. Now Japan brings us Hotto! Raisu - specially packed rice that can be served up as a piping hot meal, just by pouring water over the packaging. No cooking required!
The rice is packed by being subjected to 4,000 times the normal atmospheric pressure and thus retains its moisture. The rice packet contains an exothermic agent which is activated when water is poured over it, taking about 15 minutes to heat the packet's contents to an appetizing temperature.
Hotto! Raisu for dinner - self heating rice [Popgadget]
The Cool Hunter: Call it the relentless march of capitalism, or the material manifestation of our fickle society, but the high street is in a constant state of flux. Shops change hands at the drop of a hat, and most of the time, it’s not for the better.
It is precisely this commercial whimsy that inspired Canadian brothers Ben and Hall Smyth to create GrandOpening, a space that will constantly reopen every three months. Except, rather than hand over the keys to new owners, the Smyth’s will completely overhaul the 400-square foot space into something new.
Image
Based in Norfolk Street, New York, GrandOpening is currently a ping-pong parlor equipped with full-sized table and recording facilities so you can watch your performances on YouTube. For $6 you can get the table for twenty minutes, and for $50 you get the whole room for an hour with access to the projector screen and bleachers.
But it won’t be around for long. Come July, it’ll be gone, replaced by something equally quirky. Perhaps a cinema, driving range or even a dominoes emporium, who knows.
GRAND OPENING - Pong [The Cool Hunter]
TrendCentral: A social networking site with a musical slant, Indaba Music gives users a place to not only share their own music, but also facilitates public and private sessions through which multiple artists can collaborate on recording projects. For example, someone who has a guitar part but needs a bassline may use the service to complete their vision. The objective is to link members with other musicians worldwide who they wouldn’t typically have the capability to work with otherwise, thus allow them to collaborate, mix and create a completely new sound.
New sites allow musicians to collaborate online [TrendCentral]
Cool Hunting: Call it ingenious marketing or just plain bad taste, but a company promoting its laxatives on a bus stop billboard on busy Avenida Faria Lima in São Paulo has incorporated toilet lids attached to the seats where bus passengers sit and wait to further drive home its message. Those innocently taking a rest while waiting for their rides on public transport unwittingly become part of the ad, which gives off the impression they’re sitting on a toilet actually waiting for, well, something other than the No. 2 bus line.
Lax(ative) Advertising [Cool Hunting]
Iconoculture: They're just concept phones for now, but we're guessing the idea could be reused: ModeLabs has created a series of concept phones that run off sustainable energy sources.
One concept phone looks like a yo-yo that hangs around the user's neck and continuously harnesses both solar and kinetic energy using a pendulum and voltaic cells.
Knowledge is nothing; power is power. Consumers have lots of wants when it comes to batteries these days — a long life, a quick charge and, increasingly, a sheen of green.
ModeLabs explores phones that use sustainable energy [Iconoculture]
Mobile Digest: Following on from Orange's new pre-pay tariff yesterday, 3 has announced a new pricing structure for its Pay As You Go customers, with calls now from 5p per minute - the cheapest any network any time call rate available from any UK mobile network, according to the company.
3’s Pay As You Go Top-ups are also now available in a wider range of
denominations - £10, £15, £20, £25, £30,£40 and £50 - and with no expiry dates. And customers can convert Top-ups to an Add-on. Voice Add-ons reduce the cost of calls per minute to any network from 30p to 5p and text Add-ons can reduce the cost of texts from 10p to 5p each. You can also surf the net for £1 per day and access seven TV channels for £2.
Pay As You Go users can convert Top-ups to Add-ons by going to My3 on their handset or dialling 444. John Penberthy-Smith, marketing director at 3, commented: “3’s Pay As You Go tariff demonstrates our ongoing commitment to delivering the cheapest deals on the market for our customers.”
3 offers Pay As You Go from 5p per minute [Mobile Digest]
New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Chilly Billy
Bensons, a small family run business based in the English countryside, has produced an ice-pop that contains nothing but fruit. Chilly Billy consists of no added sugars, waters, preservatives, or artificial colours – just pure English pressed apples and a handful of raspberries.
Food For Health
From digestive health products such as Kashi Vive and Dannon Activia to joint health products such as Minute Maid Active with Glucosamine, we’re beginning to see food and drink emerge as alternatives to taking medicine.
GADGETS
Appetizing USB Ports
The upcoming bread series in Vavolo's Freshy Baked USB Drive lineup is pretty cute. These cross-platform thumb drives are encased in housings made to look like the following baked goods: hot dog, french bread, hamburger, pizza, sandwich, and the oddly specific raisin challah bread
Gourmet Quick Food
Once banished from the gourmet kitchen, they've come back with a Twist of the Wrist in a cookbook by famed chef Nancy Silverton. Quick-and-easy meals that jazz up gateway ingredients like boneless chicken breasts with jarred or canned delicacies like tapenade, capers and white asparagus.
ADVERTISING
Free Letters
Dutch Gratis-Post lets people order envelopes with free postage for mailing within The Netherlands. Ads are printed on the back of the envelope, and in exchange for 5 free ready-to-mail envelopes, users also agree to receive advertising messages by email for a period of four weeks.
HOMES & LIVING
Igglo
Finnish real estate site Igglo lets potential buyers 'pre-order' houses that aren't on the market. Igglo has photographed every building in Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, and combines these photographs with satellite images and maps. Every property is listed, not just those that are currently on the market.
SERVICES
Night Salons
The city that never sleeps has another reason to stay up late: after-hours beauty salons. New Yorkers who want a glass of wine with their color treatment head to meccas like Frédéric Fekkai/Soho and Red Market Salon, which are open for business — and socializing.
ENTERTAINMENT
In The Backseat
In an effort to provide some entertainment for the kids while mom or dad is busy driving, DaimlerChrysler and Sirius teamed up to create TV programming specifically for the backseat.
Barbie Girl Takes Kids Online
On Thursday, Mattel unveiled Barbie Girls, a doll-shaped MP3 player that turns into a live character at BarbieGirls.com, a Web site where girls can interact with each other in a manner reminiscent of Second Life, the virtual world for adults.
FASHION
CoolZips
A quirky gift idea in the form of a wearable zipper pull and charm has just been introduced by CoolZips, a company that has also launched a new fund raising program to benefit non-profits and other charitable organizations.
LIFESTYLE & LUXURY
Lomme Pod Bed
These pod-like luxury beds infuse art and design into an otherwise mundane piece of furniture. Offering the ultimate in relaxed environments, the protective, egg-like design features “state of the art” light and iPod-ready sound therapy system which removes outside noises.
CONSUMER GOODS
Smart Coffee Lid
The multi-award winning color changing coffee lid is set to become a worldwide hit after Australian inventors secured an international license agreement. The innovative lid alerts consumers their coffee/tea may be too hot by changing from a dark coffee bean color to a bright red when the lid is applied.
MOBILE
Cheapest Network
Following on from Orange's new pre-pay tariff yesterday, 3 has announced a new pricing structure for its Pay As You Go customers, with calls now from 5p per minute - the cheapest any network any time call rate available from any UK mobile network, according to the company.
View this issue of the CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter by clicking here. Subscribe for free by clicking here
Popgadget: The upcoming bread series in Vavolo's Freshy Baked USB Drive lineup is pretty cute.
Soon to be available in 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB capacities (prices unknown), these cross-platform thumb drives are encased in housings made to look like the following baked goods: hot dog, french bread, hamburger, pizza, sandwich, and the oddly specific raisin challah bread.
Very cute, actually. I think I'm beginning to see the appeal.
Freshly baked USB drives [Popgadget]
The Cool Hunter: Amidst the chaos of dietary requirements, five-a-day, buying organic, food miles and a new fangled sense of providence, choosing food has never been so wrought with issues. Whatever happened to buying something based upon the principle it tasted good?
Well, thankfully, one company has ticked all the ethical boxes and made sure their new lollies taste of something. Bensons, a small family run business based in the English countryside, has produced an ice-pop that contains nothing but fruit. Chilly Billy consists of no added sugars, waters, preservatives, or artificial colours – just pure English pressed apples and a handful of raspberries. In fact, eating two counts as one of your five portions of fruit and veg a day.
Chilly Billy Ice Pops [The Cool Hunter]
Springwise: Dutch Gratis-Post lets people order envelopes with free postage for mailing within The Netherlands. Like most of the free love concepts we've covered in the past (from free photocopies to free phone calls), the concept is supported by advertising, in two parts. Ads are printed on the back of the envelope, and in exchange for 5 free ready-to-mail envelopes, users also agree to receive advertising messages by email for a period of four weeks.
If you think consumers can't possibly be interested in being ad-bombed for four weeks in exchange for EUR 2.20 (one stamp is EUR 0.44) worth of postage on ad-covered envelopes, you're wrong ;-) Gratis-Post ran out of its first print-run of 52,500 envelopes a few hours after they launched last Monday. Registered users can order a maximum of 5 envelopes per week. To give you a bit of insight into the format's revenue structure: for EUR 12,500, advertisers can have their ads printed on 10,000 envelopes, an email shot sent to registered users and banners placed on gratis-post.nl.
Free snail mail, sponsored by advertisers [Springwise]
Iconoculture: The city that never sleeps has another reason to stay up late: after-hours beauty salons. New Yorkers who want a glass of wine with their color treatment head to meccas like Frédéric Fekkai/Soho and Red Market Salon, which are open for business — and socializing — until at least 11 p.m. Two fleets of ships pass in the night: execs and Wall Streeters winding down from their busy days and trendy 20somethings warming up for club-hopping with a fab new look.
Communal hairstyling stations where clients chat over drinks, along with live DJs and special events like art openings, make after-hours salons a hot player on the night-life scene.
Night owls flying to after-hours beauty salons [Iconoculture]
TrendCentral: In an effort to provide some entertainment for the kids while mom or dad is busy driving, DaimlerChrysler and Sirius teamed up to create TV programming specifically for the backseat. The service will initially be available in two 2008 minivan models, but will expand to other family-friendly autos. In the first year, the programming will exclusively be content from Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. And it won’t just make the kids happy - the TVs will add an additional $425 to the price of the car but is expected to only add $7/month to the monthly cost for Sirius satellite radio (which is already $12.95/month).
Tween Trends [TrendCentral]
Trendwatching.com: Finnish real estate site Igglo lets potential buyers 'pre-order' houses that aren't on the market. Igglo has photographed every building in Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, and combines these photographs with satellite images and maps. Every property is listed, not just those that are currently on the market. (Their tagline is: "Your house is already on Igglo.") Potential buyers can earmark a building, street or neighborhood they're interested in, and post offers online. This lets potential sellers find out how desirable their property is, even if they weren't actively considering selling. Buyers also receive an alert when a property in their earmarked building or area comes up for sale. If demand and supply meet, Igglo handles the transaction for a lower fee than is charged by regular real estate agents (less than 2%). Lower fees are made possible by the fact the Igglo agents don't get involved until buyers and sellers have found each other. Consumers like it: the site attracts more than 50,000 visitors a week, and the company is now working on European expansion.
TRANSPARENCY TYRANNY [Trendwatching.com]
TrendCentral: While organic and all-natural foods and beverages have become popular choices when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, another category of products that boast medicinal or healing properties is also growing. From digestive health products such as Kashi Vive and Dannon Activia to joint health products such as Minute Maid Active with Glucosamine, we’re beginning to see food and drink emerge as alternatives to taking medicine. Expect to see this category rapidly expand in the near future, with new and innovative food options designed to combat other common health issues.
Healing Foods [TrendCentral]
PRWeb: A quirky gift idea in the form of a wearable zipper pull and charm has just been introduced by CoolZips™, a company that has also launched a new fund raising program to benefit non-profits and other charitable organizations.
CoolZips™ are creative zipper pulls that hang from jackets, backpacks, duffle bags, or anywhere one has a zipper or wants a cool charm, say its creators. They can also hook onto many popular toys, including Webkinz pet collars.
“CoolZips are an ideal accessory for backpacks, fleece, jackets, etc. It would certainly be a winning combination for us to pair up with a company looking for a kid friendly item to market with their products. As proven with Jibbitz for Croc Shoes, kids love to creatively express themselves. CoolZips and summer camp and back to school gear are a great combination," says company founder Lauren Rick.
Introducing CoolZips™, A Zipper Pull and Charm to Put Cool In Your Zip, a Cool Gift Idea for Kids and Adults [PRWeb]
Iconoculture: Canned peas. Jarred mayo. Even (gasp!) store-bought pie crusts. Once banished from the gourmet kitchen, they've come back with a Twist of the Wrist in a cookbook by famed chef Nancy Silverton. Her recipe for luring lapsed cooks back to the stove? Quick-and-easy meals that jazz up gateway ingredients like boneless chicken breasts with jarred or canned delicacies like tapenade, capers and white asparagus.
"You talk to a chef who works all day and comes home hungry, these are the things they make," says Silverton, who tapped pals like Gourmet editor Ruth Riechl for recipes. "They don't come home and make a braise".
Canned foods make a gourmet comeback [Iconoculture]
These pod-like luxury beds infuse art and design into an otherwise mundane piece of furniture. Offering the ultimate in relaxed environments, the protective, egg-like design features “state of the art” light and iPod-ready sound therapy system which removes outside noises, in addition to a muscle relaxing system and high end mattress. With quality rest and sleep at such a premium, we could see even more alternatives to the traditional sleep system emerging—although hopefully, with a smaller price tag.
Lomme Bed [TrendCentral]
AMonline.com: Plastic coffee lids for take-out hot drinks, which turn bright red, are now available to all coffee lovers across America after Smart Lid Systems sign international license agreement, following global industry recognition.
The multi-award winning color changing coffee lid is set to become a worldwide hit after Australian inventors secured an international license agreement. Smart Lid Systems, the product development firm behind the lid, has appointed Thermo International as their key global manufacturer.
The innovative lid alerts consumers their coffee/tea may be too hot by changing from a dark coffee bean color to a bright red when the lid is applied. Secondly, the lid visually indicates whether or not it is securely attached to the takeaway cup, placing coffee house owners and consumers at ease regarding the safety concerns of hot coffee spillages.
Localized distribution rights are now being negotiated across USA and Europe with manufacturing underway.
White lids offer no visual aids where the ideal consumption temperature for coffee is 152 degrees F, while liquid burn hazards commence at 140 degrees F. The Aussie lid completes the color change at 115 degrees F, allowing a 'red glow' to warn drinkers of the hot contents.
Ms. Freya King, owner of Sydney based cafe 'The Bean Palace', stated "once the lid is on the cup all staff and customers can see its hot and that the lid is on tight, it should be an industry standard as the extra cost is worth it".
New Coffee Lid Changes Color Based On Temperature [AMonline.com]
PCMag.com: Mattel Inc. is using technology to come up with a new twist on a toy launched in 1959 to appeal to today's Web-savvy, multimedia girl shoppers.
On Thursday, Mattel unveiled Barbie Girls, a doll-shaped MP3 player that turns into a live character at BarbieGirls.com, a Web site where girls can interact with each other in a manner reminiscent of Second Life, the virtual world for adults.
The company hopes the new toy, which brings together Web surfing, shopping and music downloads, will cool demand for rival MGA Entertainment's sassy Bratz dolls—a line of big-headed, skinny dolls with scant, trendy clothing.
The world's largest toy maker is also taking aim at Apple Inc.'s iPod music players and Ganz's Webkinz, furry animal toys that come alive online.
The official launch of BarbieGirls.com came a week after the company gave it a public test run.
Toy analysts say this latest addition to the 48-year-old Barbie line should be a hot seller, helping the brand reverse nearly five years of declining sales.
"If Mattel's online community is successful—with penetration similar to Webkinz—we estimate maximum annual sales potential of about $100 million, or about 3 cents a share," Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Lisa Bolton Weiser wrote in a research note.
Retailers said earlier this month that demand for Webkinz, which are sold at specialty retail shops such as Hallmark and American Greetings Corp., has skyrocketed.
New Barbie Dolls Take Kids Online [PCMag.com]
New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:
CONSUMER GOODS
Solar Bag
Soon to be released in August 2007, the Picard Solar Bag picks up where Eskom left off by charging your gadget essentials like laptops and iPods. The solar panels on the flap are set to give you enough juice to make it through the day.
HEALTH & BEAUTY
VIOlight
VIOlight has already come up with a solution. Their little gizmo is proven to kill 99.9% of germs found on your toothbrush using UV light. With the adaptors that come with, you can even fit your electric toothbrush head in the unit.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Wedding Cake Trend
The first trend on the list is personalized cakes. Edith Meyer said that "Cakes for 2007 seem to be much more personal and less I-saw-this-in-a-magazine." Susan Morgan stated that although she has been doing colored cakes for years, now "everyone wants coordination throughout the wedding."
Strange Eatery
And now - this place, WDuck...where you sit on a toilet during your meal. It's perhaps a little extreme for South African steakhouse tastes, but the point is that the hospitality industry is getting a personality.
MOBILE
SMS Shopping
A company called ShopText has introduced a system that lets people buy products instantly using text messages, a process that eliminates the need to go to a store or even visit a Web site.
Mobio Mobile
Mobio, which we’ve covered previously, is launching the public beta of its mobile application platform today. They’re pitching themselves as a “lifestyle platform” to consumers, where you can access all kinds of data on the go, such as restaurants, weather, and flight schedules.
ONLINE & SOCIAL NETWORKS
Local Cakes
CakeAmerica is a website that is dedicated to help web users find cakes and other baked products in their localities and empower the local cake businesses to promote and advertise their cakes on the web.
SERVICES
SMS Happy Hour
BuyYourFriendADrink.com was launched today and announced on the New York edition of e-mail events service Thrillist. BuyYourFriendADrink, or BYFAD, is a way to purchase libations for your friends online, which they can then redeem at participating establishments with the help of a text message.
LIFESTYLE & LUXURY
Shiny and Sparkling
Philips and Swarovski have teamed-up to bling the tech goodies with their ‘Active Crystals’ collection that features I GB flashy USB memory keys studded with swarovski. The collection includes four different designs: Heart Ware, Heart Beat, Lock In and Lock Out.
Box Wine
There is a growing group of wine drinkers who are turning to the box rather than the bottle. With better wine varieties now available in boxes, wineries are attempting to give the category a new identity far from the rowdy boating trips and drunken fraternity parties that gave box vino its cheap, low-quality image.
MARKETING
Scent Selling
Clear Channel, meanwhile, is experimenting with scented billboards. USA Today and the Wall Street Journal are set to offer "rub and sniff" newspaper ads. And some retailers are also preparing products with added smell.
HOMES & LIVING
Book Lovers’ Chair
For those who love to read, and show off their personal library, Italian company nobody&co has a fabulous looking seat for you. The Bibliochaise makes storage look incredibly cool, and cuts down on space taken up by a typical bookshelf.
TOURISM
Audio Tours“AudioSnack is a place to find, purchase, download, listen to and appreciate audio tours that people just like you have created to share, and a place where you can do the same for others.” Tours are modestly priced — some are even free.
GADGETS
Freeing Up Your Hand
If you're in the market for a new pair of headphones and don't mind looking foolish or being stared at by strangers, you may be interested to know that the iWalk will be available in a week or two.
MOBILE
Mobile Network
Sonopia works with Verizon to handle calls and data transfer, and lets anyone from a rock band to a church group set up their own mobile network brand. In return, the mini carrier will receive 3-8% of revenues generated by the customers they sign up.
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The New York Times: This past January, Anheuser-Busch rolled out a new product called Spykes. It comes in two-ounce bottles, in flavors like Spicy Lime and Hot Melons. The label says it’s a “premium malt beverage,” containing caffeine and ginseng; it’s meant to be drunk straight, or used as a mixer with beer, or as an ingredient in some new cocktail of your invention. It’s “whatever you want it to be,” the new brand’s Web site says. Spkyes, in other words, is a hodgepodge of every recent trend or fad that has caught the attention of alcohol consumers in the past five years.
Like all big beverage companies (alcohol or otherwise), Anheuser-Busch has been on a novelty binge lately, trying to come up with new products to break through to fickle consumers or to capture tiny niches. It has marketed wheat beers, a gluten-free beer for people suffering from Celiac Disease and another specifically for Coloradoans. “The days of only drinking one beverage throughout your whole drinking life — it’s not there like it used to be,” explains Pat McGauley, the company’s vice president of innovations.
Spykes [The New York Times]
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