TechCrunch: Education-focused startup OpenStudy is a platform for “massively multi-player study groups.” What this means is that students who are studying the same subject like math or writing can ask and answer questions on OpenStudy, which uses Facebook Connect to let users interact and learn collaboratively through profiles and group chat.

OpenStudy aims to make education fun by providing users with gamification (yeah I know how terrible using this word is, but I make an exception for things education-related) elements like medals and achievements for completing actions like answering a question quickly or answering more than ten questions. You can also fan people you’d like to follow, giving users incentive to engage and contribute.

OpenStudy Wants To Turn The World Into “One Big Study Group” [TechCrunch]

“Kobu” is the Japanese term that I used to define the concept of a flexible and adaptable lever handle.
The project was born from a ready made of industrial materials for studing new methods to approach the object. The particular structure consists of a stiff brass core, mounted on a recessed rose and connected to a flexible stem which allows it to be used not just like a normal handle but also as a multi-use object facilitating the daily actions.

The flexible stem allows people to modify the shape, creating new uses and functions with few movements. The only limit is the immagination of the user.

Kobu’s original design and its various finishes make the handle suitable for any location. It is also comfortable and ergonomic for each type of user, due to its handiness and versatility.

Idea contributed by Diego Amadei. Thanks!

Springwise: Billed as a “community of culinary tourism,” French Spoontrip is a place where travelers can book activities with local, gastronomy-minded providers while locals with a culinary flair can offer and advertise their own activities for free. Site-specific visits, meet-and-greets with producers, tastings, gourmet ateliers, cooking classes, weekend stays at a farm, and gastronomy-themed holidays are just a sampling of the offers to be found. Travelers can search the site by region, activity type, category and date; specific examples range from a two-hour tour of wine tasting in Tuscany for EUR 50 per person, a weekend of truffle-hunting in Provence for EUR 270 per person, to an 11-day culinary tour in Turkey for EUR 2,900 each. All activity providers are aficionados or professionals with a particular passion for sharing their expertise with international travelers, and all manage their offerings through the site themselves.

For foodie travelers, a guide to culinary activities worldwide [Springwise]

FreshTrend: Tired of traveling and not being able to sleep because the air is too dry? Use this lightweight, portable humidifier that generates a cool mist using ultrasonic vibrations and regular tap water from any water bottle.

Features include whisper-quiet operation, mist output control, automatic shut-off, and an empty bottle indicator.

Travel Humidifier [FreshTrend]

Aiming to provide higher-quality results at a lower price, Chicago-based Lab42 conducts its clients’ surveys not in artificially assembled panels but in the social networks where target respondents naturally spend their time.

Lab42 takes the survey to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and smaller niche social networks, using highly targeted incentives to garner attention and responses. Two packages are available from Lab42: a premium one for USD 500, with results in three days or less; and a preliminary one for USD 300, with results in 5 days or less.

Idea contributed by Sara. Thanks!

TransferWise, founded by early employees of Skype, is a new service offering better currency exchange rates by connecting consumers.

With its aim to become the Skype of currency exchange, the service makes it possible for European consumers to make pound-euro exchanges without paying the service fee to banks, usually around 6%.

Consumers send their funds to TransferWise’s account, as a trusted third-party. The company matches people in the Eurozone with people in the UK wanting to exchange currency. The service costs a flat rate of €1or £1 per currency transfer. Since operations began in January 2011, the company has already processed more than €700,000 in currency transactions.

Revolutionising Eurozone bank transfers [Iconowatch]

Springwise: Through a partnership with mobile payments firm Bemoov, ATAF — short for Azienda Trasporti Area Fiorentina — now gives riders on its Florence city buses a way to buy their tickets via SMS. Users of the service simply register with Bemoov to link a credit card with their phone and then send a text message with the text “ATAF” to a designated number when they’re ready to travel. Within seconds, they receive a reply message with an alphanumeric code to be submitted to the controller for verification. There’s no additional fee for using the service. Currently, only one-way tickets are sold this way; the price is EUR 1.20 for a 90-minute trip.

Bus tickets purchased & presented via SMS [Springwise]

Adverblog: To promote a music festival in Brazil, F/Nazca came up with the amazing idea of embedding an audio message on the cover of Playboy magazine. A mini-chip has been inserted in the cover and users can listen to the an audio message (whispered by a young woman) simply plugging an headset in the jack.

One more way to make print advertising interesting and interactive.

The first audio print ad [Adverblog]

Suburban Camping is a company that sets up a variety of camping scenarios in your backyard, from canvas tents to cots and trail mix bars to outdoor movies. All campsites are set up by an experienced outfitter with one or multiple tents and sleeping bags, cots, lighting and whatever extras clients might request.

By nurturing genuine connections through the camping experience, Suburban Camping has the ability to enrich lives by bringing back simple but often forgotten pleasures. The sound of zippered canvas closing off the night and the click of the lantern inviting the moon and gathering place for stories to be told and adventures to be had, where only truly enriching memories can be made, at home and in the outdoors.

Idea contributed by Kella MacPhee. Thanks!

TrendCentral: MorningPics links directly to Instagram to send users a daily pictorial blast from the past. Drawing from Instagram’s photo archive, which has built up impressively over its mere seven-month existence, MorningPics delivers a photo each morning directly to a user’s inbox. Each randomly chosen photo, plus related comments and likes, is meant to recall a memory or moment that may have otherwise been lost to the ether.

In Search of Lost Time [TrendCentral]

Pikimal’s mission is to help consumers make the best buying decisions. From data that is scattered, vast, and technocratic, Pikimal gathers it all in one place behind an intuitive interface aimed for use by everyday shoppers. Pikimal helps users choose amongst brands and types of products, allowing users find the product that best suits individual needs and preferences. Through Pikimal’s website, consumers interact with product pikis, or web applications that convey each product’s qualities, specifications, and features. The piki allows the user to select how important each feature and specification is to the user, and, upon adjustment, the piki determines the products that best match the user’s preferences. Behind each piki is a current, comprehensive database of products generated from available information.

Pikimal features a collection of product pikis, and seeks to build accurate, up-to-date pikis that address a wide range of products. Pikimal aims to suit the needs of various demographics of consumers and looks to grow and change to best address users’ needs.

Idea contributed by Cody Musser. Thanks!