Springwise: Think consumers can predict the next big book, CD, television show or movie better than top producers and publishing houses can? Media Predict challenges users to put their virtual money where their mouths are with an online prediction market game, where players buy and sell shares based on how well they think new entertainment ventures might do in the […]
Media Market Value
CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter 45
New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue: TECHNOLOGY Energy Tent If you don’t like to rough it, can’t do without the conveniences of home, or just need a base camp to recharge your camera or MP3 player after a day on the trail, the Eureka N!ergy tents have three 12-volt plugs to charge your accessories. Paper Thin Video In the […]
Home of Fan Fiction
TrendCentral: Fan fiction has long been thriving online in places such as LiveJournal, and now a new online community called FanLib is serving as a hub for all things fan fiction. Site users can post their own fiction, read others’ work sorted by show/book or writer, save specific stories to a customized favorites list, and embed content badges into social […]
Energy Tent
Cool Hunting: If you don’t like to rough it, can’t do without the conveniences of home, or just need a base camp to recharge your camera or MP3 player after a day on the trail, the Eureka N!ergy tents have three 12-volt plugs to charge your accessories. A concealed wiring system strategically places glowing outlets throughout the tent for easy […]
Videopedia
Iconoculture: It’s not Wikipedia, it’s a videopedia. At 5min.com you can learn everything from how to make an origami barking dog (useful!) to how to spackle a wall (frivolous!) to how to pour beer (necessary!). 5min’s video player is specially made for the self-help medium — users can switch the player to slow-motion mode or even advance a how-to video […]
Green Track
Trendwatching: UK supermarket Tesco plans to introduce carbon footprint labels on all 70,000 products it sells to allow shoppers to compare carbon impacts. Implementation will take a while: the company is currently investigating how to develop a “universally accepted and commonly understood” measuring system. Last year, footwear manufacturer Timberland started placing a “nutritional label” on each shoe box, educating consumers […]
Rugged Laptop
Crave: Mobile computing can be a haphazard business, and new notebooks from General Dynamics and Panasonic give their owners permission to drop them (from a reasonable distance) as often as they like. General Dynamics’ GoBook MR-1 claims to be the smallest fully rugged ultramobile PC, and it may very well be. It weighs 2 pounds, and is about the size […]
Green Milk Bottles
Springwise: Designed and manufactured in Britain, Greenbottle is a biodegradable milk bottle that uses a smart two-part system to aid recycling. The bottles are composed of a cardboard outer manufactured from pulped, recycled cardboard, which is lined with an inner sleeve of biodegradable plastic made from corn starch. The plastic keeps the cardboard from becoming soggy, and the cardboard makes […]
Driving Ability
Iconoculture: Kids with disabilities who can’t maneuver joysticks don’t have to miss out on the fun of radio-control cars. Dream-Racer builds technology that enables kids to “drive” the cars using simple body movements instead of joysticks. The prototype baseball cap, built for a child paralyzed in an auto accident, helps him steer the car with his head. Gloves and shoes […]