New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:
RETAIL
TV Wardrobe
Shopping enabled entertainment gives a whole new meaning to product placement where viewers no longer have to be persuaded by advertisers to buy their products, but instead their brands are being actively sought-out by a celebrity-obsessed culture.
CONSUMER GOODS
Laser Scissors
Talking about scissors is general but talking about it with laser is something good and new. According to the website, “The scissor blades are stainless steel and cut very clean with a micro serrated edge”.
Outer Skin for SmartPhones
The new trend in SmartPhones is to encase the brains of the phone in a nice, smooth and rubbery outer skin. The Blackjack, the Dash and the Black Motorola Q all have this nice feel to the outside. With new cell phone deductibles on your “insurance” policies, it makes sense to protect both the case and the screen.
Knork
Inventor Mike Miller thought of the idea while eating pizza with his buddies. It dawned on him how to solve the problem of eating a pepperoni pie politely: Integrate a fork with the functionality of a knife.
MEDIA & PUBLISHING
Botttle Mag
Coca-Cola Belgium will be the first soft drink company to use the Magazine on a Bottle concept. On Product Publishing, which created the innovative labelling technology, worked closely with Coca-Cola Belgium to adapt the labels to Coke’s iconic curvy bottle.
ENTERTAINMENT
Bar-bingo
The only good cause in today’s bar-bingo scene in Manhattan is having a good time while competing for silly prizes like NASCAR mugs. Young bingo buffs follow the floating game to different bars around the city, creating an ad hoc community.
GADGETS
PumpOne iPod
The clever folks at PumpOne noticed that a lot of people work out with their iPods, so they’ve designed workout programs that play on any model that displays images. It also works on nanos, Zunes and smartphones with memory and color screens.
ADVERTISING
Zooppa Video Ads
A new website gives advertisers the chance to brief online video ad developers for considerably less than the cost of a production agency. It’s a win-win situation for advertisers on Zooppa, a new website launched this week. It is essentially a platform for paid, user generated video, with a twist.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Caffeinated Seeds
Now they’re selling sunflower seeds laced with energy boosters like caffeine, taurine, lysine, and ginseng. The product named, “SumSeeds”, are described as premium roasted sunflower seeds supercharged with the same stuff found in “energy” sodas.
MOBILE
Where’s my Starbucks
Coffee behemoth Starbucks has launched a new cell phone-based service that lets you efficiently locate the nearest store and feed your addiction get your caffeine buzz on.
DESIGN
Fashion Flu Mask
Flu masks get some fashionista flavor with the creations of New Yorker Patricia Lamberti, decorated with accoutrements like floral appliqués, leopard fabrics and satin ribbons, these protectors against pandemics strive to shed the shackles of postindustrial supply store.
Maximum Protection Umbrella
American industrialists try to build better mousetraps, but northern Europeans apparently need better umbrellas. The SENZ Umbrella has been designed to directly fill a need – to prevent a strong wind from turning an umbrella inside out. The SENZ team has redesigned the umbrella to be both stronger and more aerodynamic.
FASHION
Smashing Darlings
With a focus on helping independent fashion designers market their talents in new ways, SmashingDarling offers a unique experience for buyers, sellers, and anyone interested in fashion that thinks outside the mall.
I’m Not a Plastic Bag
A bag that retails for £5 but is now changing hands for up to £200 on eBay. A bag so hot that it was chosen as the official goodie-bag for guests at the 2007 Vanity Fair Oscar-night party. A bag that proclaims, on the cream canvas exterior between its grosgrain trim: “I’m Not a Plastic Bag.”
TECHNOLOGY
Tune-In Bed
Since then, we’ve seen iBelts, Inflatable iChairs, iProjectors, iLoo Roll, you name it. What on earth is next? Why, the Tune-In Bed, of course! This is no ordinary iPod dock! You can sleep in it! This is also no ordinary bed! It plays music from your iPod! Of course, the sound and mattress quality are totally irrelevant in view of the astounding novelty of this idea!
MONEY & FINANCE
Allowance 2.0
A recent slew of “allowance 2.0” tween-friendly debit programs are giving tweens responsibility for their own spending and we expect to see more products and services fulfilling similar needs. Example is PAYjr; this allowance-tracking website allows parents to create lists of chores with corresponding dollar amounts.
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Easy Veins
The Luminetx VeinViewer claims to make the process a bit less painful, by showing the needle-wielding nurse exactly where to poke to get that vein straight off. It uses near infrared light to detect veins inside our body.
View this issue of the CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter by clicking here. Subscribe for free by clicking here