Technology
- Nintendo DS games are known for exercising the mind (i.e. Brain Age - reading and math exercises that help stimulate the brain). Soon, they will be known for exercising the body. "Face Training," the new beauty focused game aimed at women, features a series of facial exercises that users are asked to mimic. The game comes with a camera that plugs into the DS, displaying animated instructions for "facening" on one side and real time footage of the user's face on the other. A spokesman for Nintendo said: "Through a camera and a series of daily exercises, the DS console...helps improve facial muscle tone, improving your appearance."
- Blue Ocean Institute, a marine conservation group, has launched the nation's first sustainable seafood text messaging service. FishPhone provides information consumers need to make ecologically savvy seafood choices when ordering seafood. Customers can verify which items are caught in an environmentally sustainable manner by texting 30644 and typing the word morning show FISH, followed by the name of the seafood in question. Within seconds, FishPhone will text back with Blue Ocean's environmental assessment. The service covers more than 90 species and suggests alternatives to options that pose environmental concerns. Standard text messaging rates apply.
Green Living
- Vending machines can literally be found everywhere these days, thanks in part to Solar Energy Vending. The company's solar-powered vending machines can be placed in any out-of-the-way location as long as there is adequate sunlight - golf courses, beaches, ski slopes, etc. Solar panels on top of the machine keep the refrigerator running, and a rechargeable battery provides power at night or on overcast, cloudy days. In less sunny climates, a wind turbine can be substituted for solar cells.
Food & Beverage
- The U.S. tea market is expected to more than double by 2012, growing from $7.4 billion in sales to about $15 billion. America's ever growing concern over health and wellness, along with tea's image as an antioxidant packed, anti-aging alternative to coffee and soda, is driving the rapid growth in sales. Specialty tea is expected to grow from about 36% of the current market to 50% of the market by 2012.
Fashion & Retail
- Three U.S. fashion retailing giants, Liz Claiborne Inc., Target and Kohl's, recently hired full-time climatologists to help them plan their next collections. With record lows in clothing sales this fall, unseasonably warm temperatures have been blamed. Leading designers warn that unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change have disrupted the traditional pattern of spring/summer and fall/winter clothing collections. With seasons increasingly becoming indistinguishable, customers will no longer be guaranteed clothing tailored for specific seasons. Target also recently announced plans to sell swimwear year round, beginning in January.
The Complex Platinum Club is an invite-only retail experience that brings the pages of the street style/shopping/lifestyle magazine for men to life. The Complex Platinum Club is a store within a store, housed above Manhattan sneaker shop Training Camp. Packed with items hand picked by the magazine's editors, as well as previews to exclusive lines and new product launches, the gallery space/shop features clothes, shoes and premium accessories from Complex-approved brands. The "private" club is invite only, but interested shoppers can be added to an invitation waiting list on the Complex blog .
Though street crime is relatively low in Japan, quirky camouflage designs are gaining in popularity as a means for an increasingly anxious public to hide from would-be assailants. While Americans want to protect themselves from criminals, or even strike back, the Japanese favor camouflage and deception. Some examples include:
- A dress that unfolds into an actual-size, four-sided photo of a vending machine ($800 each).
- A purse dubbed the "manhole bag" that hides valuables by unfolding to look like a sewer cover.
- A child's backpack that transforms into a Japanese-style fire hydrant, hiding its wearer.
Marketing & Advertising
- Diddy (Sean Combs) has joined the ranks of fellow rappers 50 Cent (Glaceau's Vitamin Water) and Jay-Z (Anheuser-Busch's Bud Select), by trying his hand at brand building in the beverage category. The multimedia mogul and CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment has taken on all brand-management decisions for Diageo's Ciroc vodka, including marketing, advertising, public relations, product placement and events. Diddy's goal is to turn Ciroc into THE top luxury vodka brand.
Media
- NPR recently introduced "The Bryant Park Project," a new, New York City based for the Facebook generation. The two-hour program, covering news and current events, differs from typical public radio programs in that the show is live. The show is also heavily complemented by a Web 2.0 component including blog postings (blog commenting has been called "the new talk radio"), videos and listener commentary on the show's website . Currently available through six stations and Sirius Satellite Radio, the show's high/low mix also makes it "extremely palatable to younger listeners accustomed to reading both The New York Times and PerezHilton on a daily basis."
After more than a century in print, Conde Nast Publications will fold House & Garden with its December issue. The magazine's website will also pulled offline. Conde Nast previously folded House & Garden in 1993, but brought the title back three years later.
This December, Meredith Corp. will introduce Parents TV, an on-demand channel to be carried by Comcast and stocked with content adapted from or inspired by Parents, Family Circle and American Baby. Like Better.TV, the Better Homes & Gardens video website that Meredith introduced last April, Parents TV will be organized into categories of clips, including pregnancy basics, baby and toddler, healthy kids and family life. Consumers will be able to find the videos at parents.tv and parents.com, which are already live.
