Technology
- With a price tag of just $10, the Motorola Renew rolls out as one of the cheapest cell phones on the market. Users can text and make quality phone calls (there is no Internet access), with a battery that provides up to nine hours of talk time. Motorola offsets the energy required to make, distribute and operate the Renew, so it boasts Carbon free status - the first for a mobile phone. It's also made from recycled plastic bottles and flaunts 100% recycled packaging.
- Pizza Hut has created an internship position to focus specifically on Twitter and other social media. Pizza Hut's new "twinternship" is a full-time, 10- to 12-week paid assignment to work with the PR team at the company's Dallas headquarters this summer. The intern will focus on new and emerging social media and will be given "unprecedented access" to marketing meetings, brainstorming sessions, ad shoots and special events. Creating and posting videos, conducting media outreach and assisting with national PR programs will also be part of the job, as will managing the company's new Twitter page and watching for mentions of the company in the social media. Besides focusing Pizza Hut's digital strategy, the twinternship position is intended to help the company connect with college students, one of its key demographics.
- In other Twitter news, tweeting has made its way to Sunday church services, as leaders of a Charlotte-area church asked members to bring their phones and data devices on Easter Sunday and post to Twitter throughout the sermon. The congregation was urged to post minute-by-minute updates to their Twitter accounts to broadcast in real time how the message was touching them.
Environment
- For years, the prefab architecture scene has thrived off of shipping containers, but more recently, another sturdy structure has taken its place. Airplane fuselages, from a sea of decommissioned airplanes, have become the newest, hippest building blocks on the recyclable construction scene. Typically in great structural condition, stripped fuselages are sold at relatively low prices and have emerged in a variety of structures around the world.
- o Stockholm's Arlanda International Airport boasts on-site accommodations aboard The Jumbo Hostel, a recycled Boeing 747 with dorm rooms, private rooms, and a cockpit suite, as well as flat screen TVs and free Wi-Fi.
- o In Costa Rica, the Hotel Costa Verde offers guests accommodation in the '65 Boeing 727 Fuselage Suite. Guests can also hit up El Avion, a cafe/bar housed inside an old Fairchild C-123 cargo plane.
- o In Stoke-On-Trent in the UK, students at Kingsland Primary School attend geography classes in a decommissioned Short 360 commuter plane.
Healthcare
- Earlier this month, Atlanta-based InQuickER announced the launch of a new service that allows patients with non life-threatening conditions to reduce their ER waiting time (the US average is 3.2 hours) by calling ahead or signing in online. After pre-registering for the service, patients inform their hospital about their injury or illness in order to reserve the first available time slot. In 75 percent of cases, InQuickER users will be seen immediately upon arrival, but if a patient is not seen by a doctor within 15 minutes, InQuickER and the hospital won't charge for the ER visit, diagnostic services, professional fees or supplies. The hold-your-place-in-line service is currently available at three hospitals; one each in Mobile, AL, Tavares, FL and Smyrna, GA. Patients pay $24.99 per visit for InQuickER's service.
Fashion & Retail
- Target will unveil a new line under the store's Designer Collaboration series inspired by The CW's teen sensation, Gossip Girl. Designer Anna Sui will use the show's four female leads as inspiration for the youthful, New York City-look line, which will hit 250 select Target stores on September 13th and run through October 17th.
- A reality series set in high-end retail store Fred Segal is the latest addition to Bravo's fashion-savvy lineup. The untitled new show is slated to document the daily drama at the Santa Monica clothing retailer, focusing on the often stressed and competitive sales team as they cater to well-to-do customers and celebrities who demand the latest in clothes, shoes, accessories and beauty products.
Marketing & Advertising
- Curb, the media agency that uses natural materials (sand sculptures, grass cuttings, etc.) to build brand awareness for its clients, has added a new tool to its repertoire. Sea tagging simply entails spraying seawater through custom-made stencils. Salt water evaporates more slowly than fresh water, so the stenciled graphics are visible for 5-15 minutes. The SEA LIFE London Aquarium recently utilized the medium - over 2,000 images of sea turtles, sharks and seahorses were sprayed on streets, walls and sidewalks in 300 locations by a team of taggers dressed in scuba diving gear. Since the advertisements are temporary and consist of nothing but water, they are considered to be "zero-impact."
- Flogos, from Alabama-based special effect company Snowmasters, are flying foam logos that float through the sky. Available in 12-, 36- and 48-inch sizes, Flogos can travel up to 30 miles and float as high as 5,000 feet. Most last from 30 to 40 minutes, after which time they evaporate without a trace, making them completely environmentally friendly. Flogos customers have included Lindt chocolates, Disney World, Mercedes-Benz and Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. The company currently has 18 offices worldwide, with new locations in China, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, England, Italy, Spain, Israel and Canada.
Media
- Conde Nast dropped a long-anticipated ax on Conde Nast Portfolio, shutting down the expensive, ambitious two-year old magazine. The last issue of Portfolio is on newsstands now. Conde Nast is closing the Portfolio.com website as well, although there are discussions inside the company that it could eventually be revived.
