New Ideas...

15 of them...

From Springwise:

Keepsake stamps of baby's feet and hands
Style & design

Tokyo-based Otete & Anyo turns ink prints of babies' hands and feet
into engravings that can be used both as mementos and as very
personal stamps.

Tool gives users a break from unimportant emails
Life hacks

AwayFind is a web application that protects users from all but the
most important messages by notifying them via Twitter, SMS or IM
when they receive an email that meets criteria they defined.

Portfolio management for season tickets
Lifestyle & leisure / Financial services

TicketPortfolio allows season ticket holders to treat their tickets
much like a portfolio of stocks and track its fluctuating value
over the course of the season.

Philips introduces a clothes iron for men
Style & design

Dutch electronics giant Philips felt that men wanted a more robust,
heavy-duty device to tackle hampers of laundry. Enter the GC4490,
marketed more like a power tool than a garment care appliance.

South Africa concierge service via mobile phone rental
Tourism & travel / Telecom & mobile

Africa Talking is a 24/7 concierge service with dedicated travel and
entertainment guides and bookings plus emergency assistance, all
accessed through a phone provided to visitors the moment they arrive.

Eco-minded canopy can cool any bed
Homes & housing / Eco & sustainability

The Evening Breeze Canopi features an integrated ventilation system
that gently directs efficiently and sustainably cooled air over any bed
without accompanying noise or draft.

Sent by mail, plastic chips with an online message
Life hacks

Life Tokens feature a graphic on the front that encapsulates a
specific emotion, and a code on the back that can be used to reveal
the identity of the sender along with a personal message.

Transforming Rio's slums with community-driven art
Non-profit, social cause / Style & design

Favela Painting in Rio is showing how a splash of colour can go a
long way toward beautifying the city's slums: local residents are being
trained and employed to decorate their favelas with giant murals.

Work site divides large jobs into crowdsourced tasks
Life hacks

San Francisco-based CloudCrowd aims to use crowdsourced labour
to complete large, laborious projects more quickly and for a much
lower price than companies might achieve with salaried workers.

Leasing agency helps tenants connect, online and off
Homes & housing

UK-based Yourshack offers leasing and house-share services with
a focus on socializing: clients get a city discount card and an events
guide, and can join a community Facebook group.

Five businesses that build on the popularity of cycling
Transportation / Lifestyle & leisure / Tourism & travel

Wifi sensors to track cycling activity online, dynamo-powered chargers
for mobile devices, phone based cycling computers, classic bikes for
hire, and a database of thousands of cycle tours available worldwide.

French cafe serves up sewing machines by the hour
Lifestyle & leisure / Fashion & beauty

Aiming to facilitate the DIY movement in the world of clothing,
Sweat Shop in Paris offers workstations equipped with sewing
machines much like an internet cafe offers computer terminals.

Personal guides offer an insider's view of Shanghai
Tourism & travel

Shanghai's AtYourSide service offers a personal guide service for
visitors to the city. The agents are trained in languages, IT and
etiquette, and can also provide translation and interpreter services.

For £20, a way to try the iPad before buying
Life hacks

We've featured several person-to-person lending concepts, and
London-based Bid & Borrow is a similar listing service. They've
cleverly created a bit of buzz by promoting iPad borrowing.

Waterproof jacket, tent and sleeping bag in one
Lifestyle & leisure / Fashion & beauty

Aimed at outdoors enthusiasts, the JakPak is a jacket that
features a detachable tent and an integrated waterproof
sleeping bag.

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