In this issue: PERSONAL OUTSOURCING SCARY BEARS GAY SOFT DRINKS EXTREME BEERS MANAGEMENT FADS And much much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _, _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Keeping brains healthy since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 010 - November 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free monthly newsletter about new ideas, innovations and trends. If you'd like to receive regular copies simply click on subscribe. Subscribe: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Tell the world about brainmail - forward this to a friend. ------------------------------------------------------------ > Personal outsourcing In 2004 an anonymous American programmer admitted to outsourcing his own job to a programmer in India for a fifth of his salary, making a profit of $55,000 for doing very little. The idea seems to be catching on too with sites like elance.com, rentacoder.com, guru.com and offshoreexperts.com facilitating everything from homework help to web design. Ref: The Times (UK) > Scary bear Microsoft has designed a prototype teddy bear with built-in camera and face recognition software. The bear will allow anxious parents to keep watch on children whose faces have been programmed into the bear's 'brain'. Parents can also speak to the child via a hidden microphone and a remote video link. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Beer innovations A German brewer has invented a beer that contains 6.3% alcohol plus 3 milligrams of nicotine. Apparently the idea is a way around smoking bans in pubs. Meanwhile, several American brewers are experimenting with so-called 'extreme beers' containing up to 25% alcohol and another has launched a beer infused with caffeine. Ref: Gizmodo.com/various > Wakey wakey Matsushita Electric in Japan has created a light that wakes you up. The device features a light that starts to brighten 30 minutes before you want to wake and a bird chirping sound that is activated 2 minutes before the set wake-up time. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Egg timer Eggalert is a new service aimed at women that are just too busy to monitor their own fertility cycles. Subscribers are notified via text messages about the best time to try for a baby. Ref: Trendcentral (US) > Marrying for the money Up to 60% of couples getting married in Australia are now asking for cash instead of more traditional gifts, according to wedding planners and gift consultants. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) > The big sleep In Tokyo, internet cafes are starting to offer bed and breakfast and a range of amenities ranging from pillows and showers as an alternative to the city's 'capsule hotels'. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Business is booming The latest management fad in Britain is drum therapy. Organisations like Oracle, Pfizer, Marks & Spencer, The Foreign Office and Toyota are all paying rhythm consultants to teach teams how to drum using primal African style beats. Ref: The Times (UK) > No ice The Arctic Ocean will be totally ice free during summer months within the next ninety five years according to researchers at the University of Arizona. Ref: Eos (US) > On the rocks A company in Norway has launched what it claims is the first gay soft drink in the world. Homo Light (seriously!) is a pink fizzy drink that's more fun to drink than straight drinks according to its maker. Ref: The Guardian (UK) > All work and no play The Children's Society in the UK says that 20% of children play outside for less than 60-minutes each week adversely affecting their imaginations and ability to make friends. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) > Handy idea A company in Japan has developed a system to project advertisements onto human palms whilst people are waiting for trains or buses. Why? Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Fonz 4 kidz A company in the US has produced a mobile phone called TicTalk aimed at kids aged six and up. Features include parental control on telephone numbers called out or dialled in. Ref: Senseworldwide (UK) > Predictions According to Bill Joy (co-founder of Sun Microsystems), any device that uses electricity will soon be connected to the Internet. This will be a catalyst for a major wave of innovations covering everything from pacemakers that talk to your hospital to shoes that make their own appointment when then need to be repaired. Ref: AFR (AUS) > Three is the new two One of the problems with the boom in luxury goods is that it's getting harder to tell who's rich and who isn't. In Manhattan status conscious couples are solving this problem by having three - and even four - children instead of two. Apparently this shouts "look at the size of my apartment" Ref: New York Observer (US) > What's your secret sauce? 1,899 bottles of the iconic HP (BBQ) Sauce have gone on sale in Britain with limited edition labels created by the eponymous fashion designer Paul Smith. The price of the limited edition bottle is GB £2.95 compared to the standard price of £0.69 Ref: The Times (UK) > Separate but equal How do you balance radical innovation with evolutionary growth? According to Charles O'Reilly (Stamford) and Michael Tushman (Harvard) the solution is to physically separate breakthrough teams from the day-to-day business units whilst maintaining close ties across both at a senior level. Ref: HBS/Working Knowledge (US) > For one time only A company in the US has launched the world's first 'one use only' disposable digital video camera. The camera will record 20 minutes of 'film' and costs US $30. Ref: Sun Herald (Aus) > Thumbnail photos A company in China has invented a digital printer that can print 4,800 dpi images straight onto press-on nails. The machines come pre-loaded with 3,000 images or you can download your own from your mobile phone. Ref: Wired (US) > Smart concrete An inventor has created an electronically conductive concrete that can send warning messages to engineers or building owners if the material is under extreme stress. Ref: Futurefeeder.com (US) > Pod mods If you thought podcasting was a strictly amateur affair think again. General Motors, Nike and Unilever are all using podcasts as an alternative to traditional advertising. Ref: Wired (US) > No time to think In the US, the length of time a typical Chief Marketing Officer lasts in a top-100 company is now 23 months. The average CEO lasts about 48 months. Ref: Fast Company (US) > Customer made MTV Starzine, produced in Europe by Nokia and MTV, is a magazine written entirely by its readers who send in text messages and photos. Ref: Trendcentral (US) ------------------------------------------------------------ : PREVIEW OF NEXT ISSUE Is micro-power the future of energy? ------------------------------------------------------------ : STATSHOTS In 2004 there were 610,000 robots in domestic service worldwide. This figure is predicted to rise to 6.1 million by 2007. Ref: The Nikkei Weekly (Japan) The volume of e-mail received by companies globally has increased from 1.8 billion per day in 1998 to 17 billion per day in 2004. Ref: McKinsey Quarterly (US). 73% of unmarried women in Japan describe themselves as happy compared to 63% just two years ago. Ref: The Scotsman (UK) According to the Chinese Labour Ministry, there is now a shortfall of between one million and three million factory workers in China. Ref: USA Today (US) In China there are fifty new chemical plants currently under construction. In the US there is one. Ref: Businessweek (US) Around 30% of adults in Britain feel that Tesco (the leading supermarket chain) is becoming too powerful. Eight months ago the figure was about 20%. Ref: The Grocer (UK) People who retire aged 55 are more than twice as likely to drop dead within ten years as those that retire aged 60 or 65. Ref: British Medical Journal (UK) 14% of innovations are 'radical', but they generate 61% of company profits. Ref: Blue Ocean Strategy (Cham Kim and Renee Mauborge). ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "We used to review strategy twice a year. Now we review it twice a week" - Meg Whitman, eBay (quoted by Tom Peters) ------------------------------------------------------------ : A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR If you liked this, look at this http://www.nowandnext.com ------------------------------------------------------------ : SUBSCRIBE TO BRAINMAIL Subscribe: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Remove: mailto:unsubscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 2005 What's Next. All rights reserved. Neither this newsletter nor any part of it may be reproduced or used for commercial purposes without the prior written permission of the publisher.