The sound of the wind whistling through the trendcatching blog continues.  However, lots still going on in some of the other sites in the trendcatching network.  The latest idea is to create sites that act as lead generation markets for various niche products.  Obviously need to get these sites into the ether so posting up here to help spread the word.   The first site we are doing is for splashbacks so the blogging energy is going into the splashbacks guide blog these days rather than here.  

Splashbacks are beautiful glass things that you put around your cooker instead of tiles.  They are very expensive things but look rather nice in your kitchen.  They are getting really popular here in the UK and in other markets like Australia.  Anyway, there was no-where online where you could find out about this product or get information about splashback suppliers.  So we have created Splashbacks guide as an information portal and market place for splashbacks.  We already have a few plans to roll this out in other areas so watch this space... 

These days web 2.0 seems a bit boring so we've not been covering it much here but mobile 2.0 is just taking off.  If you're interested in mobile then you might want to check out mjelly.com which is a directory of free mobile software and applications and the best mobile sites.

You can find free mobile applications like the opera mini browser that lets you browse the full web on your mobile, mig33 which gives you free calls and other types of mobile voip software like Fring and Nimbuzz.  If you are looking for free mobile software for any type of phone including Symbian, Windows Mobile and Java then this is the place to go. 

There is also a directory of the best mobile web sites with services like Mocospace the mobile social network, Heysan the mobile instant messaging service, Peperonity.com the mobile site builder and community site, m.myxer.com for free ringtones and find free mobile games sites like Gamejump, Cellufun and Hovr.  

There is a mobile optimized site for browsing the mobile sites and apps on your phone which has some upfront features like mobile RSS feeds and mobile tags.

You can create a profile on the site with your favorite sites and apps on it so that you can easily find them again, if you change your phone for example. 

So check out the mjelly on your PC at mjelly.com or on your mobile at m.mjelly.com. 

The interesting thing is that they are using a URL for a profile on the bebo social network at the bottom of the ad. 

The profile is www.bebo.com/getthesmile which is full of competitions, videos, photos etc around the campaign.  First example I have seen of a brand using Bebo like this. 

Mobile Advertising Statistics

Mobile Internet Statistics

Mobile Web Statistics and Case Studies

Mobile web analytics tools

Mobile LBS Services

Like many people I have spent time in Zimbabwe which, even 10 years ago was an amazing place, with good roads, educated people and a well developed infrastructure.  As you will know the people of Zimbabwe are currently struggling against a military dictatorship which tortures, kills and  steals from the people.  As we speak, people are in hospital with horrific injuries, caused by Zanu PF militia, or even worse, suffering in hiding places, afraid to seek help. Unfortunately, unlike with other horrific events such as the Asian Tsunami it is difficult to find a way of giving money to help. 

ZBF is a trusted charity I found, which is endorsed by people on the ground like the amazing Sokwalene Blog.  You can donate money using this link - http://www.zbf.org.uk/how_to_help.php. 

ZBF have just launched an emergency appeal:

Violent and sustained attacks against civilian voters in Zimbabwe are leaving behind hundreds of mutilated and injured men, women and children. Many of them have also had their homes burned and their possessions destroyed.

ZBF has launched an emergency response to support victims with medical supplies, blankets, food packs and basic building materials throughout the country. We appeal for your help now.

If you want to help directly in a project to shelter traumatised children, support victims of torture with medical treatment, or help a now-homeless grandmother to rebuild her hut before the winter cold arrives, please visit one of our projects.

Your donation will enable us to build on a base of existing support and projects in one of the world’s neediest countries.

http://www.zbf.org.uk/how_to_help.php

Here's the Blurb

It seems like everything's gone micro. As content is disaggregated into ever smaller pieces and syndicated and widgetised at accelerating speed, how is the media landscape being re-shaped, and who are the winners in this scenario?

Are media owners caught between a rock and a hard place? They've got to get their content out there, but context and branding work differently in the world of mashups and aggregators. In turn, the revenues they make from micro media pale in comparison to their staple money-making ventures (print, CDs, TV, DVD, film).

P2P culture is also firmly embedded, with iTunes and other digital retailers numbers' still dwarfed by ripping and filesharing. Now media giants like Microsoft and the BBC are using P2P technnology, but has their deeper modus operandi shifted? Are they fated to be outpaced and outgunned by innovative companies who play by different rules?

In turn, is the profusion of micro-content a recipe for meltdown, with information overload and competing "me-too" platforms delivering little but dumb aggregation which ultimately becomes a headache?

In this, the sequel to our groundbreaking Media Widgetised / Widget Week event in May 2007, our panel of experts will look at the issues and opportunities surrounding the explosion of micro media for publishers, brands, business, and culture more broadly...

If you're in London get your ticket here.

Locomatrix is a new kind of GPS mobile gaming platform designed to encourage people to get out and about in the real world, exercise, play games and have fun.  So unique and original compared to the now mostly boring web 2.0 stuff...  check out the video - love it:-)

Umair Haque over at Bubblegeneration has a great name for sites that take individual bits of data or media and aggregate them together in a new "cast" or "stream".  He calls them "reconstructors" and highlights this sort of service as a killer position in the new media value chain. 

A new UK startup called Songkick is a great example of a Reconstructor - they take information about concert tickets from all the major vendors and ticket exchanges and pull them together for you.  You can create your own stream based on your itunes music library or personal preferences.

Keep a look out for these guys - they are going to be BIG. 

So in the last year we've seen a lot of big businesses and well-funded startups launch mobile music services.  Mobile is the next big frontier for music - everyone carries a mobile all the time, the new phones all have loads of storage and the ringtone boom showed that there's a massive opportunity when you get the product right.

A couple of years ago, Nokia acquired Loudeye, one of the big digital music aggregators, and has just announced its Nokia Music Store service which its embedding in its handsets and selling to operators.  A startup called Omnifone has launched a subscription mobile music service earlier this year called Music Station which it's selling through operators like Vodafone.  Finally, the Lord of the Ringtones Jamba is now offering full track music on a similar subscription model to their ringer business. 

Thing is they are all offering the same thing really a catalogue of music tracks which you can download to your phone - Woop-de-doo.  If you look at the way people are actually using their mobiles for music then its clear there's so much more you can do with mobile music than this.   People, especially young people, are using their phones to play music out loud when they are out and about like a call-sign or mobile beatbox, bluetoothing tracks to each other,  making DIY ringtones out of mp3s and recording raps and MCing into their mobiles and all sorts of stuff that has NOTHING TO DO with paying money to download a track to their phone.   

There are already some players out there doing some interesting stuff like Mozes which provides a kind of mobile fan club for big music acts, myxertones which provides a platform for Indie music artists, and mjelly which is a ringtones 2.0 kind of thing for free mp3 ringtones and music clips. 

There's a lot of interesting opportunities in mobile music, but it's not going to come from the mainstream, watch this space. 

There's a company called Cute Circuit that makes wearable technology.  They have one project which is a tshirt that can send ((hugs)) from one person to another via bluetooth/ mobile. 

It's a bit like the Nike Airs Marty McFly has in Back to the Future 2 - totally brilliant but nothing like that has ever appeared - in fact we are going backwards with trainers - it's all about the old skool styles.

Like the tshirt says: "This was supposed to be the future. where is my jetpack, where is my robotic companion, where is my dinner in pill form, where is my hydrogen fueled automobile, where is nuclear powered levitating house, where is my cure for this disease"

Maybe people need to start thinking beyond the PC and beyond the web to really do something interesting these days?

They aren't going to like the new Nokia Md4 music speakers accessory which is a pair of amplified speakers which can be bought separately or bundled with potentially all new music phones starting with the Nokia 5300.   

Obviously this little innovation from Nokia is going to mean much louder music being played on the buses.

Obviously if you ask the average teenager to turn off his music he's either going to ignore you, laugh or potentially stab you - so what's the solution?  Currently, they are trying a petition....

In other countries I've been to, like Zambia for example, when your on a bus they'll be blazing music from a massive boombox so there's effectively no problem with people playing music from their own tinny mobile speakers or thru headphones.  Maybe the solution is for people to respond by upping the ante and drowing out whoever is playing music thru their mobile with a massive barrage from their own Nokia MD4s?

Lots of different people uploading video of this including Climate Life and ChildofFlewin .   

The Revolution will not be Televised.

Freshweave is an online clothing company set up by my brother which sells ethically produced, organic cotton tshirts.  I've seen the tshirts myself and they really are top quality, especially when you compare them to the usual crappy fruit of the loom ones you see out and about. 

The site sells tshirts for both men and women and there's a mixture of plain styles and designs.

 
My brother is trying to get word out about the site so if you've got a blog please link to http://www.freshweave.co.uk and let people know about it. 

We're currently printing up some "i facebooked your mum" tshirts similar to the one that Monkey wears in the new PG tips ad.  They will be printed on high quality cotton tshirts by the crew at Freshweave and cost £20 including delivery.  If you want one just register your interest here on the form below and we'll be in touch when they are ready - probably in a week or so.  You can pay if you still want one when they are ready.