California-based Xatori is perhaps best known for PlugShare, its global electric vehicle charging network. Now, pursuing that focus further, its GreenCharge app aims to help drivers of such vehicles track the benefits over time using an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Priced at USD 9.99 on the App Store, the customizable app syncs seamlessly with the user’s Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt vehicle to display up-to-date information. Available in both English and German, GreenCharge connects driving data with local energy pricing to provide personalized data about the cost of operating an electric car, and users can keep a personal logbook so as to monitor those expenses, as well as their driving habits and carbon offset, over time. A vehicle’s remaining battery charge can be seen at a glance, without even opening the app, and data on charging history, carbon savings and more can be shared with friends via Facebook, Twitter or email.

Besides targeting consumers who already drive electric cars, Xatori also suggests that prospective buyers of such vehicles use GreenCharge on test drives, bringing a whole new level of transparency to manufacturers’ sales claims. App developers around the world: Keep the energy-monitoring innovations coming!

Website: www.greenchargeapp.com
Contact: info@greenchargeapp.com

Spotted by: Raymond Neo

Targeting the Ottawa-Gatineau area of Canada’s capital region, Fleurette Kids Taxi is the brainchild of a certified early childhood educator and mother of two. Aiming to provide a reliable transportation service when parents cannot, Fleurette promises not only to bring kids from one activity to another throughout a busy day, but also to stay with them as needed. In fact, the company even offers to recommend ideas for parents seeking activity suggestions. The company’s proprietor explains: “I have seen first-hand the challenges parents face in balancing their busy schedules and transporting their kids to after school activities, visiting friends, parties or just needing someone to stay with them during such times. After talking to a number of parents and having experienced it in my own life, I realized the need for a solution towards this problem – this is why I started Fleurette Kids Taxi.”

Parents may be increasingly strapped for time, but kids’ daily activities remain just as busy as always. Time to offer stressed-out parents in your area a little transportation help?

Website www.fleurettekidstaxi.ca
Contact: www.fleurettekidstaxi.ca/index.php/contact-us

Spotted by: Murray Orange

Trail Shuttle “empowers users to achieve the desired learning outcomes by enabling them to customize one-of-a-kind, indoor and/or outdoor learning trails.” What that means, in essence, is that Trail Shuttle promotes self-directed learning via individualized, experiential paths. Three components, in turn, are involved to make that goal possible: a Web-based toolkit for creating learning programs as well as a mobile app that allows students to explore and experience those programs and a monitoring app that lets teachers track students’ progress. Included in the mobile app for students are an augmented reality way-finder and code scanner; quizzes to test the student’s learning; chat capabilities; and the ability to check in at “hotspots” and complete specific tasks, according to a report on SGEntrepreneurs.com, which also notes that some 16 Singapore schools are now participating in the program. Trail Shuttle’s Web-based toolkit works on the Chrome and Firefox 6 browsers, while its free exploration and monitoring app runs on iOS 4.3 or later.

Similar in many ways to the tablet-based SquareCrumbs project we covered last year — also from Singapore — Trail Shuttle looks ripe for emulation around the globe. Education entrepreneurs: one to tailor and adapt to your own local audience?

Website: www.rockmoon.sg
Contact: joe@reload.com.sg

Spotted by: Pek Chew Lian

EVRYTHNG works by first creating Active Digital Identities (ADIs) for the physical objects it is going to manage. A camera, for example, could be given an ADI, which would then act as its online presence in much the same way as a Facebook page does for humans. These profiles, called Thngs, store textual, binary and geo-location information about their associated object, which can then be used to drive third party applications and services. EVRYTHNG provides developers with an API toolkit, which enables them to manage these Thngs, access the online data associated with the physical objects, and create new services, enabling objects to communicate with one another and with the user. The result is that users are able to interact with EVRYTHNG objects in a way that would have been previously impossible. For example, a user’s camera could be setup to recommend a good time and place for a photo shoot, or smart meters could be used to turn on a washing machine at the cheapest times.

Currently in private beta, open only for developers, EVRYTHNG will soon offer a free plan enabling users to create 1,000 ADIs with 100Mb of storage, while a paid Pro package will also be available for larger needs.

EVRYTHNG haven’t released any details on their product plans as yet, but the premise of the project should be of great interest to brands, manufacturers, developers, academics, marketeers, and service providers everywhere. As we continue to take steps towards an Internet of Things, this is definitely one to watch.

Website: www.evrythng.com
Contact: info@evrythng.com

Suitable for cooking “anything from meaty stews or vegetable curries to simple rice and soups,” according to Natural Balance, the product’s South African maker, the Wonderbag is designed to complete cooking that has been started on the stove. To use it, diners simply heat up their pot of food and place it in the Wonderbag. There, the bag’s insulation retains the heat achieved on the stove so that cooking can be finished without the use of any additional energy, thus reducing families’ fuel needs by as much as 30 percent. Cooking times are also reduced, the company says, giving families more time to spend in other ways. Some 150,000 Wonderbags are already in use across South Africa, and partner Unilever recently placed an order for 5 million more.

Priced at GBP 30, the Wonderbag can be ordered online for delivery at the end of February, and for every UK purchase, one Wonderbag will be donated to a family living in Africa. Natural Balance, meanwhile, plans to expand the product to 12 or more other developing countries in Africa during 2012. Social entrepreneurs: time to help make this functionall innovation a global phenomenon?

Website: www.nb-wonderbag.com
Contact: sales@nb-wonderbag.com

Spotted by: Florent Lesauvage

Situated on the first floor of the Pasela Resort in Shinjuku, the Capcom Bar’s playful menu features a range of dishes inspired by the company’s famous releases. On offer is a meat dish recreating the stamina-boosting drumstick from the game Monster Hunter, black-and-white seafood pasta reminiscent of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and a Resident Evil-inspired ‘brain cake’. Keiji Maeda, of action title Sengoku Basara, now has a floral octopus carpaccio recipe in his honor, joining the many other characters on the bar’s colorful food and drinks menu. Even popular cocktails have had a makeover, re-imagined as vaccines with a syringe replacing the traditional umbrella. The restaurant has already opened and Capcom hopes to entice games fans with prices per dish of around JPY 680. Alongside the gaming kiosks already in place, future plans include a merchandise stall and in-house events — from live shows and talks to competitions — to engage diners.

While themed restaurants are nothing new, the Capcom Bar is an interesting example of a company expanding tangentially from their usual line of work. Plenty of inspiration here for publishers in other sectors.

Website: www.paselabo.tv/capcombar
Contact: info@capcom.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Officially launching in April 2011, Suburban Camping began by hosting backyard camping events in their customers’ gardens. Tents would be supplied and set up along with sleeping bags and lighting, and there was also the option to screen movies outdoors. The most immediate problem for the company, however, was spreading the word about their new service.

Reluctant to hire new staff at such an early stage, Chris and Kella decided to market Suburban Camping themselves, utilizing social media, local media, and newspapers. Of all these avenues pursued, Chris MacPhee told us of the particular success they experienced through social media, commenting that it “has been a remarkable way to reach out to potential new business. Posting pictures of our successful campouts and having friends able to view our work has been great, word of mouth has been key our first season. Customers and friends have been able to share their stories around the campfire to friends around the world!”

Looking to build upon this successful early marketing campaign, the pair decided to launch their own line of Suburban Camping branded tents, partly as a source of extra income, but also as a way to promote the brand nationwide. As Chris notes, “by offering our very own product line we will now have an opportunity to establish our brand name in the backyards of many homes outside of our typical service area.” Having already contacted a manufacturer, the range of tents are expected to be available for sale and rent for the 2012 spring season. However, this latest endeavour has brought challenges of its own. Introducing full e-commerce functionality to the website is an ongoing effort, as are the logistics of arranging delivery of the tents across the US.

As well as expanding with their own products, Suburban Camping are also looking to expand the range of camping experience packages they offer. This summer they will be offering pre-pitched campsites at many of the music festivals taking place on the US east coast — complete with a shaded lounge area and a camp store stocking camping essentials. They are also reaching out to local beaches and parks to offer camping experiences there, and are planning to introduce their packages at larger events and weddings. Of course, a further natural expansion for the company is to widen the area they currently serve. Originally set up to operate in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, the pair now see the company growing across the country.

Remarkably, until now Chris and Kella have not felt the need to hire any new staff, but to realize their expansion plans they have accepted that this is now going to be necessary. With the festival contracts now secured, the pair can begin to forecast financial growth, and are looking to assemble teams to assist with their festival operations this summer.

When we asked Chris what his key learnings have been regarding the differences between starting a project and developing it, he commented, “Our biggest learning experience is that just having a great concept does not make a successful business. We have had to learn how to get the service out there and how to develop it to keep it fresh and innovative. The business has led us on a new path and really told us how it wants to grow.” Echoing the philosophy of Coffee Joulies in our last Where Are They Now? feature, Chris implies that the decision to face this first year without extra staff has enabled the MacPhees to get to grips with every aspect of their business. Expansion may be a necessary step to move a company forward, but it should be remembered that lessons learned and mistakes made when developing a company alone can prove invaluable later on.

You can read more about Suburban Camping in our article here, or visit the Suburban Camping website here.

Hippensteel Funeral Service and Crematory in Layfette, Indiana are offering the transmitter disks and balls — provided by Memorial Markers — in the caskets or grave of anyone buried or cremated at a 1.5 acre natural burial site called The Preserve. Hippensteel are the only company to have carried out eco-burials on the Preserve since 2008, and are offering the new service free of charge as standard for all of their burials on the site. A hand-held reader can be used to locate the marker disks or balls, which are roughly the size of a hockey puck. The readers can detect the markers up to a depth of five feet and will enable family members to find unmarked graves, or graves that have been damaged by natural disasters, weather conditions, or vandalism. It is also believed they will be used by staff when graves become buried in plants and grass.

Although the Daily Mail claims the system is based on GPS technology, the smart marker system in fact uses RF signals to locate the markers. For those in the industry, inspiration for more natural and eco-friendly burial services?

Website: www.hippensteelfuneralservice.com/naturalburial.php
Contact: staff@hippensteelfuneralhome.com

Spotted by: Smith Alan

Located just past the security checkpoint, the airport’s yoga room aims to offer visitors an opportunity for contemplation and self-reflection. Painted in calming hues of blue, the room features a floating wall, standing separate from the four load bearing walls of the room, symbolizing “a buoyant spirit and enlightened mind,” in the airport’s own words. Coming soon are large, felt-constructed rocks, which will be arranged throughout the room in the fashion of Japanese Zen gardens. Light levels, meanwhile, are kept low. To help travelers find the new yoga room, SFO has installed directional signs featuring a stylized image of a person in the Lotus position.

The number of people who practice yoga has increased an average of 20 to 25 percent each year in recent times, according to the Yoga Business Academy. Airports, train stations, and shopping malls around the globe: What about you?

Website: www.flysfo.com/web/page/index.jsp
Contact: www.flysfo.com/flysfocontactus/main

Spotted by: R Steinberg

Most traditional snowshoes are built so as to distribute the wearer’s weight over a larger area than their foot alone would, allowing them to sink less in deep snow. With spikes or claws at the snowshoe base for safe uphill ascension, however, they’re not designed for gliding. That’s where the Hive snowshoe comes in, with much of that same weight-distribution functionality incorporated into a design that allows the wearer to glide when they’re moving downhill. Hive snowshoes feature a plate at the bottom of the snowshoe with claw spikes that can be left facing down during uphill climbs, but then folded up for a smooth surface to enable gliding when traveling downhill. A sliding binding, meanwhile, accommodates both uphill and downhill motion. The video below demonstrates Hive snowshoes in action:

There’s no word yet on pricing or availability for Hive’s snowshoes, but we’re betting they’ll find an eager audience in outdoor enthusiasts looking to add some extra speed to the traditional snowshoeing experience. Outdoor retailers around the globe: one to add to your own wintertime line?

Website: www.hive-outdoor.com/en/ispo-hive-snowshoes
Contact: info@hive-outdoor.com

Spotted by: Smith Alan