Belgian Ello Mobile is a new mobile operator that was established with the sole aim of giving away 100% of its profits. Ello is a mobile virtual network operator – it uses an existing network. Instead of offering bargain-basement cellphone plans, the company offers its customers the chance to contribute directly to a cause with every call they make, and every text message they send.

Customers can currently pick one of six projects, from protecting the jungles of Sumatra to providing mobile schools to street children in South America. Another six projects will be added over the next few months, all of which have been selected by an independent panel of experts. Ello understands the need for charitable organizations to be completely transparent, and will share full profit and loss statements with its customers. To minimize costs, the company is entirely web-based, and works with a small administrative staff. Profit margins are forecast at 24-33% for the first three years, and are targeted to climb to 41% after 2009.

Meanwhile, just launched in the Netherlands, Tommy Telecom is also forging a link between social causes and mobile telecom. Albeit with a very different approach. Tommy's customers are required to structurally donate time or money to a recognized cause. Which means their customer base is 5 million Dutch citizens.

Like Ello, Tommy Telcom is a virtual mobile provider, operating on KPN's network. Unlike Ello, Tommy offers cheap cell phone plans. For EUR 5 per month, members can call other members at no charge, and non-members at EUR 0,15 per minute. Here, the goal isn't to give away profits, but to offer socially engaged consumers a reward for sponsoring causes and an extra incentive to keep donating. And of course the scheme will also encourage members to ask their friends and family to sign up too, so that all involved can call more people for free.

Whether you make it easy or rewarding for your customers to be good, turning existing consumer behaviour into a way of contributing to a better world is innovation we applaud.

Website: http://www.ello-mobile.be
Contact: info@ello-mobile.be

Website: http://tommytelecom.nl
Contact: http://tommytelecom.nl/contact

Launched a few weeks ago, Pink Choice is a review website for gay and lesbian travellers. The company was founded by the owners of two successful gay guesthouses in Massachusetts, who were frustrated by the lack of relevant information when planning their own holidays. While TripAdvisor and other online travel review communities feature a wealth of user-generated information about hotels and holiday destinations, no such website exists specifically for a non-straight audience.

Pink Choice aims to feature the most reliable, honest and trusted reviews exclusively for gay and lesbian travellers seeking first-hand information about gay-friendly accommodation worldwide. Besides encouraging members to post reviews and rate hotels, Pink Choice will also hand out annual Pink Choice awards, that will be presented to hotels, guesthouses and inns that have provided the very best in gay and lesbian accommodation.

Based on conservative estimates, the American gay and lesbian community alone represents a USD 65 billion travel market (source: Community Marketing, Inc). Which makes Pink Choice seem like a very smart move. The website currently only features a few dozen destinations, and the number of reviews is very limited. Time for users to start generating content!

Website: http://www.pinkchoice.com
Contact: info@pinkchoice.com

Opening next month in Nagoya, the Robot Mirai Department store will sell robots and robot accessories. The store is part of a complex that also houses Nagoya's new Robot Museum, and its star product will be a 35 centimeter tall humanoid that goes by the name of Nuvo. Nuvo responds to voice commands, can be operated by remote controls and cellphones, and not only walks, but dances, too.

Though heralded as the world's first specialist robot shop, that's probably stretching the truth a little. Speciality shops already exist in various cities in Japan and across the world (to name two: Robopolis in Paris and Robot Village in New York). But these are geared to robot hobbyists and mainly sell kits and technical manuals. To non-hobbyists, RMD's high-tech look and ready-made products will no doubt more closely match their automaton fantasies.

RMD was developed by Gyrowalk, an agency based in Osaka that handles 'Media & Publishing, Sales & Marketing, Research & Development, Education & Entertainment Concerning the Future of Robots'. One of Gyrowalk's previous initiatives is the Robo Cafe in Osaka, described as a futuristic space where everyone communicates with robots. Every robot in the cafe is for sale, and the high-tech gizmos are balanced by organic food and drinks. (Robo Cafe opened in October 2005.)

Since robo-enthusiasts are hardly limited to Japan, Springwise believes every country could do with a robot department store. Or at least a robo-café. Time to grab your jetpacks and head over for a closer look.

Website: http://www.robot-museum.net/rmd
Contact: info@gyrowalk.com

Here's something that captures the zeitgeist in a novel yet simple way: Canadian t-lists are t-shirts that list the owner's top 5 for *anything*, from five worst movies or five most admired musicians, to five best products ever, or five things he or she will never eat. T-lists t-shirts are sweatshop-free and can be shipped globally. The company has set itself the goal of becoming part of the vernacular.

So what about that zeitgeist? List- and profile-mania is proliferating rapidly, thanks to social websites like MySpace, Facebook, lastfm and Bebo, which are connecting likeminded individuals from around the world. (Not to mention the thousands of dating sites for those who want to be more than friends.) Refreshingly enough, this new listmania is not about keeping track of mass market hits, but about individuals: their likes, dislikes, preferences, interests and so on. Taking this trend and translating it to the 'real world', as t-lists has done, is pretty clever, and may well be the start of many new offline products and services that help individuals literally wear their profiles on their sleeves. All to facilitate conversations, express oneself, or quickly identify other 'tribe members'.

Now, t-lists being a young company, Springwise is sure they wouldn't mind sealing some international distribution deals. Especially if those deals would help them get a better grip on local lists, in languages other than English. Oh, and if you're feeling really entrepreneurial: there's no end to business opportunities when it comes to connecting outspoken individuals who actually like being part of a group as long as its members are just like him or her. For this week, t-lists have definitely made Springwise's top 5!

Website: http://www.t-lists.com
Contact: dingdong@t-lists.com

The Hoxton Hotel just opened its doors in a hip neighbourhood in London's East End. Besides the usual meeting spaces for guests, the Hoxton also offers private offices for non-guests. Perfect for getting work done between meetings in London. Each office features a desk, free wireless internet, a phone and a private bathroom. The offices are open from 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays and are currently on offer for just GBP 19 per day. Offering work space to non-guests is a smart sideline for hotels, who should be able to incorporate them with existing (underutilized) business centres without too much trouble.

Flexible being spaces for mobile warriors are fast becoming a global trend. For more examples, see our previous coverage of The Coffee Office in Canada, The Hubworking Centre in London, Habitaz in South Africa and Bureaux in Australia.

Back to the Hoxton, which incorporates plenty of other innovative elements. Taking the easyJet approach to rates, rooms are cheapest far in advance, including elusive attention grabbers of one pound a night. Like most inexpensive airline tickets, reservations at Hoxton Hotel are non-refundable (unless made at GBP 119 or over). This deviates from the hotel standard of 24-hour cancellations, but enables very sharp prices by London standards -- nightly rates average at GBP 79 per room.

The hotel was created by Sinclair Beecham, who co-founded Pret a Manger. The Hoxton is Beecham's first foray into the hotel world, to which he wants to bring a superior, well-designed experience at affordable prices. Frills include free wireless internet throughout the hotel, Frette linens, duck-down duvets and affordable phone calls. As quoted in the Observer, Beecham's inspiration stems from his own underwhelming experiences: "I paid GBP 2.50 for a Mars bar in a hotel the other day. I mean, what do they think I am? In business you've got to treat your customers with respect, not like dumb bastards. That's why I wanted to open a hotel, because I find it so frustrating." Amen to that.

Website: http://www.hoxtonhotels.com
Contact: info@hoxtonhotels.com