Regular Springwise readers already know that corporate generosity is increasingly the way to the hearts, minds and, yes, wallets of Generation G. We've seen several "buy one, give one" programs toward that end in recent years—ranging from houses to baby clothes—but recently we happened upon a Singapore-based site that enables and supports myriad such efforts at once through what it calls a transaction-based giving engine.

Businesses interested in setting up a donation program begin by looking through B1G1's list of almost 700 available projects. They can search by country, region, beneficiary or project category, or they can simply browse through the list; a typical donation contributes a small, set amount—two cents, say—toward a particular cause, such as clean water for the needy, each time a particular product is purchased. At the end of the month, participating companies report to B1G1 how many units they sold of that chosen product, and B1G1 calculates the amount of donation due. Once approved by the business, that donation then gets made in a single click.

Business memberships start at USD 395, and there are now participating companies in 14 countries supporting more than 600 projects in 22 countries around the world. More than 19,000 meals have been provided to kids in orphanages and slums as a result, as well as access to clean water for 70,000 people and more, B1G1 says. For the supporting businesses, meanwhile, there's the ability to say, "every time you buy a cup of our coffee, a needy child gets a meal"—or whatever the case may be—and to work that generosity into their own corporate storytelling. Time to make giving a core part of your generosity-minded brand....? (Related: Buy a bottle of wine and donate clean water — Pepsi asks crowds which community projects to fund — For every brand and logo, a species to be saved.)

Website: www.b1g1.com
Contact: www.buy1-give1free.com/index.php/contact-us

That mobile phone charging is a universal nuisance is underscored by all the many efforts we've seen to alleviate the pain, including harnessing the wind, the sun, bicycles, dancers and foot pumps to make it easier. With similar intentions, Finnish Powerkiss has developed an approach that imbues everyday furniture with wireless charging capabilities.

Powerkiss's technology consists of two parts: a charging transmitter that gets integrated into furniture, and a charging receiver that gets plugged into the electronic device. To charge a phone, users simply attach the small receiver stick to their phone and place it on the surface of the enabled object. The proximity allows the resonating coils in each of the two parts to work together to charge the phone. Powerkiss's charging packages have already been integrated into a meeting room table and a coffee table from Finnish Martela; the technology is also available for public use in Café Alvar A and the Via Lounge at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Though currently limited to mobile phone charging, laptops and other devices will eventually be supported as well, Powerkiss says.

Ultimately, Powerkiss hopes cellphone manufacturers will begin enabling their handsets with wireless charging capabilities, which would eliminate the need for the plug-in receiver. Towards that end, it seeks partners in the mobile technology world as well as those in interior architecture, vehicle design and—of course—furniture. Who will be the first on your block to release customers from the charging-cord shackles?

Website: www.powerkiss.fi
Contact: info@powerkiss.com

Spotted by: John Greene

Fashion fanatics have a number of online tools at their disposal—including countless places to design their own creations—but expert industry forecasts have traditionally been available only to paying professionals. Proving once again the increasing clout of the creative masses, London forecasting firm Trendstop now offers a free mobile app that delivers high-end fashion predictions to anyone.

Trendstop typically provides forecasts and analysis to fashion industry professionals, with clients paying some USD 3,495 a year for full access. Now, however, any mobile user with a passion for fashion can download the company's Trendtracker application for free. Available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and other mobile platforms, Trendtracker lets users monitor the latest runway looks, fashion news, trend ideas and inspiration right from their mobile phones. Coverage includes daily trend reports, news and photos from fashion shows from around the world, and runway schedules and event guides.

Where's the line dividing amateurs and professionals? That becomes a little less clear each day, thanks in part to consumers' insatiable infolust and the real-time apps that increasingly feed it. It's all part of what our sister site calls nowism. What up-to-the-minute data can your brand offer to forge a new point of connection with creative consumers...?

Website: www.trendstop.com/mobile_app
Contact: accounts@trendstop.com

Global warming and the recession may have delivered a one-two punch to many consumers' travel plans, but that doesn't mean people can't still enjoy an exotic escape of a different kind. Enter Destination Dinners, a San Francisco company that offers a wide variety of dinner kits replicating dining experiences from around the world.

Bangladesh, Jamaica, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Israel, Lebanon and New Orleans are all regions that customers can 'visit' gastronomically by means of Destination Dinners' recipe kits, which come complete with everything necessary to create a local-style meal. Premeasured spices, sauces and dried items are part of every package, as are step-by-step instructions, a shopping list for fresh ingredients, and fun facts and trivia about the destination in question.

The Destination Dinner kits are designed to serve four adults and are priced at USD 25 or USD 30. A line of dinner party kits is also available—including serving pieces, placemats, bowls, trays and even music CDs—as is a "Destination Passport" plan that ships one dinner kit plus a corresponding cooking or serving tool each month.

Offering a healthy platter of dining insperiences along with a generous serving of status skills to boot, Destination Dinners currently focuses on shipping within the United States. One to help bring to home-bound culinary adventurers in your neck of the global woods...? (Related: Cuisine in a box — Ready-to-cook meals delivered to busy urbanites — Modern wine paired with ancient Roman cuisine.)

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

Spotted by: Jim Chiang

If augmented reality can be used to reveal the buildings of the future, then why not someone's face as it would look if a particular kind of makeup were applied? Such, indeed, is precisely the idea behind a new digital makeup mirror now being used by Shiseido in Japan.

Launched last month at the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo, the Digital Cosmetic Mirror lets store patrons test makeup and recommendations without actually applying anything to their skin, according to Japan Trends. Customers begin by allowing the mirror's camera to scan their face, generating a set of customised recommendations. Using the device's touch-screen interface, they can then ask to see specific types of makeup on their face, and the mirror paints those products on virtually and in real time. Different colours and formats can be applied and removed with the touch of a button, and consumers can print out 'before' and 'after' photos of the looks they like best. Also included on the printout, as one might expect, is product purchase information. A video on YouTube demonstrates the mirror in action.

In addition to enabling virtual tryvertising without the expense of real samples, the Digital Cosmetic Mirror also promises to dramatically reduce much of the waste associated with traditional sampling approaches, as Japan Trends points out. How long before this one spreads to makeup counters around the globe? (Related: Tryvertising store expands in Spain.)

Website: www.shiseido.co.jp
Contact: www.asia.shiseido.com/contact

Spotted by: Jenny Lau

From jeans to bicycles, fabrics to sleeping bags, we've seen a wide array of products consumers can design themselves. Lest swim shorts aficionados feel left out, however, there's now a design-your-own site for those too—and it even rewards creators with cold, hard cash.

Aiming to do for swim shorts what Threadless has done for t-shirts, Shortomatic is a California-based company that invites consumers to upload their own art for a truly customised swim. All they need do is indicate their waist size and then upload the graphics they have in mind. They then position and size the art, choose their colours and add text for use on the waistband. Next, voilà! A unique pair of California-made boardshorts that's customised for them. Those feeling less creative can also browse Shortomatic's curated gallery of existing designs—currently, there are close to 700 exhibited there. Consumers feeling really artistic, on the other hand, can submit their designs in Shortomatic's Artist's Program. Designs accepted by the gallery curator are produced in limited editions of 200. Their creators receive USD 5 for every pair sold, while a further 5 percent goes to support Global Green. Either way, every pair of shorts is printed with the artist's name, image title and edition number. Pricing begins at USD 99 per pair. Shortomatic is the sister company of Yogamatic which lets consumers design their own yoga mats.

The verdict is in, it seems safe to say, and consumers clearly like to have it their own way. Perhaps even more, however, they like to be paid for what they create. Help make that happen, and you'll see some sweet rewards yourself! ;-)

Website: www.shortomatic.com
Contact: customerservice@shortomatic.com

When a child is too sick to go to day care or school, working parents often have little choice but to stay home and miss work themselves. Not so for those who live in and around Kennewick, Washington, however, where a new company offers bed rest and supervised nursing care for kids with low-level but contagious illnesses.

Chicken Soup + Nursing is a 20-bed facility aimed at kids up to 12 years old with fever, conjunctivitis, rashes or other problems that prevent their going to school. In a setting much like a hospital ward, children are evaluated by a doctor or nurse practitioner, and typically placed on varying degrees of bed rest (with a safe distance between beds). Their vitals are taken at routine intervals by certified staff. If they are found to require medication, those drugs are ordered from a pharmacy, picked up and administered as directed. Kids can bring toys, books, handheld games and movies along with a packed lunch or baby food, if appropriate. Chicken Soup + Nursing provides snacks and fluids, along with updates to parents throughout the day. Chicken Soup + Nursing is planning to become a 24/7 operation and to enable remote viewing of patients for parents at work.

Employers in the United States alone lose between USD 2 and USD 12 billion annually as a result of the 5 to 29 days working mothers miss each year on average caring for ill children, according to the National Association for Sick Child Daycare. Recession-beleaguered parents, meanwhile, are more reluctant than ever to risk compromising their jobs by missing time unnecessarily. Who will be first to offer daytime care for mildly sick kids in your neck of the woods...? (Related: Hotel approach to childcare.)

Website: www.chickensoupnursing.com
Contact: staff@chickensoupnursing.com

Spotted by: Susanna Haynie

Registering bicycles to make them easier to track down if lost or stolen isn't new. Many bike retailers put identification numbers on bike frames, and in some cities you can register bicycles with the police. The problem is that these methods are generally only effective at the local level. Enter German startup MyBikeNumber. Launched in December 2009, MyBikeNumber is a free online service that lets consumers register their bicycle and components, or search for them worldwide.

Users register their bike on the MyBikeNumber site using the frame number, and add photos to the profile page to help visually identify their bike. Registered bikes are allocated a unique QR code, which can be printed as a sticker and affixed to the frame. The code can be read by many mobile devices. MyBikeNumber also allows bike retailers to register their entire inventory under a single "dealer code". Registered cycles can be reported as stolen or lost, or recorded as sold to a new owner, through the site.

Consumers can visit the site and check the unique identifiers to ensure that the bicycle they are looking to purchase is not stolen. In the event that a bike is found to be stolen, a message can be sent securely through the site to inform the rightful owner.

According to the FBI, there were 221,936 bicycle thefts in the United States in 2008. Globally, the number of bikes reported stolen annually is estimated at 1.5 million. MyBikeNumber aims to help bike owners worldwide avoid becoming a statistic. Could this be a model worth emulating to trace other possessions vulnerable to theft? (Related: Lost & found in the 21st century.)

Website: www.mybikenumber.com
Contact: press@mybikenumber.com

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

Similar to Hamburg's Language Lounge, which we covered back in 2008, Spanish restaurant chain Fresc Co now provides a way for customers to practice their English while they eat. But while Language Lounge charges a monthly fee for its lessons, Fresc Co's initiative is free.

Fresc Co operates some 40 restaurants in 11 Spanish cities, focusing on fresh ingredients and Mediterranean dishes. Starting last month, two of its Barcelona locations have teamed up with local instruction firm English Metas to help patrons improve their English skills while also doing a little networking. Targeting professional workers, English Metas' native speaking teachers focus primarily on everyday language and work situations in the relaxed, two-hour sessions.

Corporate generosity is always good, but when it can help your target customers through tough economic times—and drum up a little extra business along the way—it's a win-win for everyone. Other restaurants, bars and cafes around the globe: time to give out a little free love of your own? (Related: English lessons and eyelash extensions.)

Website: www.frescco.com

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto