We've written about several tools that help apartment tenants notify landlords of the need for repairs, but recently one caught our eye that focuses on the flip side instead. Specifically, Tenant Txt gives landlords a simple, paperless way to keep tenants informed.

Tenant Txt, based in Houston, is a mass alert and reminder system that allows rental communities of all sizes to easily communicate with tenants, maintenance workers and office personnel about maintenance repairs, criminal activity or community events via email and text message. Landlords can maintain an unlimited number of contacts along with their emails, mobile phone numbers and addresses; the online service uses a flat-file database, making it easy to import such information. To send an email or text message, users simply type or paste in their communication and submit; Tenant Txt then broadcasts it to the relevant list. Following a free, 15-day trial, Tenant Txt is priced starting at USD 25 per month. An autoresponder and a personalized Tenant Txt URL and email address are included with each subscription to the service.

By giving landlords a faster and more eco-minded alternative to distributing paper notices and other communications, Tenant Txt offers significant benefits on the user's end. Tenants, however, will also surely gain a better sense of immediacy and connection. Seems like a win-win all around and a no-brainer to be implemented—or emulated—in housing communities around the globe. Another paper-based process bites the dust! ;-) (Related: Web tools for landlords — Using pictures to help tenants request repairs.)

Website: www.tenanttxt.com
Contact: www.tenanttxt.com/contactus.html

At the baggage claim area of Jože Pučnik Airport in Ljubljana, Slovenia, travellers can pick up more than just their luggage. Using the Bluetooth feature on their mobile phones, they can download tourist information and coupons for their stay in Slovenia.

Through a campaign devised by the Slovenian Tourist Board in cooperation with Aerodrom Ljubljana and Creativ Interaktiv, arriving passengers riding on the airport's buses from plane to terminal are invited to turn on the Bluetooth feature on their mobile phones. That invitation is repeated as they pass through customs to the baggage retrieval area. Within baggage claim is the so-called Bluetooth Zone, where users who have turned on Bluetooth are asked if they want to receive information about Slovenia. Users who say yes receive a free SMS text message with instructions on downloading the information, which is presented in both Slovene and English and includes tips for a hassle-free stay in Slovenia, recommended tourist attractions and events, and mobile coupons from partner organizations. Following the positive response to a test in December and January, the Bluetooth service is in place at least through the end of this month.

While Bluetooth proximity-marketing efforts elsewhere have met with mixed success so far, the fact that travellers are already accustomed to receiving text messages from local phone providers when they land at a foreign airport makes this one seem like more of a natural fit. One to test out in the tourist destination of your choice...? (Related: Tony Player brings online playlists to the dance floor — Brick-and-mortar kiosks sell mobile content — Digital billboards revive empty storefronts.)

Website: www.slovenia.info/en/Tourist-Guide.htm?_ctg_guidebook=0&lng=2
Contact: www.slovenia.info/asp/write_to_us.asp

Spotted by: Matej Golob

Adidas is no stranger to the street culture scene, and their latest move seems right on target: the Adidas Urban Art Guide to Berlin is an iPhone travel guide listing Berlin’s best graffiti.

Users download the application for free, giving them access to a Google map of Berlin that’s pegged with the locations of its urban art masterpieces. The map can be navigated in several ways: "Find artworks nearby" provides users with a map of art works in their immediate vicinity; "Tour guide" calls up a curated walking tour of local urban art; and "Gallery" gives users the option to browse the city's street art and then seek out their favourite pieces. Users can click on each marked location to call up images as well as information about the piece, the artist and further references.

The app’s interactive elements including rating and commenting functionalities, and letting users upload their own snaps of new art, which keeps the map cutting-edge at no extra cost to Adidas. Berlin is currently the only city on the Urban Art Guide's map, but plans are underway to develop similar guides for other cities.

Although a growing audience appreciates street art, few traditional guide books make any mention of it. So this is a smart move on behalf of Adidas, getting the brand straight into the hands of its target audience, while reaffirming its street credentials. Other brands—what kind of map-related content can you offer your (niche) audiences on the go? (Related: Free coffee for iPhone users at Swedish 7-Eleven — Louis Vuitton’s walking tours of Beijing, Shanghai & Hong Kong — trendwatching.com's take on mapmania.)

Website: www.urbanartguide.de
Contact: info@urbanartguide.com

Spotted by: Susanna Haynie

Both ShortTask and Amazon's Mechanical Turk enable Internet-connected computer users to earn money performing quick tasks for organizations far and wide. Now, a new project aims to bring similar income opportunities to those in the developing world using the ubiquitous mobile phone.

Targeting the more than 2 billion literate mobile phone subscribers in the developing world, txteagle aims to help alleviate high unemployment levels in many rural areas of countries like Kenya with a crowdsourcing approach that offers new ways to earn extra money. The service connects corporations with small tasks to be completed—currently, the most common ones include software localization and translation into local dialects for companies like Nokia—and native people who can complete them in minutes by cell phone. Tasks are sent to multiple phone users by text message—"translate the phrase, 'address book' into Giriama," for example—and answers are accepted as accurate when the majority of users provide the same response. Compensation is determined by the number of times an individual’s response agrees with the consensus; penalties are imposed for wrong answers, while "don’t know" responses make no contribution. Over time the system learns a particular user's expertise, and can actively select the most appropriate tasks for them. It can also weight answers from long-term and historically accurate users higher than others, making it necessary to involve fewer other individuals when those users respond. Payment is made either to a bank account connected with an individual's phone number—accessible at any post office or local kiosk—or via airtime credit transfers.

The txteagle service is currently deployed in Kenya via Mobile Planet and Safaricom, and will soon be launching in Rwanda through MTN Rwanda and in the Dominican Republic through Viva. Additional partnerships in Africa and South America will be announced later this year, txteagle says. Also in the works is a version of the service that uses the commonly found Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) protocol instead of SMS. One to partner with, try out or otherwise get involved in...?

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

Spotted by: Susanna Haynie

An iPhone application developed for 7-Eleven Sweden combines a store locator with coupons for a free coffee and biscotti. After downloading the app, users plug in their phone number and receive a unique coupon code on their iPhone. To claim their coffee, they just show the code to a 7-Eleven clerk; no purchase necessary. The coupon is only valid once, and free coffee in April will be followed by free ice cream in May.

The application, developed by Stockholm-based digital agency Lonely Duck, was downloaded 2,500 times in the week it launched—a considerable number given the size of the Swedish iPhone community, and enough to place it in the top 10 of free app downloads.

7-Eleven hasn't launched the app in other markets yet, but it's a smart example for other iPhone-loving retailers to follow: don't just help (a relatively affluent group of) consumers find your store, but give them a good reason to visit and spend money while they take you up on your generous offer.

Website: www.7-eleven.se
Contact: www.7-eleven.se/kontakt.html

Spotted by: Robert Olzon