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Here is your weekly dose of new business ideas and, of course, this week's Wise Words interview:

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Wifi light bulbs monitored, managed and controlled remotely

Lighting is a significant contributor towards home and business energy costs, but for most of us, switching to more efficient bulbs is the extent of what we’ve done to save energy. Dutch NXP Semiconductors, however, recently introduced technology that connects bulbs over wifi, allowing fine-tuned control from any internet-connected device. READ MORE...

Modular “living system” converts cars into motorhomes

As desirable as the idea of motorhome may be, owning one can still pose many problems for holiday makers. As well as being expensive to buy, the vehicles are often cumbersome, slow, and bulky — and towing a caravan presents many of the same problems. Hoping to solve all of these issues and more, swissRoomBox have created a portable modular living system which can be transferred from car to car. READ MORE...

T-shirt monitors sleep patterns of the wearer

We’ve already seen several innovations geared toward helping consumers track their sleep patterns during the night — most recently, the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach system — but typically they all require that the user wear some sort of conspicuous additional monitoring device in order to accomplish that task. Not so the Somnus Sleep Shirt , a sensor-embedded t-shirt that can simply be worn instead of a regular undershirt. READ MORE...

Wise Words with Tom & James

One of the most popular Springwise features in recent weeks, Softsign is mobile application that allows users to sign PDF and JPEG documents on-screen with a finger or stylus and then email the legally binding result directly to the recipient. By solving a simple, commonplace inconvenience the Softsign app managed 30,000 downloads in its first two months. READ MORE...

Service aims to simplify consumer banking with dedicated tools and products

Hard on the heels of our story about Finnish banking service Holvi comes word of yet another contender that aims to shake up the financial world. Rather than group banking, though, BankSimple targets everyday consumers with a service that seeks to provide a “worry-free alternative” to traditional banking services. READ MORE...

Mobile app offers comprehensive parking assistance

Technology is increasingly being recruited to make parking easier, such as through in-ground sensors that alert drivers to vacant spots. Now, German design firm Wunderstadt’s new mobile app Parkbud, offers a suite of functions designed to take the stress out of the parking experience. READ MORE...

Site helps golfers plan a round with friends

It can be a challenge to coordinate any kind of get-together, but planning a round of golf among friends may just be the most difficult of all thanks to the complexity involved in comparing schedules, gathering preferences, communicating with the course starter and making tee assignments. Help is now at hand, however, in the form of Teeboxer, a site that aims to make the whole process easier by handling the bulk of the coordination and tapping the social networks players are already using. READ MORE...

Restaurant projects food onto diners’ plates with interactive ordering system

When dining at new restaurants, trying to select a meal from an unfamiliar menu can often place patrons in a quandary. A new projection system in London’s Inamo restaurant, however, hopes to alleviate some of this uncertainty by displaying images of meals on diners’ tables as they browse the menu. READ MORE...

In Prague, a new shopping mall caters for men

If men can have their own cupcakes, clothes irons, candles and in-home retail parties, isn’t it time they had their own shopping malls too? That, apparently, is essentially the thinking behind Pánská Pasáž — a brand-new upscale mall in Prague focusing primarily on male shoppers. READ MORE...

Experts paid by the minute to deliver advice via online chat

It’s one thing to tap the crowds for advice on general topics — that’s what apps like Crowdbeacon and Opinionaided are for. Sometimes, however, there’s just no substitute for the insight of a true expert. Enter MinuteBox, a service that lets those with a particular area of expertise monetize it by the minute using online chat. READ MORE...

Unlocking doors and granting access via smartphone

As their features and functions grow, smartphones have increasingly begun to replace standalone devices such as music players and cameras. Now US-based service Lockitron, aims to remove the need to carry separate keys as well. READ MORE...

Dutch hotel will accommodate guests in modular ‘cabins’

Modular hotels have graced our virtual pages on numerous occasions already, but lately we came upon one that’s a little different. For just EUR 20 per night, Amsterdam’s CityHub hotel will offer self-contained sleep cabins and an active online community aimed at “shoppers, culture geeks and socializers.” READ MORE...

Custom pizzas by mail with more than 70 possible toppings

With all the “design your own” stories we’ve written over the years, it hadn’t really occurred to us until just recently that pizza had never been among them. Then we came across Panamore and the situation was rectified. Sure enough, the German pizza maker allows customers to create and order the pizzas of their dreams online and then receive them by mail the next day. READ MORE...

Platform recommends footwear based on previous favorites

Finding a running shoe that fits perfectly can often be a time consuming task. All the more frustrating, then, when that favorite pair of shoes eventually wears out, particularly since 40 percent of the time, shoe sizes are not equivalent across different brands and models. Hoping to ease the burden of having to find replacements for worn shoes that have now been discontinued, Shoefitr recommends footwear based on the style and fit of an owner’s most recent running shoes. READ MORE...

Minimalist 10-piece wardrobe designed to span a year

The fact that there’s demand for online wardrobe management services such as My Fashion Plate speaks volumes about the “fast fashion” mindset that’s become so common today. Aiming squarely at the opposite end of the sustainability spectrum, the Malaysian ULTRA fashion label has launched an eco-minded 10-piece women’s wardrobe set that’s designed to offer — through mixing and matching — enough outfits to last a whole year. READ MORE...

Site offers clarified banking for groups & small business teams

For groups of friends, shared expenses can be handled through sites such as PayDivvy. Small businesses and teams, however, tend to need a more structured approach. Billed as “a revolutionary netbanking service for creative projects and group activities,” Finnish Holvi aims to serve such users with a raft of business-oriented functions. READ MORE...