It took the young product designer eight months cooped up in a lab to create BRGP (Bullus Recycled Gum Polymer), a form of rubber that can be molded into anything from toys to a pair of Wellington boots. The Gumdrop Bin is a project that has stemmed from this innovation. Several areas in the UK, including Orpington College in Kent and Legoland in Windsor, as well as the famous Six Flags Theme Park in the US are dotted with these bright pink bubble bins, specifically put up as disposal containers for discarded gum.

The idea behind the campaign is simple. When the gumdrop bins are already filled with chewed up gum, they can be taken out and recycled into new BRGP. Since the gumdrop bin is also made of recycled chewing gum, there is no need for tedious extraction.

In July, 2010, Anna Bullus was selected by Management Today as one of the ‘35 Under 35 to Change the Future’ for her innovation. She now runs her own design company and continues to promote the Gumdrop Bin campaign through www.gumdropbin.com.

More than 3.5 billion pieces of chewing gum are discarded every year, defacing public property and causing varying degrees of annoyance among the people. If this campaign becomes widespread, not only will the streets be less littered with sticky used gum, but we may also be seeing a plausible environment friendly replacement for plastic.

Crowdsourcing is a portmanteau of the words crowd and outsourcing. When crowdsourcing, companies take tasks that are usually assigned to a department or a single employee within their business, or a contractor, and offers them to entire communities.

Crowdsourcing offers many advantages to advertisers. They get to see proposals from a diverse group of people, instead of just one. IamaSource opens its doors to freelance designers and writers from around the world. And, instead of paying for each proposal, advertisers only have to pay for the one that they like, at a price that is set when the call for proposal is made. Much like a design contest, the designer with the “best” design gets paid.

The danger for advertisers is that there is no guarantee that they’ll meet strict marketing deadlines. No one can be held liable for not finishing the work, or not coming up with a good enough idea.

IamaSource aims to support the advertising industry and even inspire creativity in it. By creating an alternative to traditional advertising, they’re raising the bar for creative executions.

On the other hand, the designers and writers who participate in crowdsourcing have to take care not to be exploited. For every designer that wins one of the contests posted by IamaSource, there can be dozens and potentially hundreds of designers and writers that do legitimate work and end up not getting paid one cent for their efforts.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Innovation.

Spintronics or spin transport electronics (also known as magnetoelectronics) is a field of nanotechnology that exploits the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment. This technology has the potential to make batteries last for 10 hours longer and make processors work 10 times faster. The result would be much more energy-efficient mobile devices, computers and appliances.

Spintronics is an emerging technology, and the 38-year-old Dr. Sharoni is working out of Bar-Ilan’s brand new nano center. As a condensed matter physicist, Dr. Sharoni also held a position in the University of California, San Diego. He is now set to continue his projects in Ramat Gan, just outside of Tel Aviv.

The technology does not only apply to mobile devices. About 40 percent of electricity is lost before it even gets to the average home. Dr. Sharoni is working to help prevent that loss by investigating better ways to conduct electricity. Currently, superconductors are one step closer to achieving this except that they have to be super-cooled, making them inefficient.

Resistance-free conduction at room temperature is theoretically impossible, but the properties of matter change when working on a nano scale.

Scientists like Dr. Sharoni needed only to look at things from a different perspective in order to achieve what was once thought to be impossible. “I am trying to look at how the physics changes when you don’t make a big piece of material, but when you look at a small portion of it. At the nano scale it looks different and it is different,” says Dr. Sharoni.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Technology.

Originally developed for Police and Military use in Singapore, WaveSecure allows users to avoid many of the problems that come with losing one’s mobile phone. Upon losing their phone, registered WaveSecure users can log on to their account on the WaveSecure website and download all of their personal information from their mobile phone. When the download is complete, all information will be erased from the lost or stolen phone so that others will not have access to it.

This technology has proven particularly useful for people who use their phones as digital organizers, storing bank account or credit card information, confidential or sensitive information about the company that they work for, private pictures, the personal information of their friends and family, and other information that could be used for devious intentions.

If the phone is being used by another person, the technology can even help to track them down by reporting back with the telephone number being used with the phone.

The China Mobile Innovation Competition was supported this year by Great Wall, SAN, TenCent, Global IP Communication Alliance among others. tenCube was selected among 110 entries. Other mobile applications fell under the categories of music, games, entertainment, and social networking apart from security.

Among other awards, tenCube also has the distinction of being recognized by the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge, the Android Developer Awards, Mobile Monday Peer Awards, and Red Herring Asia 100.

This technology is not just excellent for its users, but when it gains popularity, it has the potential to instill a culture of returning lost cell phones to their owners, rather than take the risk of being tracked down by the original user.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Technology.

The 918 Spyder combines high-tech racing features with electric-mobility to offer a wide range of innovative new qualities. For example, it comes with a fuel consumption rate of nearly 78 mpg, which is truly outstanding, even for an ultra compact city car. But the Spyder is intended to offer the performance of a super sports car with a top speed of 198 mph, and a lap time on the Nordschleife of Nurburgring in less than 7:30 minutes, faster than even the Porsche Carrera GT.

How does a supercar achieve such range? The Spyder is a parallel hybrid like the Prius. This means that two powertrains – both gas and electric – can operate together or separately to keep the wheels turning. There are four modes that configure the powertrains for anything from maximum efficiency to maximum performance and everything in between. The E-Drive mode means pure electric power, and the car can reportedly last up to 16 minutes on electrons alone. Next up is hybrid mode, which would be primarily be used for everyday driving. The Sports Hybrid mode uses both powertrains, but leans a little more toward performance with most of the power reaching the rear wheels. Finally, the Race Hybrid mode means all systems are go for the lowest lap times possible.

The Spyder is one of three Porsche models with hybrid drive making their debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The trio – made up of Porsche’s new Cayenne S Hybrid SUV with parallel full-hybrid drive, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car with electric drive, and the two-seater high-performance 918 Spyder mid-engine sports car with plug-in hybrid technology – clearly demonstrates not only the great promise of this new drive technology, but also the innovative power of Porsche as a genuine pioneer in hybrid drive.

The highly-innovative 918 combines Porsche’s Intelligent Performance philosophy with the high-technology from motorsport, with classic but modern design to make what I believe is a truly convincing statement.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovative concept cars

“Respected companies aren’t going to fall as far in the bad times, and they come back better,” says David Hartzell of Cornell Capital Management, a participant in the survey that helped produce Barron’s list.

In 2009’s roller coaster market, the top-ranked stocks generally experienced lower volatility and outperformed during the bear leg. And now, even after the market’s rally, the value of respect is still understood: For the most part, shares of the most respected companies are either above or not much below their bankruptcy levels, and have beaten the market since that crisis erupted. Indeed, Apple, which topped Barron’s list, is above its pre-crisis stock price.

It’s not uncommon to see a few changes at the top of the list’s annual rankings, and this year is no different. Johnson & Johnson, a perennial leader, slipped from No. 1 to No. 2, and Berkshire Hathaway dropped to fifth place from second. The ever-steady Procter & Gamble remained at No. 3, while IBM jumped 10 notches to fourth place.

Survey participants say respected companies have strong management, good governance, valuable products and services, and strong stock returns. They act ethically and treat their shareholders, customers, and employees well. And while some money managers name respect as the first cut in their investment process, others say respect is more often the result of a sound investment process.

For my part, respect answers the question ‘Is management going to be a good steward of the clients’ money?’ In my experience, I have seen that respect takes a long time to build and can quickly be destroyed.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation in business

• Windows Phone 7 Series – By re-imagining how its touchscreen smartphone interface should work from a consumer’s perspective, Microsoft created a dazzling alternative to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. With its live tile-based user interface, a clear navigation system, and high-spec hardware requirements, Windows Phone 7 Series promises much excitement for consumers in 2010.

• Pico projectors on phones – Projecting images straight from your phone onto a wall could be the next must-have mobile gadgetry trick. I can see the advantages of the technology to show images, video, documents, and just about anything else you have on your phone on a nearby flat surface.

• LTE – LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the new mobile technology on the block, and this fourth generation mobile network technology was shown around MWC 2010 with much discussion about roll-outs, network agreements, and so forth.

• PUMA solar powered sports phone – Solar powered, touchscreen-equipped and sporty: the much touted PUMA PHONE may not be the most high-tech of handsets, but it certainly managed to get ahead of more higher-tech gear in the publicity stakes.

• New BlackBerry browser – It’s been crying out for an upgrade, and now it’s arrived — or it will soon, at least. The new BlackBerry browser — the result of development through RIM’s Torch Mobile acquisition — is fast, smooth to use and renders websites impressively. Not a groundbreaker in terms of innovation, but it’s what plenty of BlackBerry of users have been demanding.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about technology

Obama said “I have never been more hopeful about America’s future than I am tonight,” putting clean energy jobs, high-speed rail, and basic research for American innovation at the core of the economic recovery.

“We can put Americans to work today building the infrastructure of tomorrow,” Obama said. “There’s no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products.”

The President signaled that high-speed rail projects funded by the Recovery Act will help to pull America out of the recession. Obama also announced that California was to receive a funding award for high-speed rail, which had Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger singing Obama’s praises.

“Today’s announcement is fantastic news for job creation in California,” Schwarzenegger said. “By showing leadership and including high-speed rail funding in the Recovery Act, the Obama Administration is strongly supporting California’s high-speed rail project, which is the largest public works project in the nation and will create jobs, save billions of pounds of greenhouse gasses, and will be the first true high-speed rail system to break ground in the nation.”

Obama went on to say in his address, “We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities, and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy efficient, which supports clean energy jobs.”

“Next, we need to encourage American innovation,” President Obama said. “Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched. And no other area is more ripe for such innovation than energy.”

I believe President Obama issued a clear and unmistakable call to action in his State of the Union address, charging the Senate to pass the comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation we need to put Americans back to work and lay the foundation for a generation of prosperity, efficiency, and security.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about clean energy

As an innovator and entrepreneur myself, I will be watching closely to convey some of the fantastic new ideas presented within the competition. Because of its international emphasis and proximity to the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen, the Global Cleantech Open is certain to inspire and amaze.

[image via Hoyasmeg]

In one move (given its strong web presence), Google announced a plan to build on its online payment platform, Google Checkout, in a bid to create a universal system that will enable newspapers and other media producers to charge for their content online. Think of it as a gated community for that handles content created across multiple sites.

Google collects the micropayments, either through subscriptions or pay-as-you-go plans and distributes the money based on traffic or some other metric. The benefits for the producers are obvious, assuming they’re still able to pull in readers, but the boon for Google is twofold. They collect a percentage on the transactions and get to learn more about their audience’s habits. Which leads me to ask, will the public being willing pay, and will they have any choice?

The other deal is much farther afield. Google announced that it is working hard to improve the tech behind solar thermal heating systems. Essentially, seeking to improve the reflective surfaces to generate greater heat and more efficiencies. A plan that follows with its philanthropic quest to develop green technology, but also has the potential for big pay-outs given that the clean energy market is still relatively new.

But what’s most curious about this move, is that it appears to compete with Google’s early investments in solar, namely  eSolar and Brightsource. Apparently Google was unhappy with the level of innovations happening within this space and is seeking a more active role. This will have to be another wait and see, but with a working prototype expected in the next few months, it appears we’ll know soon enough.

[image via Yodel Anecdotal]