Over the past year we’ve noticed experimentation in Starbucks’ marketing, a reflection of an identity crisis in the industry as “mass-market powerhouses” McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts use the recession to rise from below. On the opposite front gourmet coffee startups are beginning to present the premium quality Starbucks once used as its primary selling point.

Mint, the newly acquired financial startup, crunches user data to reveal which American cities cut spending the most in 2009.

To celebrate 100 years of existence, Selfridges London put products from a century into the future on window display. Each object was assigned a letter and formed the ABCs of tomorrow.

Dropping a total of $2.2 million dollars, South Korea’s Hyundai Card has bought out all media space in the newly opened subway station just outside their building.

New York City Hall is testing a robotic lawn mower that is able to self steer and charge its own battery. Having the potential to relieve union workers of their current responsibilities, it could be a new page in the human-machine relationship.

Contributing to the discourse taking place around the state of the suburb artist Ross Racine has created a series of fictional renderings.

The latest work from German street artist EVOL uses layered stencils to create the illusion of an abandoned cityscape.

Silent Studio’s Youth Music Box is a fully interactive musical sandbox where up to four or five people can perform using instruments like keyboards, drums, and a DJ style interface.

To reach Hong Kong’s hip urban demographic Coke Zero is teaming up with Japanese streetwear brand Neighborhood Denim.

Scientists at the University of Washington are working on a new breed of contact lenses with embedded LEDs which allow information to be displayed to the wearer.

A small but vibrant community is developing around the extreme pogo stick.

In an attempt to consolidate London’s multiple identities into a more unified package the Greater London Authority has opened up the ideation process to all. The official invitation hopes that contractors will help engage stakeholders in order to develop London’s narrative post-2012.
Independent agency Moving Brands is already putting social media to work with its blog, A Brand for London, and Twitter account @we_are_london. These initiatives are designed to open up commentary on subjects such as London’s design DNA, architecture, and people who live there.
[via brandnew]
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The LA Times has published an interesting gallery of images showing Beijing consumers using their local IKEA store as a space to relax and socialize. Beyond shopping, the store has become a destination for Saturday afternoon family outings, naps, and photo shoots.
Only with China’s recent economic growth have branded retail experiences become more common. For most Chinese the concept is still fairly foreign, making visiting these locations a form of entertainment.
[via LA Times]

To make planning your next trip across the city a little smoother, Google Maps has implemented live traffic information for arterial roads. The service uses GPS enabled smart phones with the Google Maps application to crowdsource its data. With many devices telling HQ how fast they are traveling, a fairly accurate picture of where congestion is or isn’t can be presented. The ability to view traffic history also makes it easier to predict future conditions.
Tools like this make life easier, but there are concerns that if large numbers of drivers all try to optimize their route at once, even [...]

Image credit: Getty Images, Art, concept, people, objects/Flickr
For the past decade or so capitalists have struggled to maintain control over the distribution of music. We’ve seen the trend reports, multitudes warning about the demise of the industry. We’ve also seen artists like Radiohead and front man Thom Yorke demonstrating a little optimism by facing the situation head on; see paywhatyouwill pricing and their decision to quit the album format cold turkey. Innovation is present, Mos Def’s T-shirt marketing, leak strategy, and new perspectives on album art included. Quite simply, the business of music is evolving and it is important [...]