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 Vending machines dispense high-tech gadgets 
Software plots moving maps on mobile phones
Reverse daycare
A party guaranteed to get your heart pumping
Washington, Lincoln, Benjamin-get ready for a long sayonara. Say hi to the mobile payment options for the next millennium: cell phone-enabled contactless cards from the likes of DoCoMo, tap-and-go card options from Big Credit, and SMS pay-on-the-go plans like PayPal Mobile. Emerging in Japan, NTT DoCoMo's DCMX program enables consumers to make mobile purchases with a flick of the wrist. Consumers toting phones equipped with DoCoMo's contactless IC card, Osaifu-Keitai, simply wave their phones in front of a merchant's IC reader. The specially equipped phones can also be used to wirelessly transmit credit card transactions, airline tickets and other information. Major credit card companies also are pushing mobile payment systems hard and heavy, even in our slow-on-the-uptake U.S. of A. American Express, Chase and Keybank all have rolled out pay-enabled credit or debit cards, most of which use ExpressPay or PayPass wireless protocols. So are we on the verge of a cash-free society? Not quite yet. But leading-edge consumers are proving willing to put their trust in technology. With the cell phone having emerged as the must-have platform for everything from communication to music, payments are the logical next choice for functionality. Expect greatly expanded m-pay programs stateside in 2007, as America's biggest merchants (the likes of 7-Eleven, CVS and Walgreens are already on board) make POS readers available.
If you feel alone, you're not alone. Today's consumers are more socially isolated, leaving no caring ears to bend or trusty shoulders to lean on when troubles come. The culprits: busy lifestyles and superficial Internet relationships. According to the General Social Survey, 25% of Americans have no close confidant, double the number found in 1985. And most confidants are family, meaning there's little connection to anyone outside home and work. GSS researchers urge consumers to meet more people. But employers can also help with flexible schedules that allow more time to mix with others. When 24/7 isn't enough, relationships go bye-bye. Turning off electronics and setting aside work to connect with real people brings happy balance to life.
Self-shopping goes high-tech-and high-priced-with Sony's branded "robotic stores." The automated kiosks enable customers to score coveted consumer electronics with touch-and-swipe simplicity, 24/7. Just don't call them vending machines. Interactive stalls blend the click-through convenience of online buying with the instant gratification of in-store shopping. Spendy stock includes everything from $5 battery packs to $250 PSPs. Sony's testing its robo-retailers in shopping centers in Atlanta; Boulder, Colorado; and Santa Rosa, California, with seven more slated to appear in malls, airports and grocery stores in summer 2006. Snickers. Diet Coke. Digital camera. Tech toys are no longer "luxury" splurges. They're on-demand staples-and everyday impulse buys. Who needs a big box? Automated interfaces can bring streamlined novelty to the live shopping experience and remove the live hassles of lines, crowds and salespeople.
Lost techies find their bearings with Wayfinder Navigator, a location-based software app that turns Bluetooth-enabled cell phones into cutting-edge cartographers. The digital navi system uses GPS tech to plot speed-sensitive moving maps directly onto cell screens. Users can also dial up voice instructions, weather reports, traffic information, conversion rates and quick mobile contacts with local "points of interest" (hotels, restaurants, gas stations). Wayfinder Navigator is available in European and North American versions and supports 15 languages. Portable, GPS-based solutions are charting new courses as tech-savvy travel companions and user-friendly navigation tools. With two whole continents already in our hands, can the whole world be far behind?
The Vans Warped Tour, a high-energy music and extreme sports festival, attracts about 30,000 fans per city, many chauffeured and chaperoned by Mom or Dad. That's not music, that's the sound of helicopter parents hovering nearby. Warped Tour organizers encourage parents to chill in the Reverse Daycare tent, where they enjoy peace and (relative) quiet. The comfort zone is complete with air conditioning, drinks, movies, massages and headphones. Joan Jett, cooler than ever at 48, provides entertainment that Mom and Dad can actually sing along to. Teens and 20somethings watch in amazement (or embarrassment) as the 'rents rock out '80s style. Teens are the audience, but it's parents who schlep 'em to the show, buy the tickets, pay for parking and shell out big bucks for high-profit souvenirs. Being hospitable hosts means parents-and their wallets-will stick around.
OK, so it's not spin the bottle. But learning CPR can be a quasi-fun party activity if you play it right. At least that's the hope of the Red Cross and the American Heart Association, which have launched the Family and Friends CPR Anytime kit ($30). It comes with an inflatable mannequin, instruction booklet and a DVD that offers a step-by-step class. Party animals can inflate the dummy (Miss Pinkie jokes can fly; she will not flinch), assemble the tools, read the directions and, voilą, 22 minutes later know how to help save a life. Think of it as a drumming circle whose beat is the human heart. A party that gets hearts pumping? At this affordable price, it beats trivial pursuits for enabling friends and family to take away a useful skill. Consumers get a sense of empowerment and confidence when they know they can take certain matters of survival into their own hands. | | 
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