Focus: Latest

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Zero waste: Tide's gamble on the future of housework

P&G have been accused of driving innovation too far with new product Tide Pods – even “killing” the laundry soap industry. Yet by acting like a leader, Tide Pods profitably taps into new trends and behaviours that might be the future of housework.

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Chris Hadfield: reinventing the role model

The boundaries between ourselves and the world's frontiers are diminishing. Astronaut Chris Hadfield used his online presence during his time on the International Space Station to let the public discover the wonders of space for themselves.

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YouTube goes live with Comedy Week

Combining old and new media stars with plenty of hype, YouTube Comedy Week is the site's first attempt at creating a live broadcast event. But can YouTube close the gap between internet success and its equivalent in the mainstream media?

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Leftover profits: Rubies in the Rubble

Each year, almost half of the world's food is thrown away. Putting the wasted food to wider social and commercial use, start-up Rubies in the Rubble makes gourmet chutneys from surplus fruit and veg.

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Target brings Facebook users in-store

As e-commerce expands, brands are rethinking their business models to cater to shifting consumer habits. Cartwheel is a collaboration between US retail titan Target and Facebook that bridges the gap between real-world shopping and social media.

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BT Sport: from broadband to broadcast

With 4.3 million people using internet video last year rather than paying for TV, broadcast and broadband are increasingly fused. While BSkyB hopes to eat into BT's broadband market share, BT is responding by moving into BSkyB's turf: television.

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Dornbracht: the rise of the spa bathroom

Applying 'smart' technology in fresh and innovative ways, Dornbracht's holistic Smart Water system seamlessly connects bathroom components while providing a plethora of customisation options.

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Makr Shakr: bottom-up bar culture

As the technological advancements of the 'third industrial revolution' increasingly place power in the hands of consumers, conceptual bar Makr Shakr is providing a taste of the foreseeable future.

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SmartThings: integrating physical and digital lives

By 2020 there will be 50 billion objects connected to the internet. SmartThings enables true human-computer interaction by ensuring that everything we own – electronic and otherwise – is part of the conversation.

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Calorie neutral: Miele’s vision of balanced consumption

Calorie neutral pop-up restaurant Steam provided a vision of responsible indulgence. With it, Miele met a growing demand for balanced living – and proved, once again, that domestic appliances need not be boring.

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Who's watching? Posters that fight bad behaviour

With crime widely perceived as on the rise in the UK, authorities are attempting to take action and prevent theft by triggering ‘reputational concerns’ in a bid to tug at our sense of decency.

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Shared emotion: Dove's social experiment hits a nerve

Half of teenage girls in the UK have avoided certain activities because they feel bad about their looks. Skincare brand Dove is out to tackle low female self-esteem with its new advert that tells women “you are more beautiful than you think”.

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Leap Motion: seamless human-computer interaction

Computers are an increasingly important part of life, but interaction with them remains much the same. Leap Motion challenges established barriers, signaling a movement towards invisible technology and a future where human and computer work as one.

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Le Labo: luxury without snobbery

In light of mass production and the rise of the celebrity scent, even perfume has lost some of its traditional values. Le Labo offers an insight into the heritage of the fragrance industry and provides authentic products that rekindle the romance.

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FreedomPop: the internet as a human right

According to 'disruptive' new internet service provider FreedomPop, 'the internet is a right, not a privilege'. Starting with low-income Americans, can the company's 'freemium' super-fast broadband model challenge the internet's biggest players?

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How The Hunt makes social media shoppable

The internet has become a sprawling hub of images often featuring desirable content – but no place to buy it. California-based start-up The Hunt has set out to tackle the problem by providing a new and interactive online shopping experience.

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How Tictail is bringing niche boutiques to the global marketplace

UK high street shops are shutting down at the rate of 32 a day, but new business Tictail has managed to open 10,000 boutiques across Europe in just ten months, with very little cost. There’s a bright future for retail, and increasingly it’s online.

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Mean Stinks: how P&G created a social movement for tweens

Secret is America's best-selling female deodorant. Keen to encourage a new generation of consumers to take up the product, parent company P&G tapped into a broad social concern that connects parents and children alike: bullying.

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Squeezing more from fans: One Direction's booming pop-ups

Under pressure from digitisation, music labels are seeking alternative sources of revenue. One Direction has transformed merchandising into a multi-channel branding operation that covers everything from phone covers to fake nails.

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Meals in a Jar: bridging the gap between quality and convenience

In an age where time is as valuable as money, many consumers are economising on both. Convenient and healthy, Julie Languille's Meals in a Jar demonstrates that quality needn't be sacrificed for speed.