Springwise Trends -- first view of the hottest trends for the second half of 2008

BTW, I've already signed up for TalpaCreative - hey, maybe my idea will be the next "unscripted" TV hit!!

Home flirting lets owners test the market
Homes & housing / Financial services
We've covered several ventures that help potential homebuyers proclaim their interest in homes that aren't on the market. Turns out that this is a two-way street.

Nightlife mapping tool uses GPS to reveal hotspots
Telecom & mobile / Lifestyle & leisure
Deciding when and where to go out on a Friday night just got easier for San Francisco residents with a new, mobile map application that automatically shows them where the hotspots are.

Charging cell phone batteries by dancing
Eco & sustainability / Telecom & mobile
No sooner did we write about Orange's wind-powered recharging station at Glastonbury Festival, than one of our spotters alerted us to another eco-innovation for charging cellphones.

Homegrown vegetables, no green thumb needed
Food & beverage / Eco & sustainability
My Farm calls itself a decentralized urban farm that grows vegetables in backyard gardens throughout San Francisco. If they produce more than they can eat, customers sell their veggies through My Farm.

Social event planning with a side of local search
Life hacks
Center'd aims to make it easier to plan an event of any size. The site uses social networking and web 2.0 features to help smooth the way for planners.

Avatar fashion for the real world
Fashion & beauty / Gaming
The fashion market for avatars brought real-world brands and designs into the virtual realm. Now, the trend appears to be going the other way as consumers get their avatar fashions made into real-world clothes.

Creator of Big Brother looks to crowds for new
reality shows
Entertainment / Media & publishing
Media entrepreneur John de Mol is tapping the crowds to find the next big ideas in non-scripted television.

Clothing rental for size-changing dieters
Life hacks
For dieters, maintaining a decent wardrobe can be an ongoing challenge on the way to a target size. Transitional Sizes rents out name-brand clothing for temporary use while the pounds come off.

Online music lessons taught by the artists
Education / Entertainment
There's nothing like a great song to inspire fans to want to learn to play it themselves, but doing it right is rarely easy. Enter Now Play It, which offers video instruction taught by the actual recording artists.

Pressed leaves transformed into disposable dishes
Eco & sustainabilty / Style & design
Inspired by a technique used in rural India, VerTerra's dishes are made entirely from compostable plant matter and water, with none of the chemicals found in disposable paper and plastic options.