Health and Fitness

This year we’ve brought to your attention the fro-yo calorie battle as to how low you can go – Snog, Yu-Foria and Yog you know who you are - and we thoroughly anticipate calorie negative options proliferating during the ensuing decade. We’ve also highlighted the trend for calorie counting menus at high end establishments: Buddha Bar flew the flag where Smithfield’s Saki Bar and Food Emporium left off. And while the Noughties kicked off with Michelob Ultra and sugar free Bacardi Breezers, now even bespoke cocktails are getting in on the action courtesy of Sushinho’s Skinny Berries. But if you’re find this all a bit hard to swallow, let us present Fitbit. The new Toy Watch, this gadget has a 3D motion sensor which tracks the wearer’s activity and once uploaded to the Fitbit website, can be used to monitor their energy output in miniscule detail. You can even collaborate on your goals with an online community. Rexic websites take note. The Teenies opens up a brand new world of body obsessing.

Travel

At the start of the Noughties all that high flyers had to endure was pat down body searches and bad food which was at least free. Now we need to pay an additional levy for said Styrofoam sandwiches plus remove our shoes as we go through security. Rumours that the resulting aroma is being harvested to infuse an otherwise bland fromage lunch are unsubstantiated. Soon however, we may have more to worry about more than just odour eaters and matching socks. With further recent airline security scares, US trend forecaster Marian Salzman is tweeting about flying in the buff. Now while we’re sure that Mary Whitehouse style concerns pertaining to moral decency will undoubtedly trump the threat of terror, this would still mean agonizing over in-flight lingerie, hiked up fares due to the resulting heating bill and the Mile High Club losing its exclusivity and going Red Label.

Technology

While we are busy decrying the Big Brother state with its proliferation of CCTV cameras tracking our every move and driving indiscretion, online cookies profiling our browsing habits and text and email monitoring - all in the name of anti-terrorism, we’re happily taking Facebook and Twitter to the next level and signing up to mass mingling mobile applications from Google Latitude to Buddi, Loupt and FireEagle to keep tabs on friends, offspring and errant spouses alike. As cited by Futurist magazine, your phone may soon be contributing to the next generation of tech babies. And no, we’re not talking the mobile version of Match.com. And iPhone application called Serendipity is currently in development by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which we hear will recommend that you introduce yourself to someone at the next table whose online profile displays parallels to yours. Expect follow-up software with which you can run CIB checks, ensure he hasn’t been convicted of date rape and more importantly that he isn’t married.

Option paralysis

While you might recognize this term from 1990’s novel Generation X , the Coupland coined neologism has proved prophetic beyond our wildest imaginings. And it’s not only adults with too much to choose from. Something of which Pomme Bébé in Newport Beach California, is well aware. The venue serves up and delivers organic baby and toddler meals but as the difference between carrot and sweet potato mush can obviously make or break the day of your average LA pre-schooler, there’s a tasting bar in which pint size gourmets can sort the wheat free from the soy. In Tokyo, the newest addition to the café scene is the LCafé from Sample Lab. Customers get tokens when ordering their cappuccino which can be redeemed against products from the sample bar - from new vitamin drinks to beauty products. And over here, it’s all about www.latestinbeauty.com where registration plus nominal postage gets you samples delivered to your door of new products from brands including DKNY and Estee Lauder.

Welcome to the future.