Sharing

Noting that complex, proprietary systems can hinder productivity and profitability, BMW and Microsoft have announced the Open Manufacturing Platform. The idea is to set up an open technology framework and cross-industry community to accelerate automotive and manufacturing sector developments.

ekko Audio has designed a means of sharing hi-res audio wirelessly between four or more listeners. The system's base station can be connected to any audio source, then transmit high quality audio to one or more battery-powered receivers for a shared listening experience.​

One solution to the increasing demand for, and cost of, housing in major cities is shared accommodation. The thought may send shivers down your spine, but US-based Common has a new take on the concept, offering highly specced, flexible, community-focused housing for the 21st century.

If you only cycle occasionally, a bike will just sit gathering dust or not be worth buying in the first place. A new service called AirDonkey provides a third option – a sharing system that lets people rent out their bikes when they're not using them or hire one just when they need to.

We all get caught in downpours without an umbrella every now and then. For students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, however, that will no longer be a problem. A kiosk from a new firm called UmbraCity is offering automated umbrella loans that are free for 48 hours.

Tools like email and instant messaging have made it easy for us to share information with people around the world. It can still be overly complicated to share something with people in the same room as us though. Google Tone allows users to share URLs with computers that are within earshot.

Headphones enclose the user with his or her music, and block out the world around them. Wearhaus aims to change that with its new Arc headphones, that promise to allow users to connect with each other by streaming music to other Arc wearers.

An invention out of Finland is designed to make transferring data between devices a lot easier. The inTouch system allows people to use a special ring, bracelet or even a "smart fingernail" to transfer data between laptops, tablets, and smartphones with just a touch.

Bike-sharing programs are a good idea, particularly for people who occasionally find themselves in need of some last-mile transportation. It’s pretty doubtful, however, that such people are always going to be packing a bike helmet. That’s why the HelmetHub helmet vending machine was invented.

Sharetapes is a new Australian company that is attempting to recapture the age of the physical mixtape by launching a line of NFC and QR enabled mixtape cards.

The file-sharing site The Pirate Bay has added a new "Physibles" category for the sharing of 3D printable digital designs.

Sobi is a new bicycle-sharing system, that uses GPS and a mobile phone app for locating and reserving bicycles.