Sunday, June 13, 2004

Anatomy of a Wearable

In my mind, a wearable computer will be composed of
1) A computer running Windows or LINUX
2) A Head Mounted Display (HMD) that is not too obtrusive
3) A Keyboard that can be used while on the move
4) A Mouse/Trackball/Touchpad that can be used while on the move
5) Some way to carry it all that allows usage while on the move
6) LAN/WLAN/WAN access for communications
7) Earpiece/Microphone for Audio

My current (it keeps changing as techology evolves) wishlist for these items is (not all products are available, yet)

1) OQO
2) MicroOptical SV-6
3) FrogPad
4) Cirque Touchpad
5) eHolster
6) Bluetooth Phone for WAN and 802.11b for WLAN
7) Bluetooth Wireless Headset (Jabra BT200?)

posted by Chuck @ 1:05 PM 4 comments

Wearable Computer Possibilities

We are beginning to see a healthy set of contenders for the space between the laptop and the PDA. The segment is being validated.

Sony U50/70 began shipping in Japan 5/29/04

TIQUIT is still in the looking for a customer stage

FlipStart will ship in the US in Q1, 2005

Antelope has been shipping since last November - Enterprise Evaluation Kits only, although their site has been updated to show component prices.

The ARCHOS AV500 will ship by the end of the year

And, of course, OQO in 2nd half 2004

It will be an interesting 6-12 months to see if all the promises can be kept.

Any of these could form the core of a wearable computer.

posted by Chuck @ 12:29 PM 2 comments