January 18, 2005

Cell phone manufacturer Motorola announced a joint venure with Oakley, a designer of high-end eyewear, in an effort to develop wearable communications solutions using Bluetooth technology.

The device will offer untethered operation of mobile phones, the companies said.

Motorola continues to push the envelope with Bluetooth , announcing a joint venture with eyewear designer Oakley to develop wearable communications devices that uses the short-range wireless technology.

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New products resulting from the collaboration are expected in the next two or three months, with the objective of offering untethered operation of phones and other electronic devices.

The Oakley partnership comes on the heels of an agreement between Motorola and Burton to create Bluetooth-enabled jackets featuring padded casings for cell phones and MP3 players, removable speakers in the hood, and a built-in control pad on the arm.

"Wearables is a new market that allows us to reach a broader audience," Motorola spokesperson Shannon Swallow told NewsFactor. "The strategy is to take advantage of new channels with our expertise in Bluetooth technology."

Swallow declined to provide details about forthcoming Bluetooth products from Oakley, but said that -- like the jackets -- they will provide the freedom of hands-free communications for folks who lead an active lifestyle.

Integrating technology with clothing and other wearable items has drawn the interest of researchers, including those at MIT's Media Lab, who have established a "wearable computing" group and held a fashion show in 1997 with futuristic clothing.

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Motorola also has hooked up with frog design, the international digital and product design firm, to create a family of fashionable wearable devices. Combining the results of pervasive-computing research at MIT Media Lab with Motorola's iDEN technology has enabled frog to design an array of wirelessly connected products, including glasses, ear buds, digital cameras, pens and wristbands.

Interest in commercialization of technology-enabled clothing has also increased, according to Scott Jordan, founder of SCOTTeVEST (SeV), which designs gadget-friendly clothing.

"Consumers are going to demand these types of items much more often," Jordan said. "People juggle a number of devices, from MP3 players to cell phones to PDAs . Today's clothes just aren't designed to hold this much stuff."

Source: Wireless News Factor

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