SUNNYVALE, Calif.-As the initial boom of the wireless industry slows, mobile-phone makers are looking for the next major step for the industry, and are greatly expanding the definition of “wireless device” in their efforts.
“How do you take a phone and have is disappear into people’s lifestyles?” asked Peter Aloumanis, vice president and general manager of Motorola Inc.’s U.S. iDEN Subscriber Group. “We need to look beyond phones.”
And that’s just what Motorola and its iDEN design partner Frog Design Inc. have done.
The companies unveiled a series of concept designs for advanced wireless devices, including a wireless-enabled pair of sunglasses, ear headsets, digital cameras, and wristbands.
Aloumanis said Motorola is taking a page from the automotive industry, which regularly shows off concept cars during automotive industry events. Motorola will show off its line of concept wireless devices at industry events and trade shows in order to gauge interest. The company plans to release the devices sometime in 2005.
“We’re releasing the product for comment by the general market,” Aloumanis said.
Motorola teamed with Frog Design to develop the products. Although most of Motorola’s mobile-phone products are designed by the company, Motorola’s iDEN division (which makes phones for Nextel Communications Inc.) uses an outside designer to create its phones. Motorola’s iDEN group previously worked with Design Works to create iDEN phones, but recently swapped partners and now works with Frog Design.
Founded in 1969, Frog Design has worked on the global design strategies for Sony, Louis Vuitton, NEC and Apple Computer. The company also developed the airline interiors for Lufthansa Airlines and the insides of the Disney cruise ships. The design firm teamed with MIT’s Media Lab to research and design the new concept wireless devices. Instead of the traditional wireless engineers, Frog Design employed multimedia designers and computer engineers to help create the devices.
The high-tech devices feature a dizzying array of functions and technologies. Perhaps the most interesting are the sunglasses, which Aloumanis said will include a “heads-up” display for the wearer, a setup that equates to the same viewing area as a 17-inch computer monitor. The wrist band/watch device will feature interactive and gaming functions, and could work as a biosensor for illnesses. The digital camera (which seems to double as a personal digital assistant) offers Bluetooth technology as well as push-to-talk services using Nextel’s Direct Connect feature.
“And it’s a phone too,” Aloumanis said.
And the more devices a user buys, the more functionality he or she gets, he said.
“We’re looking at where can the evolution of phones be,” Aloumanis said.
“We’re trying to push the envelope and get feedback,” said Franco Lodato, an industrial design manager for Motorola’s iDEN group.
Motorola will demonstrate its new concept devices at the upcoming Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association’s trade show in New Orleans this month. Although Aloumanis had no definite price targets for the devices, he said they will likely cost “a bit on the high side.”
