Sunday, Mar. 09, 2003

Fashion Calling

By JENNIFER L. SCHENKER


Is that your necklace ringing? Or mine? During London Fashion Week in February, Siemens introduced a new category of electronic jewelry called Xelebri, which can be worn as a pendant or hooked onto clothes. These aren't phones, mind you — they're "fashion accessories that make phone calls," says Siemens. And you don't buy them at mobile-phone outlets; they'll be sold primarily through department stores and fashion retailers, with two collections per year, one for spring and one for fall. "Our goal is to make people view mobile phones as they view sunglasses, bags or watches," said Lothar Pauly, a member of the board of Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group, during a recent speech at an industry conference in Cannes. "We imagine a scenario where people will own many fashion accessory phones and wear the one that matches their mood, the occasion or their clothes." At up to €399 apiece, you can see why the company, at least, would find that very attractive.

MUSIC
Bring The Noise
The newest digital players can even write their own songs
So you wanna be a rock-'n'-roll star? Well, listen now: skip the electric guitar, get yourself a MadPlayer — a handheld device developed in France for London-based MadWaves. It's a one-stop musical shop — an MP3 player for grabbing music from the Internet, an FM tuner, and a karaoke machine that allows you to download backing music, view the lyrics and sing. But its chief function is as an interactive music composer that creates original songs on the fly. Pick one of 21 styles (like hip-hop or house music) and push a button. Out pops a fully composed song, with an introduction, ending, chord progression, melody and rhythm. (Chart success and groupies not included.) Music executives think it has great potential for getting tech-addicted kids to interact with music. Less ambitious? Settle for Microsoft's Media2Go, a software platform based on Windows CE that stores up to 8,000 songs or 175 hours of video. It should be on sale by the end of the year, when your MP3 player is full. — J.L.S

ROBOTICS
Let's Get Small
Nanotech: sounds tiny, but it's hitting the big time
Small is really big these days. For years, the technology and investment worlds have been buzzing about nanotechnology, the science of creating infinitesimally small machines. Now nanotechnology is ready to leave the lab. NanoMuscle, a California company headed by Scotsman Rod MacGregor, makes miniature motors which are smaller and lighter than the conventional electric devices that go into everyday products such as digital cameras and CD players. The market for linear miniature motors is worth $3.8 billion, according to MacGregor, and one of the biggest areas is toys. NanoMuscle introduced its first consumer product, Baby Bright Eyes, made by Playmates Toys, last month. Its peepers do a better job mimicking human eye movement because the motors are smaller, lighter and silent. The doll can open her eyes, blink, look around and close them, in response to a child. The next step: cars. — J.L.S