InvestorsHub Logo
Followers 19
Posts 4455
Boards Moderated 0
Alias Born 03/27/2001

Re: None

Saturday, 04/21/2001 7:05:35 PM

Saturday, April 21, 2001 7:05:35 PM

Post# of 93813
Wearable computer pioneer Xybernaut poised to ride next generation mobility wave
By Jeff Evans, posted Nov 18, 2000

LAS VEGAS—Xybernaut Corp. founder Ed Newman announced on Tuesday that his company, which for a decade has been the world leader in research into wearable computers, is now on the verge of large scale sales and deployment of wearable computers around the world.
With over 500 patents in wearable computing technology granted or pending, Xybernaut has the leading position in the mobile Internet computing device market, a market that normally credible analysts estimate may balloon to an unbelievable $3.5 trillion US per year in value over the next five years.

Newman stated that the company he founded is no longer just a research program. Its test deployments of Xybernaut wearable computers with dozens of Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies have proven the usefulness and feasibility of wearables, and the company will begin mass production and sales of commercial wearable computer products in 2001.
A new, improved version of the Xybernaut Mobile Assistant (MA IV) system, consisting of a 2 pound (900 g.) Pentium III/400 PC and headset will be the initial product offering.

The complete wearable system includes a head mounted audio/video display, and voice recognition input or a variety of touch or keypad input options. New wearable computers from Xybernaut will come to market regularly every four to six months.

At a press conference on the high security 29th floor of the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas, Newman, flanked by executives from IBM, Toshiba, and Bell Canada, also announced that Xybernaut has hired Tod R. Rehm to be its new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Rehm, a marketing whiz who led Toshiba Canada’s notebook PC business from zero to a 58 per cent market share in Canada during the early ‘90s, has a reputation as an extremely effective, imaginative and aggressive brand builder.

Rehm also did a stint as head of NEC Packard Bell Canada in 1998-1999 before joining Xybernaut. Rehm will have the task of leading the sales effort in 2001 that will accomplish the transformation of Xybernaut from a research firm to the leading manufacturer and integrator of wearable computers.

George Tatomir of IBM, Brad Chitty of Bell Canada, and well-known technology and business author and analyst Peter Keen of Keen Innovations were also on hand to add their comments.

Tatomir indicated that IBM believes that wearable computing is ready for prime time, and IBM is also ready to embrace Xybernaut technology as a valuable part of IBM’s international mobile business solutions. He stated that IBM looks forward to working in partnership with Xybernaut. The relationship with IBM may prove to be a key to Xybernaut’s acceptance in the corporate IT market.

Chitty, the ebullient champion of Bell Canada’s large-scale trial of Xybernaut wearables by the Bell Mobile Communications Centre (MCC) in Toronto, described Bell’s experience with the prototype version of the MA IV system as universally positive.

Wearable computers, in his view, are now capable of increasing employee productivity, and providing better service to customers of the Bell telephone network.

Peter Keen, a long time observer and analyst of technology, observed that in 1984 he had predicted that the technology that would reshape the future would be wireless.

All the elements of computer, consumer electronics and telecommunications technologies are converging, but the key to true pervasiveness is mobile, wireless connectivity. Keen also believes that mobile, wireless computing is a key to increasing employee productivity in most industries. The average corporate revenue per employee in America is currently about $170,000 US per person, he says, but companies that use technology appropriately are seeing productivity per person rise exponentially.


Sun Microsystems, for example, averages $600,000 US productivity per employee per year. Wireless, mobile computers promise to be a catalyst in increasing business efficiency and productivity around the world, Keen predicts.

Keen also is convinced that the future of wireless computing has a Microsoft Windows logo on it. Despite believing that MS Windows is ‘the last revenge of the KGB,’ and frankly admitting ‘I hate Windows,’ Keen believes that the Windows software platform for all its faults is the best, most complete software platform out there, and will be the choice for mobile computing. ‘Everything will be run by Windows,’ he predicts. Xybernaut offers all flavours of Windows, Linux, and Unix support, but so far it seems as if Windows is the hands down choice of its initial customer base.

If Xybernaut plays its cards right, wearable computing won’t stay solely in the corporate niche for very long. A high-powered, wearable, wireless multimedia Windows PC has the potential to integrate e-mail, Web browsing, office software, music, audio, video, games and voice telephone on one no-compromise, affordable device. The Xybernaut MA IV has a clip on port array that allows it to connect to desktop keyboards, mice, monitors, USB devices, and thus to function as a very powerful desktop replacement PC in the home office or ‘office-office.’

Xybernaut’s stock, which has ranged as low as $1 US, climbed steadily up to the $30 US range over the last year, and at time of writing was trading at about $3 US.

Barring some unforeseeable reversal of fortune, of all the companies this writer saw at Comdex 2000, Xybernaut appears to be the most likely to grab the brass ring as the next household name in computing. The future is there for it to win, or lose.

It’ll be very interesting to see if Xybernaut can power up in 2001, and profit from its decade long ‘first learner advantage’ in wearable computing.

Join the InvestorsHub Community

Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.