Now, 'smart clothing' dials your phone

By Anand Parthasarathy

KOCHI, MARCH 26. Your clothing may be more than a fashion statement - it may dial your cell phone for you. The CeBit International Computer Show in Hannover, now under way, has seen the unveiling of a body belt which can be programmed to dial your most frequently called telephone numbers.

The `SmartShout' belt designed by the Finnish company, Reima, incorporates the microchip, speaker and microphone and comes with programmable tags. Pull one - and the number you want to call is dialled, leaving you free to speak into the tiny mike that is embedded at shoulder level. Pull a second tag and the call is terminated.

The consumer device unveiled last week is a spinoff from Reima's `Cyberia', an intelligent suit for Polar climates which was programmed to send an emergency SOS message.

`Wearable computers' may become the next wave in information technology - if new products being launched daily at CeBit are an indication. An American firm, Conversay, joined with Samsung to demonstrate a speech-driven wearable computer embedded in a wristwatch phone. Since the device is too small to include a dial pad, it allows the wearer to speak the number to be called.

You can also speak the name of the party after storing the corresponding number in the embedded phone book. The CeBit show ends on March 28.

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