Tech Convergence Will Spur Demand for New ADAS Technology

Oakley/Motorola Electronic Eyewear



RAZRWIRE Bluetooth Eyewear

MOTOROLA AND OAKLEY ANNOUNCE LAUNCH OF RAZRWIRE™ WITH CINGULAR WIRELESS

Bluetooth ® Enabled Eyewear Redefines Hands-free Mobility

SCHAUMBURG, IL, FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. and ATLANTA, July 25, 2005 - Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, and Oakley, Inc. (NYSE: OO), a worldwide leader in premium sunglasses and apparel, today announced the expected availability of RAZRWIRE Bluetooth eyewear in early August at select Cingular Wireless retail stores and online at www.cingular.com, www.hellomoto.com, and www.oakley.com. RAZRWIRE is the world's first eyewear to combine patented Oakley optics with Bluetooth wireless technology.

"Seamless mobility is here, now with the availability of RAZRWIRE," said Bruce Hawver, vice president of companion products, Motorola's Mobile Device business. "Motorola and Oakley are bringing innovative wearable technology to life. With this one-of-a-kind Bluetooth-enabled mobile eyewear, active consumers can stay connected while moving from one environment to the next."

"RAZRWIRE's fully integrated design takes advantage of the world's best eyewear and wireless technologies to give freedom of life, movement and communication anywhere and everywhere you want to be, so now seeing and hearing is believing," said Cos Lykos, vice president of business development, Oakley. "Our partnership with Motorola expands the possibilities of Oakley's new electronics category, offering our engineers an expanded arsenal to develop new and innovative electronics products."

"RAZRWIRE is the essence of innovative mobile communications, offering a wearable Bluetooth solution that provides access to our ALLOVER SM network while allowing consumers to enjoy their active lifestyles with comfort and convenience," said David Christopher, vice president of product management, Cingular Wireless. "We are excited to be the first wireless carrier to offer RAZRWIRE."

Bluetooth Module

RAZRWIRE is armed with Motorola's third generation Bluetooth technology and supports Bluetooth RF protocol 1.1 and 1.2 ensuring compatibility with most Bluetooth-enabled cellular phones and other Bluetooth devices. Esthetically, the Bluetooth module is designed to complement the overall look of the sunglasses, creating truly wearable technology.

Can there really be any doubt that the next step in the evolution of electronic eyewear is an integrated display? Oakley is on to something here, with the RAZRWIRE and their Thump mp3 player glasses.

This is where we belong. This is where we need 'MVIS inside'. An integrated scanned-beam display will take the category of electronic eyewear to the next level. Everything is there -- the smartphones, the Bluetooth connectivity, the push from Oakley, Motorola and Cingular to establish this category of devices -- and yet, without a display, there's not a lot of value add to these glasses compared to regular glasses and a Bluetooth earbud.

What is important is the sexiness of the form factor, which Oakley has pegged for RAZRWIRE. While it's subjective for sure, I'd say these things look slick. What is also important is not occluding people's vision while displaying their information. This is where we have the advantage.

Although the company has said that their strategy for attacking the consumer market was based around their occluded HDTV resolution LED widescreen platform, I believe that there is a significant opportunity for Microvision in the see-through electronic eyewear category, where a slimmed-down version of the commercial Nomad could absolutely storm out of the gates.

Targeted at executives, an Oakley Nomad with Bluetooth connectivity to a Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone would be a tremendous product, given the right software, a sexy form factor and a reasonable price point, even in monochrome red, with the promise of full color models to come.

It might seem like a subtle tweak to put your smartphone's display on your glasses instead of your handheld, but given that little shift in capability, an entirely new world of user-interface design becomes possible.

And you've read all about it -- augmented reality, where text and graphics relevant to what you are looking at are superimposed on your field of view. Not to mention pop-up emails and location-based services.

It doesn't seem so far away anymore with the mass-marketing of electronic eyewear in their nascent form. This is the market that will emerge from nowhere to be worth many billions over the next five years. Total domination of this market awaits.

Comments

  1. can you switch the bluetooth headset from the Oakley sunglasses to antoher standard pair of glasses?

    ReplyDelete
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