Wearable Internet Devices

There was also some new hardware at Internet World. Gateway 2000 and AOL teamed up and introduced consumer Internet appliances: A countertop appliance, a wireless Web pad and a low-cost desktop. The countertop appliance comes with a wireless keyboard and a flat-panel LCD touchscreen display, that can be mounted on any flat surface, and is supposed to ship by the end of this year. The Web pad offers a wireless connection to a base station. The desktop appliance is a simplified Internet device, but looks more like a traditional computer. It will cost less than $500 according to Gateway, and goes on sale at the end of this year.

All devices come with Instant AOL, meaning that they automatically connect to AOL when switched on. The user therefore does not need to set up and configure the Internet connection. Other ISPs are not supported, however.

Internet World also had its own fashion show. Charmed Technology, a spin-off from MIT Media Lab showed their latest collection of Internet-enabled wireless wearable devices. The show featured more than sixty products, including the so-called Charmed Badge, a miniature communicator that tracks and collects information from other wearers. The badge uses infrared technology to read other badges, much like an electronic business card. It will be initially marketed to conferences and trade shows where attendees can use their badges to exchange contact information. The badge can also perform 'affinity' matching. This is the ability to determine that two badge wearers have common interests, based on data loaded into the badge. This should make the dating game a whole lot easier in the future...

The next Internet World in the US is in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency, July 11 - 13, 2000.