Los Angeles-based Charmed Technology is an MIT Media Lab spin-off and is poised to be a world leader in affordable, wearable Internet products, services and technologies. As part of its strategic business plan, the company has established strategic partnerships with companies such as CTIA Wireless I.T. & Internet 2001, Red Herring, MIT's Media Lab, the University of Rochester Center for Future Health, Motorola and others. With these partners, the company is working to develop miniaturized devices with Internet connection and powerful computer capabilities.

The Charmed Technology vision is to incorporate the unwired Internet into fashion, lifestyle and health applications by creating inexpensive wireless mobile devices that will allow individuals to access the World Wide Web anywhere and anytime through wireless technology. With enabling technologies already in place, Charmed Technology plans to completely penetrate the market, revolutionizing the way people interact with each other through wireless Internet communications. The unique transportal (TM) system provides multiple user access to a global computer network.

As the pioneer of the smallest, most economical platform for Internet services, Charmed Technology will allow individuals to be connected to the Internet via their eyeglasses, necklaces, or lapel pin, even a child's toy. The first product manufactured by Charmed Technology is "Charm Badge (TM)", an electronic business card that can upload and transmit user information through infrared technology. Other products include a fully working wearable computer, the CharmIT (TM)

We are now entering the Post-PC era.

The next qualitative change to the Internet and computing will be the move to wireless wearable devices. With this move the Internet will spread from desktops to all aspects of daily life, opening thousands of new commerce opportunities. Wireless Internet will also reach billions of people who are not yet connected, because of its less expensive infrastructure requirements. We will see telephony, health care, games, post-it notes, diaries and photography (to name but a few businesses) all based on wireless wearable Internet communications.

We expect that the opportunities created by this new generation of mobile Internet devices will dwarf, and to a substantial extent replace, current business-to-consumer e-services. The key to success in this market is to make our devices and their interface ubiquitous, just as the windows-and-mouse based GUI and wired Internet are today. If we can achieve critical market penetration our platform will become the interface of choice for virtually all applications.

The key enabling technologies that support our plan are already in place:

* IEEE 802.11, which allows inexpensive broadband communications inside office buildings, in homes, and in developing countries.

* Advanced interfaces, including hands-free recognition of speech commands, context-sensitive or `smart' interfaces, and new types of keyed interfaces that can replace standard keyboards.

* New sensors for health monitoring, and for creating `smart' interfaces.

In each case devices have already been designed, tested, and in some cases are beginning to be deployed in niche applications. All are either `open standards', available for inexpensive licensing, or have been developed and patented at the MIT Media Lab.

Hardware allies in this plan include Intel, which sees Internet and wireless-enabled computer chips as their future, and Lucent, which has staked its future on building the wireless communications hardware for this vision of the future. Both companies have a business strategy that seeks to enter into alliance with companies such as CT who provide final products.

Application allies include:

* Health applications (total $1,000B per year): HMOs, including partners such as the Center for Future Health that gain by cost reduction for patient monitoring and better delivery of preventative health care.

* Conference, meeting, event, travel, and theme-park companies (total ~ $1,500B per year): These companies, including partners such as Internet World, and companies such as Disney gain by better management of visitors/customers and better personalization of their experience.

* Developing nations and their telecoms (total $1,000B per year): By providing low-cost `voice mail' messaging and Internet connectivity, we can potentially reach more than 2 billion people who are not served by telephone or Internet today. Our technology addresses two big political problems of these telecoms: more nearly universal access, and Internet service, while at the same time preserving their core business since they will continue to provide the backbone communications structure.

* Lifestyle and leisure companies (total $1,000B per year): These companies, including partners such as iHomeDecor, are extremely hungry for product differentiation, and the efficiency gains that they have seen in other industries.

*Broadband providers ($1,000B per year): These companies have been stymied by the `last mile' connectivity. By providing users the means and motivation to install wireless broadband in their homes and offices we aid them in delivering more traditional services.