Use a cellphone, without holding it !
24 March 2000 23:46 IST Mount it simply on your ear and push the tiny cord inside the ear. Hook your cellphone on your waist belt and leave it at that.
You need not unhook the cellphone when you receive a call or also when you want to call up somebody. The device on your ear is powerful enough to hear as well as to pull your soft voice through the cellphone.
"This small, lightweight and easy-to-use device offers hands-free use of cellular and cordless phones without the encumbrances of boom microphones or head-band", says Steve Puthuff, chairman of SyberSay Communications Corporation of California.
Claiming exclusive patent rights over it, Puthuff says the bi-directional earpiece also keeps RF energy away from the users' head, eliminating the risk of brain damage that cellular phones pose due to direct contact.
Developed in partnership with Ericsson, Puthuff plans to market the product from June onwards through Ericsson, Samsung and Taiyo Yuden Co of Japan. While the wired device is priced at $29, the wireless device would cost $60 in the market.
Not satisfied at this, the SyberSay is also developing a product line using Bluetooth connectivity, which would enable wireless voice and data transmission between virtually any electronic device over a distance of up to 10 metres.
While Bluetooth has been devised by a consortium led by Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, IBM and Toshiba, the US-based corporation has already collaborated with Taiyo of Japan to develop and manufacture the SyberPod, which could also be connected to all kind of electronic devices relating to information, communication and entertainment.
"My interest in India however is to manufacture these products here", admits Puthuff, who says the cellphone market here is limited to only 1.7 million cellphones. Getting inspiration from American president Bill Clinton's India visit, he has begun searching for the Indian partner to set up a plant in Bombay.
"I have already discussed the proposal with Menchesters, BSES and Somaiyas in this regard and still searching for a better deal", says Puthuff. He feels India is the best place to set up the plant worth around $ 20 million, mainly because of the availability of cheap but highly trained manpower, who is also well-conversant with English.
Puthuff was recently in Goa to explore the possibility of setting up a software technology unit at the IT habitat being set up here, at the initiative of the Goa government.
