SemperAptus.com - Appliance Studio knows how to put out! (Newstream)

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Appliance Studio knows how to put out!
by Custos, the SemperAptus.com spy

Just 100 miles west of London, a small team of engineers, designers, psychologists, and businesspeople are hard at work changing the way we communicate. The privately held group was initially formed of HP Labs employees, and dubbed the "Appliance Studio."

Appliance Studio receives our highest regard for the successful launch of the innovative RoomWizard - a networked display that allows you to schedule conference rooms and other company resources via your office network and within Microsoft Outlook or Lotus environment. The unit has a 6 1/2" screen and mounts directly outside the meeting room to publicize the subject, leader and other details of the current meeting. The product is available now and distributed worldwide by Steelcase Incorporated at a street price of $1795.

The RoomWizard
A stand-alone unit mounted outside meeting rooms to display resource availability & scheduling.

WHAT'S TO COME IS EVEN MORE EXCITING!

The Appliance Studio is reportedly working other corporate and personal solutions, including "InfoWizard" and "MyWizard;" electronic signs designed (respectively) for the lobby of a company or the office of an employee. InfoWizard can provide real-time information including meeting schedules and employee directories as well as welcoming guests and provides directions to get them on their way. On the other end of the corporate ladder, MyWizard is designed as a crystal ball, allowing you to peek into an individual employee's daily or long-term schedule, check project statuses and the unit can even receive messages like "Out sick today" or "Just finishing up a record-breaking round of golf - in by 3pm."

Although Steelcase has told me that they are currently committing their investments toward growing the RoomWizard line of products, I hope that they recognize the importance of a larger breadth of products and will contribute the capital necessary to bring these other innovative products to light.

AND... A PRODUCT FOR THE HOME!

But what really piqued my interest is the oddly named txTboard. Still in early development, information on the prototypes of the txTboard were leaked to me from sources which shall remain nameless. Shown below, txTboard has an integrated antenna and an external power supply. Several different cases have been produced, including plastic and metal exteriors.

The txTboard
A display designed to enhance family communications via wireless messaging,/.

The device is specifically designed for home use and is communication-centric -- using a touch screen to switch between messages. The unit also contains an address book, where contact information can be stored alongside an image of each contact. The image will appear next to a message from the contact, as shown in our photo above.

The txTboard receives text messages via SMS on it's own phone number. Obviously this is a huge inhibitor to a successful entry into the U.S., where wireless messaging is still in it's infancy and is in contest with many other new wireless messaging standards. In addition, this would require the txTboard to be registered on the cell network with it's own phone number, meaning an additional -and possibly prohibitive- cost.

But we at SemperAptus save cost factors for a hands-on review and we can't wait to get our hands on what may be the most innovative communications device since E-mail! The Appliance Studio is currently working with a number of mobile providers and handset manufacturers and hopes to bring txTboard to market in late 2003.

Do you have Arcanum Indicium (secret information)?

Send an E-mail to custos@semperaptus.com. He'll keep your identity private and hold the information until the date and time you request.

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