The wearable mobile phone is with us

Trousers that can remember what you had for lunch and an anorak replete with GPS navigation functions could be hitting the catwalks before you know it. France Telecom, the Cnet research centre and research laboratory Starlab hope to create communication clothing for the sports, leisure and business communities. The first applications of the technology in the I-wear range will be a jacket containing a mobile phone with earpiece and microphone in the collar and keypad in the sleeve - or it may have a speech dialling option. The prototype is due for launch in June. In a statement, France Telecom said: "The medical world, the media, the liberal professions, the sectors of defence, civil protection and security services or those requiring the complex activities of maintenance count among the sectors potentially concerned by the rival of this clothing of the new generation." (We had to translate the statement ourselves, so apologies if the nuances got lost along the way - Ed). There are a number of key questions still waiting to be answered. For example, what material should you make I-wear clothing from and how will the high-tech gadgetry survive the wash? The companies involved in the I-wear project are Vasco Data Security, France Telecom, Reticel Electronics, Bekintex Textiles, Adidas, Levis and fashion house Courreges. ®