XYBR News Thursday January 13, 8:30 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Xybernaut Corporation
Xybernaut(R) Announces First Universal PC Card Enclosure
Significant Step in Facilitating Convergence of Wearable Computing and Communications
FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Xybernaut Corporation (Nasdaq: XYBR - news), the leader in wearable computing, today announced that it had developed a PCMCIA (PC Card) holder for its Mobile Assistant© IV (MA IV(TM)) mobile computer that allows most cards offered for wireless communications to be used with the card connector and the antenna protected from damage and adverse environments.
Edward G. Newman, president and CEO, commented that, ``PC card capability provides tremendous advantages for mobile computers, because it allows for the inclusion of functions such as wireless communications, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and sensor input using a standard form factor and interface. The drawback to most implementations of PC cards is that only the card itself fits into the computer, leaving any wire, antenna, or any other 'dongle`` connector exposed to the outside world. This exposure leaves the card susceptible to glancing contact that can damage the card and render it unusable. The commercial market for wearable PCs is expected to continue developing over the coming year and consists of the half of the U.S. workforce, and the 137 million people worldwide who do not work at a fixed location and don't have ready access to their organization's computerized information. This improved enclosure provides added safety and utility for this workforce to access to information using wireless communications and is another example of our responding to the needs of our customers.'
Wes Williams, vice president for product management, added, ``While we expect that basic functions such as wireless communications and GPS will be incorporated at the board level in future generations of our products, the PC card will remain as the best way to add specialized functions for the foreseeable future. The ability of our products to use standard PC cards is another benefit of using standard PC operating systems, such as Windows 98, NT, UNIX or Linux, rather than 'stripped down' operating systems found on handheld devices that either can't use standard PC cards or require significant modifications to do so.
Michael Jenkins, vice president and chief technical officer, commented that, ``Patents are pending on this feature in most of North America, Europe and many countries in South America and Asia. As the market for mobile computing continues to expand, we expect that this feature and others that Xybernaut is developing will be valuable additions for many mobile platforms.
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