rruff, you will have to read my posts on anthonys thread about this subject.
BTW, sorry about your massive losses in Xybernaut. I tried to tell ya. The TruthSeeker writes on XYBR: "Company is in the business of selling stock, not wearable computers.
Even that crook Mark Bergman got it as predicted by the Truthseeker.
And how about Cleveland who worked for Hampton Porter with Mark Bergman? Was Cleveland also a busy beaver promoting XYBR stock?
Will there be more? Apparently so!!
To:rrufff who wrote (3415)
From: TheTruthseeker Saturday, Mar 18, 2000 4:45 PM
Respond to of 4751
The TruthSeeker writes on XYBR: "Company is in the business of selling stock, not wearable computers.
SALES of Stock, $ Sales of Wearable Computers, $
1996 $11,800,000 $928,723
1997 $ 5,700,000 $555,522
1998 $ 10,400,000 $873,586
9mo 1999 $15,200,000 $2,076,052
* Xybernaut is not a new Company. It has been around since 1992.
* The Mobile Assistant is not a new product. The first version was released in 1994. The company is now
trying to sell the 4th iteration of mobile assistant (MAIV) with the same lack of interest by the exhibited by
the first three versions. You would never know this if you read the company's press releases over the last 3
1/2 years ( since it went public)
* Been trying to sell MIAV for more than a year
MA 1 - 1994
MA 2 - jan. 1997
MA 3 - Q3 1997
MA 4 - Q4 1998
* Company had two underwriters for its 6/96 IPO. One underwriter is Kensington Wells shut down by
regulators and the principals were indicted for stock manipulation.
northernlight.com
* Question? - What do you do when your auditors give you a "going concern rating" in three of the last four
years (like pricewaterhousecoopers gave XYBR in 1995, 1997, and 1998) ? answer - fire the accountant
like XYBR did in late 1999)
* of course you can expect "On going concerns" when you have to borrow $1.2mm on 12/16/99 (which you
pay back on 1/29/00) to show cash on the year-end balance sheet of $925k
* Huge inventories -- nearly 1,000 days (where 90 days is considered high) especially bad in high tech.
Every December quarter there is a write-down of obsolete parts.
* Stated share count has doubled since the beginning of 1998, from 15mm to 30mm shares. FD share count
is 40mm + including conversion of 6mm shares from preferred that are being registered currently.
* Huge losses, huge accumulated deficit - see spread sheet.
* Notice the string of announcements that show up shortly after a reg statement is filed with offshore sellers.
Curious isn't it?
* Sales and marketing numbers relative to actual sales is horrendous .
* Access1 Financial recently did a strong buy recomendation on XYBR stock. As confirmed by a story in
CBS Market Watch the analyst Mark Bergman was a past employee of the company and still had some
warrants. What CBS Market watch did not report was that he was also a previous V. P. of the company
and was incharge of investor relations. This is not the first time Bergman has issued a strong buy on XYBR
stock.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thestreet.com thestreet.com
Xybernaut's Answer to Working Clothes: Wearable Computers
By Medora Lee
Staff Reporter
11/16/98 3:36 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- Move over Tommy Hilfiger. The next wave of fashion just might come from Xybernaut's
(XYBR:Nasdaq) wearable computers -- at least in the corporate world.
Xybernaut's Mobile Assistant IV is a two-piece wonder: A portable, two-pound computer that can be worn
around the waist, with a headset that has a screen so the user can navigate the Web either by mouse or by
voice. MA IV, which the company will unveil this week at the COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas, will
create a revenue surge, Xybernaut's director of investor relations Mark Bergman said.
The Fairfax, Va.-based company expects 1999 revenues to come in between $30 million and $40 million.
"That's a conservative estimate, too," Bergman told a room of money managers. "Internally, management is
expecting something closer to about $90 million, but those are the guidance numbers we're giving to the
Street."
Not bad, considering Xybernaut made $813,000 in revenue in during '97, down 26% lower from $1.1
million in revenue in '96.
=================================================
hpib.com
Hampton-Porter is pleased to announce the addition of Mark Bergman, Ph.D. as Direcor of Research. Dr.
Bergman is one of the leading experts in the area of technology enterprises and investment advice. Recently,
Dr. Bergman was Chief of Global Equities at FAB Capital, and Senior Analyst at leading Investment Banking
firms, such as Volpe, Hembrecht & Quist, Cruttenden Roth. In addition, he was Director of Research for the
Boston Group. Dr. Bergman has founded leading technology growth firms and was recently Senior
Vice-President of Xybernaut Corporation ("XYBR"), the worldwide leader in wearable computers. Dr.
Bergman recieved a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and completed post-doctorate work at the
University of Illinois. CONTACT: Michael Losse, Institutional sales, Hampton-Porter Investment Bankers,
619-234-3345
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mark Bergman, investor relations. As a side note, I was also told that Alex Kankaris, designer of the new
Xybernaut website, was also floating around, but I didn't meet him."
wearablegear.com
WEARABLE GEAR NEWS UPDATE
NEWS ARCHIVES | PRODUCTS | RESEARCH | MP3.com
Free Email Subscription --- Xybernaut at AEA Classic
12/17/98
Site News & Feedback --- Notes From the Editor
(Reprinted from WearableGear Review #4)
As we mentioned on the site already, the Diamond Rio MP3 review was a HUGE hit. The review was
reprinted on MP3.com, one of the most popular music sites on the net. Our traffic increased exponentially for
several days and now is remaining at a level about 3 times previous normal traffic. Our FREE subscriber list
has also grown tremendously. Hopefully in the next couple months we will be able to get a hold of the
Samsung, Saehan and Creative MP3 players for you MP3 hardware fanatics.
Speaking of MP3, a few readers have noted that we are devoting a lot of attention to the new digital music
format and players and not as much to other wearable devices. Don't worry--we aren't skimping on other
wearable news, we always post what we have. MP3 has been particularly hot lately and we've had several
MP3 "scoops", so it's been in the headlines at WearableGear. New readers from the MP3 community: sit
back, relax and read about all the wearable computing stuff you've been missing! MP3 portables are just the
tip of the iceberg of PC-related wearable gear.
On another note, we are always looking for relevant news, press releases, tips, opinions, features, photos
etc. Get some publicity for your ideas, website, company, etc. Remember we are interested in a broad range
of technology including wearable computers, voice recognition, wireless products, displays, MP3, embedded
processing...use your imagination. feedback@wearablegear.com
Our Products and Research pages are going to be updated again very soon and will include photos, more
links and a slightly different layout...so keep an eye out.
wearablegear.com
wearablegear.com
A lot of computer news related sites are BORING. In an effort to liven things up a bit and be a little different
we have added to the front page the TopSong.com MP3 Daily Music Link, which spotlights an MP3 song or
link each day.
Yahoo recently gave WearableGear.com a pair of sunglasses next to our link in the Wearable Computer part
of the directory--it means our site has been personally reviewed by a Yahoo surfer and is one of the best
sites in it's category.
Tip
WearableGear.com can be accessed under the domain names "topwww.com" and "topsong.com".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes From the Editor
The Ultimate Wearable, Part 1: Some Ideas
When I tell somebody I am the editor of WearableGear.com, they often looked puzzled and respond with
something like "Warble what?" Then I tell them soon they will be wearing a small Walkman-like computer on
their hip able to play music, access the internet, call home, use voice recognition, automatically compare
prices of a product with net stores and nearby retail outlets, etc. That leads to a different strange look, an
almost comical stare reserved for Star Trek convention attendees and "crackpot" inventors. Perhaps it's
deserved. But are wearables like this such a stretch of the imagination? Readers of WearableGear.com know
that recent news on a variety of fronts suggests otherwise
--Small wireless phones and pagers are performing many computer-like tasks including browsing the web,
retrieving email and storing data like addresses, and phone numbers. I've noticed Samsung makes several
interesting products (http://www.samsung.com/products/pcs.html): Samsung's SRP-8000 2-way pager can
send or receive messages from telephones, email, PCs, the internet etc. The SPH-6000 mobile CDMA
phone has a memory chip capable of recording conversations and another Samsung phone let's you say a
person's name and it will automatically dial the number! They also have Infomobile, wireless
phone/computing device similar to Qualcomm's pdQ (see below).
--Researchers are designing small mobile viewing technologies like the Kopin Cyberdisplay and the
Motorola VirtuoVue Virtual Display which greatly increase the amount of viewable data without draining as
much battery power as a laptop or palmtop computer.
--Wireless phones are getting smaller and communications technology is being condensed onto a single
embedded chip in the laboratory.
--The amount of storage for small devices is increasing dramatically. For example, IBM's Microdrive is the
size of a quarter and will hold 350MB of data, including voice recognition and other computing software,
data and even MP3 music. Static flash memory will be getting better too.
--MP3 portables will continue to extend the desktop computer by playing music/computer MP3 files
wherever you go in an extremely small wearable device. Other features such as voice recording and data
storage are being added by MP3 portable maker Saehan Information systems.
Why can't all or some of these features be integrated on one device in the next couple years?
Take a look at the smallest Motorola or Qualcomm wireless phone and place it top to bottom alongside a
Rio MP3 player. Better yet, tape them together. Now you have an MP3 portable/cell phone about the same
size as a cell phone from a few years ago. Granted it is a pricey MP3 portable/cell, but my point is that the
technology is here, we consumers only have to wait for the price to come down. Meanwhile wearable
computer makers like Xybernaut and ViA will be catering to the corporate and government crowd who don't
mind shelling out $3-5,000 for each state-of-the-art wearable capable of wireless communication and
fully-functional Wintel computing. Researchers and academia at places like MIT will continue to push the
tech envelope...
...I recently stopped by the first San Diego Telecom Association meeting which was held to a standing-room
only audience of about 500 telecom industry invitees and media in Torrey Pines. I was looking for the
Qualcomm pdQ smart phone, and it took a while to find but I was not disappointed. The meeting reinforced
my belief that smart-phones will compete with other wearable and handheld computing devices.
The featured speaker for the evening was Irwin Jacobs, the founder/CEO of Qualcomm and contributor to
many important advances in wireless communications. Jacobs is a legend in the San Diego tech community
not only because of his huge success with Qualcomm but also because employees from his first company,
LINKABIT, have spawned 33 telecom-related companies in the San Diego area, making San Diego truly a
telecommunications capital of the world. Jacobs spoke a lot about the history of telecom and his companies
but when he got to the future of the industry he held up Qualcomm's revolutionary new pdQ phone, a hybrid
of a Palm computer and a Qualcomm phone, in effect a wearable computer.
The pdQ integrates computing features with wireless CDMA technology: you can make calls and dial direct
from the address book displayed on a small palm-top-sized screen, exchange data with a personal computer,
browse and store email, transfer information such as business cards between palmtops and smartphones
through a wireless infrared port, and even browse the web. It would be nice if the phone had voice
recognition, but it's not quite there yet.
Qualcomm's founder appears to view the future of telecom (at least one facet) converging with
portable/wearable computing. Keep in mind Qualcomm recently teamed up with Microsoft to create a joint
venture, WirelessKnowledge which will further integrate computing and telecom products...
...Xybernaut's latest patents on wearable computers give away some clues to their vision of the wearable
future "and wherein said hands-free activating means is selected from the group consisting of audio activation
means, eye-tracking activation means, electroencephalography activation means and mixtures there of...
hands-free activating means comprises means for recognizing a converted electrical signal from an
eye-tracking device, said eye-tracking device comprising means for placing said eye-tracking device in visual
contact with a user, means for determining the center of the user's eye pupil, means to determine a point on a
display where the user is looking, said means to electrically transmit information obtained to said computer
housing...electroencephalography activation means, and activation means responsive to electrical signals from
muscles in the head area, working in concert... and mixtures thereof acting in combination with head and arm
tracking means to control computer output."...
...While digging through various wearable computer patents I noticed a couple other unique patents. The US
Army has patent "US5649061 Device and method for estimating a mental decision" which is "a device and
method for estimating a mental decision to select a visual cue from the viewer's eye fixation and
corresponding single event evoked cerebral potential...The artificial neural network is trained off-line prior to
application to represent the mental decisions of the viewer".
A smart-phone computing patent "US5189632 Portable personal computer and mobile telephone device"
which is "A portable computer telephone device comprising a portable personal computer and a mobile
phone integrated into one and the same body structure."...
... I've been thinking lately I'd like to see better durability of wearable electronic devices. We stand at the
dawn of the Age of Ubiquity, where information is global and local at once and rests in the palm of our hand,
yet my pager got wet so I'm out fifty bucks. Durability means being able to drop your $200 Rio without a
worry. Scratched the cover too much? Maybe you will be able to slip on an inexpensive new Rio
"skin"---pick your designer cover like you can on the Nokia phones face plates. I'm sure somebody can
make money with that idea...
Chris St. John , Editor, 12/17/98
I was at the AEA Classic (11/11/98)
Today was a long and exciting day at the American Electronics Association Classic. The annual Classic is
one of the premier meeting places for technology companies and financial analysts. This year it is being held
from November 8-12 at the Sheraton Marina hotel in San Diego.
The Sheraton is basically taken over by the conference. There is alot of action in those corridors, from the
big and small players. But the best part of attending the conference is the ability to chat with and watch
presentations from the CEO's, CFO's, and other executives of some really interesting technology companies
(and grabbing the NASDAQ post-it cubes!). Getting up close and personal with the actual principals of the
company is much better than reading the news releases or looking at a stock price. It's like adding color to a
black and white picture.
Being a wearable computer enthusiast, my main interest today was seeing Xybernaut and meeting the
Xybernaut team. For those unfamiliar with the company, Xybernaut makes a wearable computer called the
Mobile Assistant. The Mobile Assistant is truly wearable: it is a small walkman-sized device attached to a
belt that can be used for mobile applications. The Mobile Assistant is also a true computer: the new Mobile
Assistant IV is a fully functional Wintel computer with 4 GB hard drive, 128 MB RAM and the ability to run
familiar PC programs and operating systems like Windows, Linux, DOS, etc. The display is a lightweight
headset with a sort of mini-monitor, which appears as a 17" screen but is actually the size of a quarter.
Although Kopin made the previous generation display, the display for the Mobile Assistant IV is made by
Hitachi. The base price for the unit is expected to be under $5,000.
Enough of that...now let's get to what you have all been waiting for:
The Xybernaut presentation was held in a small room on the fifth floor of the Sheraton, where several other
Session III (small cap) companies were also presenting. There were three Xybernaut employees present: Dr.
Steve Newman, Vice Chairman Board of Directors, Michael Jenkins, Vice President and Chief Technology
Officer and Dr. Mark Bergman, investor relations. As a side note, I was also told that Alex Kankaris,
designer of the new Xybernaut website, was also floating around, but I didn't meet him.
When the presentation was ready to begin there were about ten people in the room. I looked for names and
firms but couldn't get much. There was a representative from Briefing.com, an analyst from a firm I wasn't
familiar with and some casually attired techie-looking guys in the front. Keep in mind this was one session of
many, I didn't get a look at the others.
Steve Newman introduced the company and its primary product the Mobile Assistant IV (as I described
above). He also showed a slide that included a list of clients like Shell, NTT, US government agencies and
Schlumberger. There was another long list of alliances such as is included in the company's literature. One
interesting story that came out was how Ed Newman, Steve's brother and CEO of Xybernaut, was in charge
of convincing Xerox of the utility of the "personal computer" back in the 1970's. Newman's project was to
show how a PC would increase the efficiency of Xerox's patent office. Although Xerox never got into the PC
business, Newman met Jim Ralabate, head of Xybernaut's intellectual property team and famed Xerox patent
attorney.
There were a few major points which Steve Newman repeated several times in his presentation. First,
Xybernaut has a strong patent position and they feel they will reap the reward of licensing from their patents.
Second, they have specifically built the company to not be a manufacturer. Although they are not a
manufacturing company, they retain ownership of the patents, tooling and designs. Their idea is to outsource
and monitor closely. Third, they are mainly concerned with building a strong foundation of alliances, rather
than immediately going for the fastest short-term gain. The example he gave was that they could probably sell
thousands of computers at a place like Sharper Image, but that could actually destroy the company. Fourth,
in reference to the upcoming "significant revenues", Xybernaut says they are being conservative with their
estimates, indicating management believes revenues will be greater than forecasts and forecasts will be less
than purchase commitments for the year ending 1999. They did state that the profit margin per machine was
about 35%. I felt that forecasts may be made available soon, although this was not stated.
They have done some testing of units (earlier generation) with the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol checks
vehicle license plates on cars crossing the border into Mexico from the US on a regular basis (a big problem
is cars being stolen from the US and taken into Mexico). The regular way the Border Patrol works, they
have to do everything manually, so they can check 5-15 cars an hour. With the Mobile Assistant they were
able to check 100-125 cars an hour.
The Xybernaut team seems highly motivated to introduce their product beginning next week at Comdex.
Obviously the biggest motivator is the product itself. But there are smaller things also. For example, all of the
Xybernaut employees (from US, Asia and Europe) at once were recently on a conference call to motivate
them for the coming launch. They are each keeping personal calendars preparing for the launch with goals
and duties each day, even holidays. Also, employees (at least at the conference) were wearing buttons saying
"Make It Happen!".
The new website is expected to be launched in the next few days. Newman said they will be attempting to
broadcast a live video feed from Comdex to their website. Also, the investor relations department is being
reorganized to be more "investor-friendly". Dr. Bergman, formerly a partner at technology-investment
banking giant Hambrecht and Quist, seems to be overseeing some changes on the investor relations front.
After the presentation we were able to try out the Mobile Assistant IV computer. It was actually smaller than
I thought it would be (but as small as I had hoped!) and I could see the mini-display perfectly in seconds.
The nice thing about the display is that it is easy to see around you and the screen at the same time. I had no
problem looking away from the screen and ahead of me and then focusing back on the display. I did not get
a chance to use the voice recognition part though.
Overall, I was very impressed with both the product and the Xybernaut team. I found Steve Newman to be
very warm and confident. Michael Jenkins was friendly and intensely talked about developing Xybernaut's
products. He is a co-founder of Xybernaut and one of the main inventors of the wearable technology. Also,
he knew about WearableGear.com (bonus points!). Dr. Bergman seems like he will be a great asset in
investor relations and seemed eager to work on relations with the financial community.
That is all for now, but if you have any questions or comments, email me...I was at the AEA
Chris St. John
cstjohn@wearablegear.com
wearablegear.com
=============================================
Access 1 Financial Issues Buy Recommendation for Xybernaut Corporation
Establishes Six-Month Stock Price Target of $28.80 per Share
FAIRFAX, Va., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Xybernaut Corporation (Nasdaq: XYBR), the leader in wearable
computing, announced today that Access 1 Financial issued a buy recommendation for Xybernaut with a
6-month price target of $28.80 per share. Access 1 Financial is an investment research firm specializing in
emerging small capitalization companies in the technology sector. Recent reports by Access 1 include Max
Internet, a manufacturer of high-performance multimedia hardware and software, and Kinetiks Com., a
full-service provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions.
For a complete copy of the report containing the buy recommendation on Xybernaut(R), please contact
Access 1 Financial directly at 310-581-7997. Access 1 Financial is not affiliated with Xybernaut
Corporation and did not receive any compensation for issuing this report. This report by Access 1 Financial
has not been issued or endorsed by the Company.
About Xybernaut Corporation
Xybernaut Corporation is the leading provider of wearable computing hardware, software and services. The
company's patented wearable computer is a full-function Pentium PC that runs Microsoft MS-DOS,
Windows, and Windows NT, along with UNIX, Linux and other operating systems that run on the Intel x86
architecture. The MA IV(R) allows users hands-free access to information in the computer's internal storage,
in local area networks and on the Internet on an as-needed, where-needed basis. Xybernaut's software is
designed to provide users with the right information when and where it's needed, using consistent navigation
techniques and screen presentations. With the MA IV, customers realize immediate savings in maintenance
and repair, diagnosis, inspection, inventory control and data collection procedures. Key industries using
Xybernaut's products include manufacturing, distribution, transportation, government, and utilities.
Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, Xybernaut has offices and subsidiaries in Europe (Germany) and Asia
(Japan). Visit Xybernaut's web site at xybernaut.com.
MS-DOS, Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "plan,"
"confident that," "believe," "expect," or "intend to," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the
Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially
from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, market conditions, the availability of components and production of the Mobile Assistant,
general acceptance of the Company's products and technologies, competitive factors, the ability to
successfully complete additional financings and other risks described in the Company's SEC reports and
filings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: Xybernaut Corporation
CONTACT: press - Robin Bono, Director of Corporate Communications, 703-631-6925, or
rbono@xybernaut.com; investors - Ron Stabiner of The Wall Street Group, 212-888-4848, or
rstabiner@thewallstreetgroup.com" |
