To: Labrador who wrote (560 ) 8/4/1999 8:54:00 PM From: Caxton Rhodes Respond to of 13582
Motorola sees world of smart cars, refrigerators By Emily Kaiser ROSEMONT, Ill., Aug 4 (Reuters) - Imagine a refrigerator that knows when you are running low on milk -- and orders it for you from an online grocer. How about a car equipped with a wireless Internet device that can play any song or movie whenever you like? Wireless phone and computer chip maker Motorola Inc., , which drew its name and early success from car radios, envisions a world in which those radios will be obsolete, replaced by smart computers that help people communicate, make driving easier and provide entertainment on demand. "Your refrigerator really will talk to your online grocery store, if you wish," Hector Ruiz, president of Motorola's semiconductor products sector, said at a financial analysts' meeting here on Tuesday. Demand for these and other products that provide better communication and technology will drive revenues in the coming years, Motorola executives said. Some luxury cars already carry global positioning systems that can provide directions and online amenities such as emergency roadside assistance and concierge services. The online car of the future will have all of that, plus e-mail and Internet access, real-time traffic and weather reports and on- demand music and movies, Motorola officials said. Mechanics will some day be able to diagnose car trouble while you drive. Fingerprints could serve as your lifetime, personal password to unlock your car, computer or phone. The technology for many of these ideas already exists, but it may be a few years before Motorola can line up content providers and other partners it needs to commercialize them. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company has a long history of technological innovation, from its early car radios to the two- way radios that U.S. astronauts used on lunar landings. Not all of its dreams have been immediately successful, however. The biggest blight on Motorola's resume now is Iridium LLC, , which allows users to make phone calls from anywhere in the world via a network of satellites. The company has struggled to sign up subscribers and is in danger of defaulting on its loans, some of which Motorola guaranteed. Motorola owns about 18 percent of Iridium and has said its financial exposure to Iridium was $2.2 billion, including loan guarantees and other investments. One of Iridium's creditors, Chase Manhattan , has told Motorola it has to guarantee $300 million of an existing $800 million loan, saying "an event of default has occurred" under the credit agreement between Iridium and its ChaseManhattan-led lenders. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Iridium said it did not think Chase's comments would have a significant effect on restructuring negotiations with lenders and Motorola. Analysts said lingering concerns about Iridium weighed on Motorola's stock on Tuesday and Wednesday, despite the upbeat comments during the meeting. The shares were off 25 cents at $90.50 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading after falling $2.13 to $90.75 on Tuesday. "The company needs to come out and say that they will walk away from Iridium if they need to and they didn't say that," said Wojtek Uzdelewicz, an analyst with S.G. Cowen & Co. Still, Uzdelewicz and others said Motorola's vision of the future is not far-fetched. They said its focus on computer chips and wireless phones would keep earnings healthy. "That is clearly the trend, to add more and more intelligence," said Mark Roberts, telecommunications analyst with First Union. "Already, my coffee maker is so complicated,I can't use it." ((--Chicago Equities News at 312 408 8787, chicago.equities.newsroom@reuters.com))