A mobile phone in the form of a ring or a earring? This can soon be a reality. Embedded systems have a small footprint and consume very little power, which makes them ideal for wearable computing applications. The minimal system requirements of these devices ensure that the hardware is almost microscopic.

IBM is already working on the prototype of a mobile phone that can be worn as jewellery. The components of the phone will be distributed among different pieces of jewellery--earring, necklace, ring and bracelet.

The phone is likely to have Bluetooth capability built into it. The earrings will have embedded speakers and will act as the receiver. The necklace will have embedded microphones that will act as the mouthpiece users can talk into. IBM calls the ring part of the phone the 'decoder ring'. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) will flash to indicate an incoming call. The ring will also have features that will enable it to be programmed to flash different colours for a particular user or to indicate the importance of a call. A video graphics array (VGA) will be built into the bracelet, which will display the name and phone number of the caller. The bracelet will also integrate the keypad and dialling functions in it. IBM plans to incorporate voice recognition technology for dialling a number. The phone may also have features to indicate new e-mail.