Real estate on your computer screen is like retail space in Tokyo's Ginza district: precious, cluttered, and jammed tight. Half the time you can't find what you care about most. That problem inspired the wireless orb, which sits on your desk and changes hues when your stock portfolio is up or down, when it's snowing at your favorite ski resort, or when you've been bested on an eBay bid.
David Rose's Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup, Ambient Devices, is working with Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, and Motorola on these info displays for a new generation of wireless gadgets. They would communicate with Ambient's devices through such wireless technologies as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Each glowing tchotchke can cost as little as $30, but Rose hopes his talks with the Museum of Modern Art store will have the high-art gadgets going for $300 a pop.
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