Wearable Devices: The Next Smart Platform?

"Wearable Devices: The Next Smart Platform" will be presented on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 6 p.m., at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Leveraging the SmartPhone ecosystem and Moore’s Law, entrepreneurs are launching a new class of small wearable devices.

Start-ups, and giant global companies like Sony Ericsson and Motorola target the wrist as the "beachhead" to launch these new possibilities.

Questions and the challenges of creating wearable platforms include:

Will entrepreneurs re-invent watches, consumer electronics, sporting gear, medical equipment? Will the devices work as clients to Smartphone or the cloud or both? Will entrepreneurs build apps and services as they did for smartphones and tablets?

Moderator is Rafe Needleman, editor at large, CNET. Panelists:

* Dan Eisenhardt, CEO, Recon Instruments
* Tim Twerdahl, VP product, WIMM
* Bill Geiser, CEO, MetaWatch
* Rich Redelfs, general partner, Foundation Capital

Register at www.vlab.org; cost is $40.