ware that's adaptable, scalable, and stream efficient. Researchers will also have to create software and protocols that are adaptable, flexible and inter- compatible. Next in line will be the development of services and software objects that have names, not numbers, which will make the Oxygen environ- ment easy for people to use. Also on the menu is software that is continuously operating yet replaceable on the fly, freeing software from hardware restraints. None of these developments will come easy. Voice-recognition technology, for example, has followed a long and tortuous development road over the past several decades. Similarly, the amount of battery power required by the H21 doesn't yet exist. Battery technology, unfortunately, has advanced only incrementally over the past several years and no major breakthroughs are on the horizon. NUTS AND BITS-TELECOM HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND MORE Worse yet, even if existing technological barriers can be overcome, cost may prove to be Oxygen's ultimate undoing. For the system to become truly per- vasive, it must be affordable to people in all segments of society. Right now, many of Oxygen's leading-edge technologies are priced far beyond the reach of average consumers. MIT's researchers, however, remain undaunted. They are continuing to work on an array of Oxygen-related technologies and are hoping to drive costs down to realistic levels. The venture's corporate partners are also investigat- ing key Oxygen hardware and software components as a part of their ongoing internal research and development efforts. The fruits of all this development work could begin showing up well before Project Oxygen's 2005 deadline, appearing on next-generation mobile phones and PDAs. 2.6.6 The Payoff If everything goes according to plan, and Project Oxygen's various techno- logical barriers are overcome, users can expect to see a vastly changed world. One of the venture's major benefits, as the technology makes it easier and cheaper for manufacturers to grind out vast quantities of identical 