OK, it's cute, but it's an apt metaphor for software that uses only the individual functions it needs to get a particular job done, maybe even using a different machine. At CES, BeComm was showing Strings running on a Compaq iPAQ handheld. The Compaq was running full motion video. Strings provided the video player for the iPAQ and managed the wireless connection to a nearby PC, which was doing the heavy-duty work of processing the video. In this way a tiny computer could ask the Intel-box to do work it couldn't manage on its own.
Strings provides communications and user interface elements that can run on a variety of devices.
BeComm's office telephones are already controlled by Strings technology, handling call routing to desks, homes and cell phones as required. It also provides a link connecting the voice mail and email systems, allowing workers to listen to text messages as well. When Balassanian calls home, Strings lets him connect to his television and listen to live audio. Balassanian expects String-based products to be on store shelves later this year. Users won't necessarily recognize his company's contributions to the devices, but they will open a new dimension to home entertainment and computing.