A little black dress that doubles up as a functioning mobile phone is to be launched in Britain.

The M-Dress allows wearers to make and receive calls by slipping their sim card under the label. Gesture recognition software allows users to pick up a call by raising their hand to their ear and end a conversation by letting it fall to their side.

The M-Dress, designed by the London-based fashion company CuteCircuit, rings when an incoming call is received and different ringtones can be assigned to different numbers. But the garment can only call a limited number of pre-programmed numbers, according to Mashable, the technology website.

The dress is described as an "elegant silk jersey dress that is also a functional soft electronics mobile phone" and will be released in 2011. Its price remains undisclosed. The "super-tiny" antenna is stitched into the bottom hem of the knee-length dress.

The CuteCircuit website says: "The M-Dress was designed after our research showed that very often phone calls are missed because mobile phones are quite awkward to carry, especially for women, that have garments with small or no pockets."

I hope it survives the washing machine better than my old Motorola!

As always, phone technology will get smaller...

The original was here