We are all used to hearing about convergence in consumer electronics. If you haven't noticed, your cell phone, pda and mp3 player are quickly becoming one product. At home your PC, VCR and cable TV box are developing more than a passing equaintence. Now this same metamorphosis is taking plan in the medical world. Two weeks ago Dr. C. C. de Cock of the VU medical center in Amsterdam implanted the first SMS equiped pacemaker. SMS (short messaging service) is the technology that your average teenager uses to send text messages from their cell phone to their friend's cell phone. So what does that have to do with a pacemaker? In this case the pacemaker monitors the heart rhythm of the patient and takes corrective action to maintain that rhythm. If it is necessary for the pacemaker to correct the rhythm it sends a text message to the patient's physician to let them know what is going on so the physician can follow up with the patient. Now if you look around the web, there seems to be some controversy if SMS is the best technology for this application as their is some question how quickly the message will be delivered. Regardless, the ability to keep the doctor in the loop and not wait for the next appointment has clear advantages. If not SMS their many other technologies out there that can provide this communications. So check out the article at http://www.smartmobs.com/archive/2005/01/28/pacemaker_trans.html and think about how your products can benefit from convergence. What capability would your product benefit from and how do you get it incorporated into your portfolio?