If you're fairly confident that you've seen an iJacket from Zegna before, you'd be right, but the case-sensitive iJACKET is upping the ante by including Bluetooth along with Eleksen's ElekTex smart fabric controls. Dubbed "communication clothing," the coat will reportedly enable users to "use their cellphone and simultaneously listen to music on their iPod," which is sure to result in quite a few incomprehensible conversations. Nevertheless, wearers will be able to mange both their handset and DAP through a "sleek control embedded in the jacket sleeve," and you can even expect the music volume to decrease when you receive an incoming call. Of course, all these luxuries won't come cheap (especially on a Zegna), but even we think "starting at $1,700" is a bit extreme.

Although soldiers of the future (the non-robotic variety, that is) could very well rock tactile displays on their gear, it looks like the next-generation clothing worn on the battlefield could also monitor physiological information. New Zealand firm Zephyr has developed smart textiles that are currently being shown at CeBIT, and aside from being used by the US Department of Defense to "gauge how individuals cope and react during combat situations," the garb could also be used by athletes looking to carefully measure their vitals and improve their performance. The outfit's first two offerings, a chest-worn bioharness and a shoe pod insert, are both laden with intelligent sensors that can "store and broadcast data," which could certainly become beneficial in the health, security, training, and medical markets. It's been a good run, Nike+iPod, but it looks like you've been lapped.

Similar to another company we're familiar with, G-Tech has hit it big by slapping iPod-compatibility onto an otherwise drab offering, and now the company has upped the ante by tossing in Bluetooth. Unveiled at CES, the self-proclaimed Next-Generation Messenger Bags with Bluetooth feature the same Eleksen ElekTex smart fabric controls right on the strap, but these controls now control the track / volume functions of your dock-connecting iPod as well as the volume / mute of your phone. The Bluetooth functionality simply allows users to easily mute their iPod to take an incoming call, and the built-in speaker can also pump out the jams (rather meekly, we assume) with any audio device that connects via a 3.5-millimeter cable. There's no word on price or availability, but if you're really dead set on owning an iPod-controlling pack, might we suggest one that doesn't look like an early '90s experiment gone awry?

[Via Textually]