Dummies, Wireless

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Part V: The Part of Tens
Note that there is a difference between a tracking device and a locator device.
Tracking devices will tell where someone has been, but only after the device
returns to you. A popular example is the GPS Trackstick (www.trackstick.
com). A locator device, on the other hand, will remotely tell you where it is at
any particular time. GPS-enabled phones and services are examples of these.
Don’t buy one expecting the other!
Various possible monthly fees are associated with personal tracking and
location devices. Some don’t have any fees; they involve short-range, closedsystem
wireless signals. Some charge a monthly fee, just like a cell phone
plan. Some charge per-use fees, like per-locate attempts. Be sure to check the
fine print when you’re buying any sort of wireless location device to make
sure you don’t have lots of extra fees that go along with it. (That’s why we like
802.11-based products. They’re cheap and often don’t have these fees. But
then again, they don’t have the range that some of these other systems do.)
Applied Digital Solutions (www.digitalangel.com) is on the leading edge.
The company has developed the VeriChip, which can be implanted under the
skin of people in high-risk (think kidnapping) areas overseas. This chip is
an implantable, 12mm x 2.1mm radio frequency device, about the size of the
point of a ballpoint pen. The chip contains a unique verification number.
Although watches are a great form factor for lots of wireless connectivity
opportunities, they have been hampered by either wired interface requirements
(like a USB connection) or an infrared (IR) connection, which requires
line of sight to your PC. Expect these same devices to quickly take on
Bluetooth and 802.11 interfaces so that continual updating — as with the
Microsoft Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) model
(direct.msn.com) — can occur.
Creating wireless connectivity via jewelry bears its own set of issues because
of the size and weight requirements of the host jewelry for any wireless
system. The smaller the jewelry, the less power the wireless transmitter has
to do its job. The less power, the shorter the range and the more limited the
bandwidth and application of the device.
Cellular Jewelry (www.cellularjewelry.com) offers bracelets, watches, pens,
and other devices that flash when you receive a phone call. Tired of missing
calls when that phone is in your purse or jacket pocket? These devices —
which work well only with GSM phones, not CDMA ones — alert you in a
visual fashion, and in a fashionable way too!
Wearables are going wireless — MP3 sunglasses, Wi-Finder purses, GPS
belts — you name it, someone has thought of it! Check out the Engadget
wearables blog, at wearables.engadget.com.