John K. Davis, Technology Advocate

iQUE 3600

Garmin iQUE 3600 review by PC Magazine

Garmin, one of the most respected names in the GPS industry, has entered the PDA market with an intriguing convergent device, the Garmin iQUE 3600 ($590 street).

I recently assisted dear friends to get their new iQUE 3600 properly configured. It took four days.

So, OK, there were a number of special circumstances that created problems for us. First, two of the days were over the weekend. And then there is the thing about a prior Garmin device sabotaging us a bit. But no handheld device should ever take four days to configure.

The basic problem is digital rights management (DRM). Garmin has a chain of registration numbers, unlock codes, customer numbers and serial numbers that are needed to initiate the gadget’s GPS features. If anything goes wrong, and there are many things that can go wrong, you are toast.

Garmin closes at 5:00 PM ET and they are closed weekends. If Garmin feels they must build an obstacle course for customers to navigate, they could at least have support waiting on the sidelines for those who fall wounded during the arduous event.

My friends purchased a Garmin GPS unit but were unable to get it working. They returned the device to the retailer and got their money back. That is when I came into the picture. I listened to the sad story and heard the sincere desire that remained for an easy-to-use GPS device. I did a little research and recommended the Garmin iQUE 3600.

A week or so afterwards I got a call from my friends--they had purchased the device and it was now sitting unopened in their den. I heard the dread in my buddy's voice. He was just wondering how busy I happened to be. We coordinated our schedules and I went to his home last Friday at the agreed upon hour.

Everything went well until it came time to register the iQUE and unlock the maps we had installed. I am quite comfortable with these matters, usually. Try as I might I could not figure out the magic word and Garmin was unavailable until Monday.

We got into the process again on Monday afternoon. We were able to use the Garmin Unlock Website to get us one step further along the path, but still the finish line eluded us. By the time we gave up again it was 15 minutes too late to reach Garmin--I hate time zones.

The next morning we reached Garmin technical support. It turned out that my friend's attempt to install the prior GPS device had confused the DRM Wizard and the representative walked us through an involved process to get the problem resolved. I told the efficient young man how much I appreciated his assistance, and then I asked him to pass something on to Garmin management. I doubt he will say it exactly like I said it, but he promised to let someone know what I thought of their DRM fiasco.

My friends are off to New York tomorrow. The iQUE is going with them. We made sure that all of the areas they might need were available for use. We all hugged and felt that bond that comes when warriors are tested in battle. I think my friends will have a lot of fun with their new toy.

Ubiquitous RFID

Here is a link to a story about that DoD announcement I told you about: Defense Department orders its suppliers to use RFID tags by 2005 - Computerworld

The new policy will cover practically everything purchased by the U.S. military -- from beans to bullets and from toothpaste to tank parts -- or roughly 45 million line items

So, do you have RFID yet?

Where Am I?

A short Technology Research News story reveals that researchers have found another new use for RFID systems.

The arrangement, dubbed Navigational Assistance for the Visually Impaired (NAVI), can provide location information for the visually impaired and for other kinds of navigational assistance applications like self-guided tours.

RFID Seminar

Wolf Bielas, Chief Executive Officer of RSI ID Technologies, used a Wi-Fi enabled Pocket PC to configure a production assembly line at the conclusion of the Process Automation Seminar I attended earlier today. Wolf was demonstrating the power of integrating wireless networks, RFID and barcode systems and comprehensive data collection applications to automate business processes.

The seminar began this morning when Brett Horwitz, Business Development Manager at SAMSys Technologies, Inc., gave an excellent presentation about the current state of RFID technologies. Brett and I spoke by telephone last June and he steered me to RSI ID. SAMSys is a principal supplier of RFID readers and other products and services and RSI ID uses their equipment when integrating automation solutions for customers.

Jhon Kielty, Sales Manager for RSI ID, then presented the benefits of using RFID technologies within business automation systems. He shared details about calculating return on investment and presented specific examples of businesses that had implemented process automation systems with RSI ID's assistance. In addition to identifying huge cost savings from automation of receiving, stocking, replenishing, manufacturing, packaging, packing, shipping, routing, delivering and servicing products, he also demonstrated similar savings that flow from maintaining a real-time accurate inventory, theft and misplacement prevention, trouble-free invoicing, warrantee confirmation and quality customer service. I was surprised to hear one of the case studies because it had nothing to do with automating a manufacturing or production system--Jhon told about working with the District Attorney's Office to automate evidence tracking.

Then Wolf ended the seminar talking about how RSI ID does its thing. The twelve-step process they use assures good results. First, they get a commitment from everyone on the customer's team. Then they work with the customer to identify a process that should be automated, break it into small tasks and put the process on paper. Next, an analysis of the time, effort and mistakes made for each task is completed, and the time and cost is quantified. The tasks are then prioritized based on cost multiplied by time. The highest priority task is measured, goals are set and the plan is implemented. Finally, the results are measured and if the plan succeeded the next task on the priority list is attacked, or if it was not successful the plan is tweaked and a refined plan is implemented to achieve the desired result. The process is an unending cycle of improving efficiency.

We adjourned the seminar and moved into an adjacent room where SAMSys and RSI ID had set up a demonstration. A miniature assembly line had been constructed. It looked like this:

A conveyor belt moved cardboard boxes and other small containers through a set of SAMSys RFID readers, RSI ID's Flexolution Software Suite matches the product identification number that is broadcast by the RFID chip with an inventory database, and finally a label is prepared that is automatically attached to the container.

Wolf used me to demonstrate how the handheld wireless device used by the system's operator can scan the user and produce a photo of the person. The photo is sent wirelessly to the software suite where it is compared with a database of user's photographs in order to assure that the user has authority to be controlling the system. If the wrong product or wrong user is identified, the system can make a phone call, remove the item from the conveyor belt or stop the production line altogether. The technology is quite remarkable.

I sat next to Mel Roberts during the seminar. Mel is a consultant from Los Angeles County who is working with RSI ID to automate business processes for government and commercial customers in that area--it was good to visit with someone who is also assisting people to understand, cope with and embrace accelerating change. I made some good connections today and learned a lot about a technology that fascinates me.

Government Mandate

The Defense Department expects to issue a statement in the next few days calling on suppliers to adopt the new version of EPCglobal by 2005. This will give another boost to RFID and simultaneously increase passionate outrage by privacy activists.

Tire IQ

The progression of RFID inspired applications is at that exciting time when many are having aha moments and extending the technology into new corners of utility. A good example is what is happening with car tires. Michelin started embedding RFID chips into its tires some time ago. Other tire manufacturers have followed.

Now, in an announcement I read at the Automotive Design and Production website, comes an article about Siemens VDO Automotive and Goodyear extending RFID functionality to incorporate tires into the vehicle's local area network. They have created the Tire IQ system. More than a tire pressure monitoring system, Tire IQ effectively "wires" the tires into a vehicle’s electronic network, providing information on tire performance in addition to monitoring air pressure and temperature.

“It can provide a full range of data including tire stiffness and strain in the tire wall as a vehicle is undergoing a turning or braking maneuver,” says Ken Chance, business development senior engineer at Siemens VDO Automotive. And that opens up a lot of possibilities for improving ride and handling. Chance notes that current ride control systems (like vehicle stability control) base their calculations on general tire parameters since they have no access to real-time data. But with Tire IQ, “You would have millisecond-by-millisecond information coming back from the tire on its state,” he says. Ride control systems could then be programmed to precisely compensate for factors like the reduction in stiffness that occurs when a tire gets warmer during a drive, resulting in improved handling dynamics.

As others begin to comprehend the benefits of having everything, yes everything, connected digitally on the Internet, the number of applications that use RFID in creative ways will multiply.

RFID Summary

If you have not been following the RFID news over the past year, a good summary can be found here: http://securityfocus.com/columnists/169. It?s a short article, but touches almost all of the important bases.

Sentient Surroundings

I arrive at London's Heathrow Airport and walk through immigration unchecked; thanks to a wristwatch computer that presents my ID and visa for validation. I walk directly to the rental car curbside where a vehicle unlocks itself as I approach and starts when tell it to take me to my hotel. The car guides me to a reserved parking bay at the Intercontinental in Hyde Park. I walk directly to my room which has adapted to my preferences by adjusting the temperature, lighting and choice of TV and music channels. My luggage is delivered a few minutes after I arrive while I talk to my daughter whose live image is being displayed on the room?s video wall. Local references have already been automatically inserted into my presentation for the following morning using the hotel's special software and my personal digital assistant is gently encouraging me to take a twenty-minute nap in an effort to assist me in coping with jet-lag?

Would you sacrifice your privacy for such expediency? What if it was mostly voluntary--you could opt out of these conveniences and watch others around you skip the lines and avoid the hassles as you held fast to your privacy?

Emerging technologies have a subtle seduction. When they present compelling benefits, most people find their resistance melting away. This phenomenon occurs when we are convinced that the new technology can improve our health, simplify some process or enhance our capabilities.

I am making conscious and unconscious decisions about these matters every day and concluding in the process that privacy is not as important to me as I once thought it to be. I continue to play an active role in protecting my anonymity and holding the control to decide where and when I set privacy aside, but I am growing more resigned to the fact that my privacy is quickly eroding.

To learn more about the choices you will be making about these matters in the next five years, read The Sentient Office is Coming at the Economist?s Technology Quarterly.

Big Numbers

A friend and I were talking about RFID the other day. I told him how everything that is manufactured, everything, will have an RFID computer embedded into it, each with a unique identification number, in the near future (I'm talking 10 or 20 years). He didn't believe me. "Do you know how many numbers it would take to give everything that is manufactured a unique identification number?" he asked rhetorically.

Well, that got me thinking. Each bit has two states, on or off, plus or minus, 1 or 0. One bit, therefore, can represent two possible values. Ten bits can represent 1024, or one kilobyte (1KB), or two to the tenth power possible values. Twenty bits can represent 1,048,576 (1MB) possible values. Thirty bits can represent 1,073,741,824 (1GB) possible values. Forty bits can represent 1,099,511,627,776 (1TB) possible values.

How many bits do you think it would take to provide a unique number for every atom in the universe? You might be surprised to learn that two hundred fifty-six bits will do it with lots of numbers left over.

Random Thoughts

The Chief Scientist and creator of Scopeware wrote a commentary for the Wall Street Journal that was published on Tuesday, April 15. The article smashes old ideas for finding, organizing and utilizing information and promotes the simplicity of a narrative information structure. You can read a copy of the article by David Gelernter here:

Candy-Coated Electronics

Digital identity is about to become standardized and ubiquitous. This is very important. It will make many problems go away, but it will also come at a cost. There are many nuances, but the big picture is well described in this short article:

I Can Prove Who I Am: The Case for the Positive Identity Affidavit

Sometimes I hear something that strikes my sense of humor and causes me to laugh even when the situation makes such behavior inappropriate. A friend told me that he saw a button on a Stanford student in 2001 that said "Start Kissing Robot Ass Now." Oh well, board meetings are too stuffy anyway.

Emerging Technologies

MIT's Technology Review has an article about the ten emerging technologies they think will have the greatest impact on reality over the next ten years and the innovators behind each of the technologies. See if you agree with their choices:

http://techreview.com/articles/print_version/emerging0203.asp

The Age (one of Australia?s top technology news sources) has a fun article on nanotechnology. It details some of the new products that will soon be available:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/19/1042911268269.html

Talking about new nanotechnology products, how about a 3D printer that prints living tissue! Three-dimensional tubes of living tissue have been printed using modified desktop printers filled with suspensions of cells instead of ink. The work is a first step towards printing complex tissues or even entire organs. You will want to read this article recently published at NewScientist.com:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993292

Michelin (the tire manufacturer) has announced that it will embed RFID transmitters into its tires. The article states that "the microchip stores the tire's unique ID, which can be associated with the vehicle identification number" and, in turn, the owner's contact information. Check here for more details:

http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/269/1/1/

Ubiquitous Identification

The potential ramifications of identity technologies continue to emerge. I believe that RFID is the technology that has the greatest potential to significantly change things in the near-term, but it is only one technology in a vast sea of identity tools.

Fingerprint, eye and face scanners, DNA testing and other technologies that can be used to identify people are rapidly being adopted to solve problems. For instance, did you hear about the school in London that has installed a retinal scanner to identify students and charge them for lunch? The headmaster is concerned that if students are forced to pay for their lunches in cash the poor ones who receive food for free could be stigmatized.

There are also a number of technologies being developed that can identify things. Were you aware that an identification system that detects gunshots in real time, determines the make and model of gun, the precise location of the gun when it was fired and the direction of each shot will be rolled out this year? The system is called the On Alert Gunshot Detection System. It costs about $25,000 per square mile to deploy the sensors involved.

By the way, a hint for those who might be feeling a little paranoid: If you purchase a product that contains an RFID chip (read anything) and you would just as soon it was not tracked, you can microwave it for three seconds and it will kill the chip's ability to function.

For a short article about the ACLU's take on all of this go here:

http://news.com.com/2102-1023-980964.html

Finding Lost Socks

I have been following the progress of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) for a number of years. You may see it under the name ePC ((electronic Product Code), or Auto-ID. It is now about ready to happen and I thought I should alert those who have not yet learned about this amazing new technology.

The idea is to create small chips to broadcast a radio signal imparting a unique identification number. These are very small chips, too large to be called nano-devices, but small enough to be invisible to the naked eye--about the size of a dust particle. These are tough little buggers capable of enduring high pressure, moisture, heat and sunlight. Each chip will cost less than one cent. Before long, a single RFID chip will be embedded into every manufactured item on the planet, giving a number (not a product ID, but a unit ID) for everything--food, clothes, drugs, auto-parts, dollar bills, condoms--everything.

Another element of the plan is to embed receivers or readers in a multitude of devices. We will have refrigerators and pantries that will inventory contents and consult with one another to prepare a shopping list each week. After a quick review of the list by their owner who may add and subtract a few items, the devices will then send the list to the grocery store and replenish supplies and the order will be conveniently delivered.

But this is only one example. Everything will be identifiable. Companies will be able to track each unit of their production, often each part contained in a more complex item. Theft will all but disappear as a social problem. Each unit of currency will be fully traceable. Nothing will be lost. We will soon learn that mysterious location where socks go when we do laundry.

The implications are huge. Privacy advocates are preparing to do battle over this technology. I recommend you become informed about the issues and concerns. You can get a good start here:

http://www.nocards.org/AutoID/overview.shtml

Here is an example of current technology using RFID, a Texas Instrument partnership with Timex and ExxonMobile--a wristwatch that automates the process of paying for gasoline:

http://www.e-insite.net/eb-mag/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA264143&spacedesc=news

Another Texas Instrument product allows family members to find one another at amusement parks. I guess finding lost children is a little more compelling than finding lost socks.

http://www.ti.com/tiris/docs/news/news_releases/2002/rel11-26-02.shtml

It looks like the Euro will be the first major currency to track paper bills with embedded RFID chips:

http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011219S0016

MasterCard is in a pilot test to see if consumers like using a credit card with an embedded RFID chip. Imagine, a credit card that is constantly broadcasting information that merchants can use to bill you without you ever having to sign a thing, or even remove a card from your wallet.

http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle?doc_id=IWK20021216S0003

Digital Identity

Something important happened a few days ago. XNSORG donated its remarkable XNS technology to OASIS (a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of e-business standards). The technology will now be called XRI (eXtensible Resource Identifier). OASIS doesn't allow trademarks as names for the standards under its control and XNSORG holds a trademark on XNS in the public interest. So, a name change has been made but it is the same technology.

What is the big deal? Well, XRI will be the foundational element of a digital identity infrastructure. Things like trust and reputation will soon be commonplace on the Internet. No more SPAM! Safe financial transactions will be a no-brainer. Computer viruses will be much less prevalent. XRI will speed the transition to an extraordinary future.

As practical uses of this technology appear, I will post information about it here.