I’m a bit of a futurist; I like to speculate about new technologies. And I’ve always though that eventually, all of your tech needs will be filled by one device, probably all merged into a phone. Already this has happened to the majority of eletro-fobs: your phone can also be your music player and your camera and your internet access. Eventually you’ll be able print full sized A4 paper from your phone via an extendable arm and you’ll be able to project high quality video onto a wall via a mini projector. Maybe eventually we’ll have credit card swipes or RFID readers in our phones that would help speed along business transactions.

Nissan’s developed a technology along those lines with Sharp and NTT DOCOMO that will allow you to lock and unlock your car via your phone. It seems pretty simple, just squeeze your key-fob into a phone. The phone apparently works on Nissan’s two-way communication Intelligent Key system and would allow you to not only lock and unlock the car door, but also start and stop the engine. Pretty cool. It should be available starting in 2009.
Check out the video:

Daimler and German utility company RWE are joining up to create the world’s largest electric car filling station infrastructure. The project is called e-mobility Berlin

Daimler will provide more than 100 electric cars from Mercedes-Benz and smart as well as the vehicle service. RWE is handling the development, installation and operation of the charging infrastructure accounting for some 500 charging points, the supply of electricity and central control of the system.

German scientists have apparently developed a head mounted device that allows the wearer to control a toy car with his mind. Heres the link. The ‘Coolest Device Ever’, as I’ve dubbed it, is basically just a Electroencephalogram (EEG) that takes the changes in voltage on the surface of your head and converts them into signals for driving the car. They plan to use this EEG device to help disabled people control artificial limbs or wheelchairs.

RTLS, or Real-Time Location System, is a relatively new technology used to track assets, even parts. Such systems do not use GPS. Rather, they use RF (Radio Frequency) transmitters and fall into the category of RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.

Nissan North America is now using RTLS technology from WhereNet to track auto parts that are delivered to their assembly line in Canton, Mississippi. WhereNet RFID WhereTags are temporarily attached to vehicles coming off the assembly line. Wireless access points are located strategically around the plant to help locate a specific vehicle. (Each WhereTag has a unique identifier code that it transmits.)

Employees will also use handscanners to check the production status of each vehicle, as the tag will store VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and information about which process in the assembly has been completed. RFID Journal has more details.

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Those enormously popular foot scooters that kids everywhere (and some young adults) are riding come from several suppliers. Razor is one of the companies - some would say the originals. Razor also makes a miniature electric ride scooter called the Pocket Mod.

As Razor is a supplier to retail giant Wal-Mart, part of their task is to tag their products with RFID (radio frequency identification technology) so that Wal-Mart can track their products in their stores, easily determine when stock is low, and make re-ordering easier.

Razor USA has plans to tag Pocket Mod scooters with RFID technology from ODIN Technologies. They are specifically using EPCglobal’s EPC Gen 2 RFID tags. Razor’s plant will also use technology from Alien Technology, Zebra Technologies, and Symbol.

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