Bell Labs Develops Engine for Cell Users - AP
Now that wireless companies can track a mobile phone's location, customers will want to control exactly who knows where they are and when.Bell Labs says it has developed a network software engine that can let cell users be as picky as they choose about disclosing their whereabouts, a step that may help wireless companies introduce "location-based services" in a way customers will find handy rather than intrusive.

Next wave of phone features may have less to do with calls - IHT
DoCoMo, the world's second-biggest mobile phone operator, and Sony, Japan's fifth-biggest cellphone seller, have teamed to add a smart-card computer chip called FeliCa to phones...The chip allows handsets to become payment cards.

RFID tags to make waves in 2004, study finds - Linux News
A market research report published by Allied Business Intelligence (ABI) looks at the sudden importance of RFID (Radio Frequency ID), a fascinating technology...

VeriSign to Manage Tags for Consumer Items - AP
The company that manages the Internet's core directory - and has been criticized for trying to take undue advantage of its position - has been hired to perform a similar role in the developing system for radio-frequency identification tags on consumer products.

U.S. and Brazil Fingerprinting: Is It Getting Out of Hand? - NYT (sub)
Brazil and the U.S. insist on photographing and fingerprinting visitors from the other country, threatening relations.

How the biometric card will work - Glasgow Daily Record
Biometric passports will take the form of a credit card similar to the recently introduced EU driving licences.

Britain, US talks over visas, "biometric" passports - Times of India, India
... Under the new US rules, after October 26 all passports issued in visa waiver countries must have "biometric indicators" -- computer chips with a digitally...

Japan, Europe forge common biometric union - Australian IT, Australia
Japanese and European firms are moving toward setting up a common standard for biometric identification, which uses facial features as well as fingerprints.

IDC to RFID: Tags, you're It - CNET News.com
Radiofrequency identification, aka RFID, may have its controversial aspects, but the technology is on a steady path toward the mainstream...

Spending on RFID To Surpass $1 Billion - NewsFactor Network
"RFID will change the course of business over the next 20 years," says Gartner research director Jeff Woods.