Rapidly developing technologies are allowing for smaller devices with more wireless connections. Phones and MP3 players will soon be the size of badges or pendants – some will fit into an ear piece – and will be coupled with new display technologies such as flexible plastic screens.
By Nick Flaherty, Technology Writer
These technological advances will make small, high value devices even more attractive to thieves, so they must be developed with anti-crime measures in mind. Technology writer Nick Flaherty looks at emerging trends in protecting portable electronic equipment.
GPS technology will be standard in the majority of phones by 2010, offering new ways of securing the devices plus potential new business opportunities for recovering them.
Sat nav is already being integrated into other portable devices to enable a range of location-based services, both in phones and in consumer equipment such as digital still cameras and camcorders, to provide geotagging of pictures and video. This can be used to provide a tracking service, particularly when integrated with the phone capability. Sat nav tracking of the devices could be included, and long range research
on this technology is being carried out by several companies and universities around the world.
Trends are moving towards integrating networking capabilities into clothing, linking equipment such as phones and MP3 players via a network of wires in the clothes. Early designs are on sale, with wires integrated into the clothing along with sockets for the user’s choice of equipment to plug into. This also allows the equipment to be removed when the garments are washed. (Over time devices may be permanently integrated into waterproof pockets.) The security benefits are clear: equipment is hidden from view and less vulnerable. The fully integrated versions will also be more difficult to steal and resell.
A trend is emerging for wireless earphones: these are less visible and therefore a less obvious target for thieves.
These tags can be integrated into equipment to provide a unique identification number that can be picked up by a scanner. RFID technology is already used to protect high value equipment and, again, as costs fall they could be used to protect mainstream equipment such as phones, MP3 players etc.
Low cost electronics are being produced which conduct using an inkjet printing process rather than complex circuit board manufacturing. One of the first target areas for this technology is disposable mobile phones. With low cost screens and electronics, these phones can be reduced to a few pounds in price. This reduces the resale value and attractiveness to thieves.
These are likely to be integrated into portable equipment. They are already becoming mainstream on laptop PCs.