a bit more about the Philips I.CODE RFID tags

"The I.CODE chip used in Benetton's labels includes 1,024 bits of EEPROM and operates at 13.56-MHz carrier frequency. It can be operated without line of sight up to 1.5 meters. The label requires no internal power supply. Its contactless interface generates power and the system clock via the resonant circuitry by inductive coupling to the reader.

The interface also demodulates data transmitted from the reader to the I.CODE label, and modulates the electromagnetic field for data transmission from the I.CODER label to the reader. "

good god that is truely sciencefiction. Ive been through the Dallas Semiconductor iButton and the SpeedPass. This is unreal. It uses the power of the radio energy from the reader to do everything, even transmit back to the reader. Its the size of a grain of rice?? Its pretty damn close to smart dust.

Freakin EVERYTHING will have one of these. Even the boxes used to ship the clothes have an rfid tag in them. Electronic surveilance will go through the roof if every thing you wear, everything in your pocket, has one of these. And its read/write without line of sight at 1.5 meters. Incredible. I imagine there are places in the human body that could house one of these things for a lifetime.

Walk into an airport or department store and they'll know where you are within 1.5 meters (maybe better with triangulation). I wonder how it can keep people from rewriting them without authorization. There is an ISO spec 15693.

In other news, the always knowledgable D.J.E. pointed out that IEEE 802.15 TG3 is in draft form. 55mbit ultrawideband ad-hoc low-power networking. now who wouldnt like that? I want my PDA to transmit images to my sunglasses that are really semi-transparent LCD screens.