While some believe that implanted microchips will be as
common as mobile phones within a decade, others believe
that the future lies with the mobile phone with an
enhanced SIM replacing many of the functions of smart
cards, together with location. A suggested possible use
of the phone would be for bus travellers to enter a number
at a bus stop & be told the ETA of the next bus. I live on
a route with "smart stops", which receive GPS info from
buses, which then display the route numbers, destinations,
and ETAs of the next few buses, together with advice of
service delays etc. There is also a pedestrian crossing
style push button for spoken information, which is handy
for visually impaired passengers, as well as the normal
printed route maps & timetables.

==========================================================

The promise of smart phones
21 April 2005

The leader of one of the UK's leading councils for IT services has
said mobile phones could take on many of the functions of smart cards

Paul Bettison, leader of Bracknell Forest BC, said SIM (subscriber
identity module) cards could replace the chips that are used on smart
cards. He predicted this would be the next big step in the development
of smart cards for public services.

He was speaking at the Local e-Government Expo on 20 April 2005.
Bracknell Forest has been one of the leaders in developing smart cards
for council services, and is the lead authority in the National Smart
Card Project.

"The next generation of chip will not be put on a card; instead it
will go on a SIM," Bettison said. "Instead of handing out cards we
will hand out mobile phones."

He said that, while this is currently just an idea, he is confident
that it could be developed. Some vendors are working with a protocol
named near field communication that converges mobile phone and smart
card technology. This creates the potential for a range of new
applications.

"If you or I could think of it there is somebody out there who could
design it," he said.

Bettison said one of the big advantages is that it could provide
information on the location of the holder. One possible use could be
for bus travellers, who could enter a number while at a bus stop and
be told the estimated arrival time of the next bus.

Another could be for children with a lone parent who feared abduction
by the other parent, a problem that Bracknell Forest has experienced.
The child's phone could be programmed to register their location on
the journey home from school, and if they deviate by more than a set
amount - maybe a couple of hundred yards - it would automatically make
a call to the parent who had custody.

Bracknell Forest has distributed 38,000 of its smart cards, named The
Edge, to residents, many of them schoolchildren. Among other functions
it can be used to pay for school meals, provide proof of age, act as a
library card, provide entrance to the council's leisure facilities and
acts a membership card for youth clubs. It is also an e-purse for
selected shops.

                            -==-

Source: Kable's Government Computing
Publication date: 21/04/2005

http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/
EE7D7AA2BFF22B2180256FE90058E4F0?OpenDocument

Cheers, Steve..

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