November 9, 2005INDIAN WELLS - The next incarnation of the catchy Verizon Wireless phrase "Can you hear me now?" just might be "Can you see me now?"

Tracking devices have come of age, as the gadgets showcased on Wednesday at a mobile technology conference at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa demonstrated.

The quickly evolving technology help you track purchases, monitor inventory, find lost children, keep felons under watch and keep tabs on virtually everything you do - often in real time.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that can be worn as a bracelet or necklace by your child so you can instantly know where the child is. The chips also could be surgically implanted to track sex offenders.

An EverNote program developed by Russian scientists that beams memos, notes and photos from your personal or corporate computer to any spot at any time.

All will be coming to a day care center, prison, bank, government center, corporation or driver's license branch near you. And your pet won't be left out, either.

J. Gerry Purdy, a principal analyst with MobileTrax LLC, likened the conference to an exciting new frontier where devices that baby boomers once wrote off as sci-fi fantasy are coming into the consumer marketplace.

The conference, which drew about 150 scientists, chief executives, and mobile communication and wireless experts and writers, also wrestled with the questions of consumer acceptance and privacy issues.

The American Civil Liberties Union has already spoken against placing radio frequency chips in driver's licenses, for example, maintaining that anyone carrying such a license could be tracked at a political rally, protest, gun show or prayer service.

But RFIDs are already widely used by retailers to track inventory, and some suggest these devices can be used to find lost children or stop a criminal or terrorist in their tracks.

Bill Onweiler of Rancho Mirage said he's all for technology, but he worries about an infringement of civil rights, and is concerned about any shift in government toward centralization. "I'd want to know in whose hands would the control of this information be?"

Alcala said one national cell phone provider already offers a global positioning service for parents to discover the exact location of their children at any time.

Tony Rose of San Francisco has a start-up company, Drop In Media LLC, that has developed technology to alert surfers as to where - and when - they can catch a wave.

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