Microsoft patents the body electric
Humans, pets as power supplies
Posted in Science, 24th June 2004 02:41 GMT
Understand how application security is evolving
After you shake hands with Microsoft, according to the company's critics, count your fingers. But the warning can be seen in a whole new light after Redmond was granted a patent for "transmitting power and data using the human body". It's a technology first demonstrated and patented by IBM in 1996, when Lou Gerstner used Comdex to exchange business cards by shaking hands. Lou's PAN was developed at IBM's Almaden lab, where researcher Thomas Zimmerman built on earlier exploratory work at MIT's Media Lab, where he was a researcher.
It uses the natural conductivity of the body to transmit a tiny electrical current. Data rates of equivalent to a 2.4 mbit/s modem were achieved in those first demonstrations. NTT DoCoMo filed its first patent in this area in 1996, and has been experimenting with the technology and claims speeds of 10 mbit/s. Another phone company, Nokia, has also been experimenting with near field electronics, and an industry forum was established by Nokia, Philips and Sony earlier this year. It isn't hard to see why it appeals to them, as both the handset manufacturers and wireless operators want to merge the phone with the credit card.
In its patent, Microsoft envisages the technology being used primarily for power, rather than data transfers. "The devices may be, e.g., a speaker, display, watch, keyboard, etc" it notes. So perhaps The Matrix will come true in one respect, with humans (or pets) acting as the power supply for machines. ®
Related stories
Nokia, Sony, Philips tout connectivity Utopia
MS demos Jetsons' kitchen on FoodTV
See what The Register's experts have to say on application security


The future of SaaS and IT infrastructure management
The mandate for application security
Extended Validation SSL Certificates
Avoiding 7 common mistakes of IT security compliance
CIO strategies for the retention and deletion of email

Win a Samsung C6625!
Is your cameraphone an oxymoron?
Windows 7, Bing and security: Mr Ballmer regrets
Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter