BlueLinx hopes its Q-Zone nodes will be available in 2002, beginning in the U.S. Pricing is expected to vary depending on a venue s size and shape. You need a high-speed local area network, or LAN, to hook up your company s employees, but you want to avoid the hassle and cost of pulling up the floors to run wire throughout the offices, conference rooms, and public areas. A new wireless LAN standard could be the answer. Wireless LANs, though available for years, have attracted few users because they have run at pokey speeds. It allows for data communication at 11 megabits a second, compared with the two megabits a second that was possible under the earlier standard.
Installation is relatively simple.
More than 5,000 US Airways crewmembers and airport employees have been using the system to gain access to restricted areas. The test was among the first commercial uses of iris-scanning technology, which also has been deployed in automated teller machines. After a person has been scanned, he can be identified in a second by having him look into a digital camera. It has more than 266 characteristics, such as blood vessels and freckles, making it even less likely that two people will have identical irises than that they'll have identical fingerprints. EyeTicket says the technology eventually could replace boarding passes and tickets, making it possible for passengers to board more quickly.