Digital Angel to Debut

Unique technology hints at the wireless future.

Laurianne McLaughlin, Business 2.0, February 08, 2001

Digital Angel, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions  (ADSX) will unveil a gadget the likes of which you've never seen this weekend, at the Internet industry conference Cyberposium, being held at Harvard University.

The company designed its self-named Digital Angel, a unique miniature digital transceiver, to be worn in an item like a wristband or identification tag. It combines sensor technology and Web-enabled wireless telecommunications, linked to a Global Positioning Systems (GPS) network.

Digital Angel envisions the product and the accompanying GPS technology being used for jobs as different as tracking lost pets; tracking packages or stolen goods; and ensuring ecommerce security.

But the company also will target the product at medical monitoring. For example, a wristband product using the chip could be used to monitor someone's temperature and pulse - and transmit that data, along with accurate location information, via satellite.

"This is not one universal product, it's many products," says Dr. Peter Zhou, president and chief scientist of Digital Angel.

The idea may sound futuristic, but the first applications will be on the market by the third quarter of this year, Zhou says. Among the first commercially available services using the technology, Zhou expects a child-protection service and a pet location service. He declines to name the companies involved yet.

Tracking devices can conjure up Orwellian implications, but the company's stance is that such a chip will be voluntarily worn by the owner and can be shut off at any time.

Applied Digital Solutions has formed a strategic alliance with AT&T Wireless  (AWE) to serve as the wireless carrier for the Digital Angel delivery system, the company announced Wednesday. AT&T Wireless will use its cellular digital packet data (CDPD) network to transmit the information.

CDPD makes the most sense for now, but Digital Angel is also considering using other wireless technologies -- such as two-way pagers, Zhou says.

As for the manufacturer's cost for such a device, the main costs are the CDPD and GPS hardware, which currently add up to a couple hundred dollars, Zhou says. It's not clear yet what consumers will pay for a Digital Angel device and service.

The main profit generator will be the service fees, not the hardware sale. "It's very much like a cell phone model," Zhou says. "We're looking at the service side."

Digital Angel is contracting with U.S. and offshore manufacturing partners to make the microchips, Zhou says, though he declines to name them yet.