Tracking by numberplate

Wired News reports that License Plate Tracking technology, for now the province of US police departments, is set to go public.

The systems, which cost about $25,000 are about the size of a can of baked beans and are powered by a cigarette lighter. Attached to a laptop they can check up to 60 plates a minute against a database, says Wired.

Wired quotes former policeman Andy Bucholz, who’s on the board of Virginia-based G2 Tactics, a manufacturer of the technology, saying the price is coming down and companies like ChoicePoint, who already provide masses of personal information on people, will be chomping at the bit to get hold of real-time locational data.

Internet ads continue to rise

Online advertising spending is set to grow 25 per cent worldwide in 2006 says a report from Carat, quoted by the AOP.

Internet advertising will continue its rapid ascent in 2006 and help prop up growth in the ad market as a whole, according to a new report from Carat International.

The Aegis-owned network said in its latest “Global Market Update” that the online medium will grow 25 per cent year-on-year worldwide, and will overtake the amount of ad revenue generated by newspapers in the US by 2008.

In the UK, it overtook outdoor advertising in 2005 and is likely to outstrip magazines this year. For early adopters like Sweden and South Korea, the internet is forecast to become the third biggest advertising medium this year, after television and newspapers.

Amazon video business to launch next month

According to PaidContent.org Amazon.com’s movie service will launch in mid-August.

[The service], which has been in the works for some time now, will launch mid-August, report AdAge. The service, called Amazon Digital Video — or Amazon “DV” — has evolved over the past year from a music-themed offering to a video-centric one, mainly because of competing services. It will have movies and TV shows, and will have subscription and la carte download (download to own plus burn) options.