Tracking your kids, stuff is the future, according to AT&T

blahh! boring day for electronic"s .. how come people are always trying to find more ways to track there kids?? like come one give them a little freedom.. seriously.

More of your everyday stuff may be able to communicate with cell networks throughout 2010, at least if AT&T has anything to say about it. The company says that it plans to add services to a plethora of consumer products as part of an expansion of its mobile offerings, and that the first of these products may be available in the second half of this year.

AT&T head of emerging devices Glenn Lurie told Reuters about the company's plans during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, noting that AT&T is already in the process of inking deals to get into 20 consumer devices. These would include, among other things, entertainment systems in your car, your e-reader, your digital photo frame, or even your child (we assume something you strap onto your child, not put in your child). AT&T believes the venture might net the company as much as $1 billion more in annual revenue.

In theory, this would mean that users will be able to keep track of their items and locate them in case of loss or theft. Amazon's Kindle, for example, already has wireless tech built in for book downloading, but that that law enforcement could use to help track stolen devices—if it really wanted to. Though Kindle users have been somewhat frustrated in achieving that goal as of late, Lurie believes the future is definitely in tracking your things. "There's going to be more and more there in terms of anything you want to track, whether it's a parcel or a container or a kid," he told Reuters.

To many of us, being able to always find our electronics—a la Apple's "Find My iPhone" feature—would be wonderful. Imagine how much easier it would be to find your keys if you could pop onto a website and see where you last left them? But, as with most devices that have tracking capabilities, those worried about privacy are sure to be uncomfortable with the proliferation of these services. Gadget makers will have to be extremely cautious in making sure the tracking features are off by default and offered as an opt-in if they want to stay on the good side of organizations like the EFF.

Original article.