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.