lso take advantage of an intelligent scale that automatically identifies and weighs fruit and vegetables as well as an RFID-based self-checkout terminal. Each of the store's employees has a PDA that's linked, via a wireless local area network (WLAN), to all other on-site PDAs and to back-end data. Other featured technologies include electronic advertising displays, shopping cart- mounted touch screens that direct customers to specific products, multimedia information kiosks, and electronic shelf labels that can be instantly updated. Project partners include IBM, Intel, Philips, SAP, and over 30 other technology companies. The store's goal is to test new retailing technologies and to set standards that can be implemented on an international scale, says Albrecht von Truchsess, a METRO Group representative. "We want to practice how a variety of technological systems can work together in a very complex way." He notes that new technologies will be added to the store whenever the company deems they are ready for public testing. METRO doesn't plan to open any additional Future Stores. "It's a test lab," notes von Truchsess. "You normally don't erect several test labs." But that doesn't mean that technologies tested in the Future Store won't eventually find their way into the retail mainstream. "We will get results from this store, and we will decide which solutions are fit to be brought into other stores," says von Truchsess. SOMETHING IN THE AIR-RADIO AND LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES 6.5 RADIO MONITORS Unlike RFID tags, which only provide tracking capabilities, inexpensive mon- itoring circuits allow enterprises to carefully supervise the condition of key assets. Stockholm, Sweden-based Cypak, for instance, has developed a sensor- based monitoring technology that's aimed at product delivery surveillance and control. Using special conductive inks, Cypak prints a microprocessor, en- vironmental sensors, antenna, and support electronics directly onto product and shipping packages. The company's SecurePak technology stores a uniq