TSL Webinar on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Bluetooth RFID Readers

Technology Solutions UK Ltd (TSL), a developer of best-in-class RFID devices and mobile data capture solutions, and Impinj, the leading UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) technology provider, will host a joint webinar to help users get the most performance and functionality from TSL’s 1128 Bluetooth UHF RFID Reader. Ideal for ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) asset tracking, this Bluetooth-enabled RFID reader is designed to bring UHF RFID scanning to a wide variety of smart phones, tablets and other handheld devices without requiring a customized driver.
The free webinar BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Bluetooth RFID Readers for iOS, Android, and Windows will be presented on April 29 at 10:00 a.m. PST (17:00 GMT). To register for the webinar, visit: Impinj Webinar Series.
Attendees will learn how to quickly and easily enable nearly any host device for RFID scanning using Bluetooth connectivity. The webinar also will instruct users on developing custom apps for the 1128 Bluetooth UHF RFID Reader, allowing even greater functionality and customization with host devices running iOS, Windows Mobile, Android™ or Windows Desktop operating systems. Speakers include Tracy Hillstrom, Sr. Product Line Manager of Impinj Speedway® line, and Dr. David Evans, managing director of TSL.
With a range of interchangeable, high-performance, snap-on antennas, and using the Impinj R2000 core, TSL's 1128 reader offers the utmost in flexibility and productivity for RFID scanning in retail, logistics and hospitality environments. A variety of holders and accessories are available to facilitate hands-free, full-feature RFID scanning and 2D barcode data scanning.

RFID tags curb street repair time

In many cities like Dayton, Ohio, when utility companies dig up streets to install sewer pipes or fiber optic lines, they are responsible for properly filling in any holes or trenches. If the street cut isn’t repaired properly, that area could sink or turn into a pothole – a problem for the city and a potential hazard for motorists. Officials in Dayton realized that it sometimes took the city’s only utility inspector weeks to identify which company was responsible for a defective restoration and get it fixed. But in the last year, the city has come up with a nifty wireless fix for the problem. Dayton now requires utilities to embed a RFID (radio frequency identification) tag in the roadway.

Adobe bolsters Marketing Cloud, launches core services, iBeacon support

Adobe rolled out a series of services for its Marketing Cloud that stitch together audience profiles, advertising mix planning and content management tools across mobile and Web channels. The moves, announced at Adobe's digital marketing conference in Salt Lake City, bolster the software company's marketing cloud. The company also rolled out support for Apple's iBeacon technology. Marketers aren't exactly running toward large scale iBeacon use, but are beginning to experiment with local promotions based on where a customer is, time spent in an area and other data.

Android Bluetooth RFID Reader helps to cut costs

Recently, the Android Bluetooth RFID reader from DAILY is popular among people and it has brought lucrative margins to the businessmen. DAILY has released a series of brand-new Bluetooth RFID reader with reasonable price, which is applicable for item management, personal identification and other applications where a Bluetooth device is required. Industrial UHF Android Tablet Reader DL790, an Android Bluetooth RFID reader which is released by DAILY RFID is available at Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR class 2, Wi-Fi, GPRS and integrating gravity sensor.

Jared Auerbach invents fishing by barcode

For the long-struggling New England fishing industry, the latest lifeboat may be a barcode. With diners hungering for local catch — and willing to pay more for it — Jared Auerbach, founder of Red’s Best fish dealership at Boston Fish Pier, has developed software that can produce a label and barcode for not just the type of fish and the port where it landed, but also the name of the captain, his or her boat, and the gear type. Such a device is especially important now that restaurants and fish processors are under acute scrutiny for label fraud.

Retailers increasing adoption of radio wave tags

Retail companies including Cincinnati-based Macy’s Inc. are accelerating adoption of radio-frequency identification technology that allows items to be identified and tracked wirelessly via radio waves. Retailers are primarily using radio-frequency identification to manage their inventories with greater accuracy, but data derived through item-level tracking is expected to open new opportunities for improving the customer experience as well, industry experts said.

RFID Market Grows 17 Percent in One Year to $9.2B in 2014

New research conducted by IDTechEx, and published in the report "RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2014-2024,"Opens in a new window finds that the RFID market—including tags, readers, software and services, for passive and active RFID—will grow from $7.88 billion in 2013 to $9.2 billion in 2014. Most growth is due to active RFID/RTLS systems, interrogators, and then tags, in terms of total money spent.
Passive UHF tags see rapid growth, from a total of just over 3 billion tags in 2013 to 3.9 billion tags in 2014. IDTechEx find that 2.48 billion passive HF tags will be sold in 2014, although at a much higher average sales price than passive UHF tags, so the money spent on HF tags will be almost ten times more. The highest volume sector for passive UHF systems is retail apparel, which still has some way to go with RFID penetrating only about 7 percent of the total addressable market for apparel in 2014.
After extensive interviews with suppliers, IDTechEx find that there are now emerging or established leaders in most positions of the value chain across the different technologies—yet still very few companies have sales of more than $100 million.
IDTechEx expects that the RFID market will reach $30.2 billion in 2024. This research was conducted for the report RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2014-2024 which provides the key data and analysis in all the main applications, giving an unprecedented level of insight into the total RFID industry and what is really happening. With over 90 tables, the report provides granular insight into the sector.

Software Company Anahata Offers Services to Melbourne's Fruit Industry

The fruit Industry comprises perishable products that need to be shipped to the market in the shortest time possible. Due to the lack of cost-effective and efficient solutions managing fruit stocks has posed the greatest challenge to investors in the industry. Anahata has ventured into the market to provide tailor-made ICT solutions that increase profitability and eradicate the loss of perishable stock in the industry.
Anahata specializes in the delivery of cross-platform solutions that are secure, stable and compatible with existing systems and infrastructure. This results in cost reduction over the lifespan of the software application. The firm also issues solutions on the Mac platform that is compatible with Mac applications. Partnerships with leading software vendors have enabled Anahata to venture into and deliver turnkey solutions as well.
Customer support is available through the day and night and on-site training is provided to the staffs to operate the new software applications. Anahata’s expert staffs improve the workflow of the client’s business operations in order to ensure the proper functioning of the ICT solutions it offers. This is coupled to a continuous integration process in order to ensure that the software is fine tuned to assist in realizing the goals and objectives of the customer.

PayRange aims to simplify mobile payments

PayRange, which launches today at an industry conference in Massachusetts, has developed a key-sized wireless device that aims to take coins, crumbled dollar bills and even credit cards out of the equation. The goal is a simplified payment system, for both the person making the payment and the company collecting it. PayRange (formerly known as VendNext) employs well-established technology. The company proposes installing its small wireless device – using the widely adopted Bluetooth standard – inside vending machines, parking meters and the like. It’s less expensive, both to install and to operate, than cellular equipment.

3D Printed RFID Ring

Like many of us, Benjamin Blundell is a bit tired of hearing about wearable technology when it seems that many of the examples just aren't very practical or useful. He decided to do something about that. He created this fantastic example of what wearable technology should be -- aesthetic and functional. Blundell says on his blog that RFID is quite prevalent in London, where he lives, so he carries a card with a passive RFID chip in it. This card grants him access to his local hackerspace and has some other common uses around the city. He set out with the goal of adding the RFID chip to his wedding ring.

HID Trusted Tag Services offers Internet of Things (IoT) authentication

HID Global, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions, today announced its HID Trusted Tag Services offering. Combining trusted tags with existing secure cloud authentication services, HID Global’s latest solution confers everyday objects with unique and trusted identities that can be read by NFC-enabled mobile devices in a wide variety of IoT applications.
With NFC technology, smartphones and tablets can interact with everyday objects in new and exciting ways, ranging from tapping a “smart poster” for an interactive brand experience to authenticating the value of a luxury item to verifying the visit of a home health aide in a patient’s home.
HID Trusted Tags can be attached to or embedded into an object and then “tapped” by a smart device to communicate secure information.  HID Trusted Tag Services does not require users to modify their devices or download apps; however, unlike traditional approaches QR codes or static NFC tags that are vulnerable to tag cloning and tampering, the data read from a trusted tag has additional security and privacy attributes that change on every tap, providing a secure audit trail and making the taps uncloneable. HID Global’s patented tag technology optimize security and convenience, eliminates the need for special readers or other equipment for tag authentication, and enables new use cases that require proof of presence.

Smart Card, GPRS on All Water Tankers

With a view to curbing the use of unaccounted-for water (UFW), the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has decided to extend Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Smart Card and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tracking system to all the water tankers including Metro Customer Care (MCC), hire tankers and tankers plied by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in peripheral areas. Some operators are allegedly resorting to dubious means by diverting the water tankers, selling drinking water commercially and making money due to lack of proper GPRS tracking system which is resulting in losses to the water board.

RFID Market Forecast to Grow 17% in 2014

New research conducted by IDTechEx finds that the RFID market--including tags, readers, software and services, for passive and active RFID--will grow from $7.88 billion in 2013 to $9.2 billion in 2014. Most growth is due to active RFID/RTLS systems, interrogators, and then tags, in terms of total money spent. Passive UHF tags see rapid growth, from a total of just over 3 billion tags in 2013 to 3.9 billion tags in 2014. IDTechEx find that 2.48 billion passive HF tags will be sold in 2014, although at a much higher average sales price than passive UHF tags, so the money spent on HF tags will be almost be ten times more. The highest volume sector for passive UHF systems is retail apparel, which still has some way to go with RFID penetrating only about 7% of the total addressable market for apparel in 2014.

HP launches NFC authentication for enterprise printing

The increased use of mobile devices in the workplace leads to a number of issues. Not least of which is establishing control over shared resources like printers. To address this HP has launched its first touch-to-authenticate solution for enterprise customers using NFC enabled smartphones or tablets. "As mobile device usage in the office continues to grow, many businesses are concerned with security," says Pradeep Jotwani, senior vice president, LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions at HP. "HP continues to focus on the security needs of enterprise customers by delivering LaserJet devices and solutions that break new ground with touch-to-authenticate technology. By simplifying authentication for users, IT managers can better secure printer and MFP fleets without the concern of burdening users with a complicated authentication process".

Payleven announces NFC-capable mobile point-of-sale card reader

Payleven, which began life as Rocket Internet’s Square clone for Europe, will later this year bring out a mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) card reader that accepts contactless payments using near-field communication (NFC) technology. The rollout of NFC-based contactless payment facilities among retailers has been patchy, apart from where banks are enthusiastically pushing them, such as in the U.K. and Poland. Certainly for very small businesses – the kind that will use cheap mPOS readers from the likes of Payleven, Square or iZettle to accept card payments for the first time – NFC has not factored thus far.

Court finds removal of barcode does not infringe trademark reputation

Ape & Partners SPA and Balling Brands ApS requested an interim injunction against Streetman ApS, claiming that Streetman was prohibited from marketing and selling products under the trademarks PARAJUMPERS and PJS THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE PARAJUMPERS after it had altered the tags attached to the products. PJS is the owner of a number of EU trademark registrations, including the two trademarks mentioned above, which have been licensed to Ape and Balling. Streetman sells jackets under both trademarks. The original PARAJUMPERS jackets are sold with five tags on a string, of which one is a barcode label. On the jackets sold by Streetman, the tag with the barcode label had been removed and a white sticker had been placed on one side of one of the other tags, covering a PARAJUMPERS trademark.

U.S. retailers insist on PIN requirement in smartcard rules

U.S. retailers are digging in their heels over their need for PIN authentication for Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) smartcard use here. Visa and MasterCard want retailers to migrate to EMV smartcard-ready payment systems by October 2015, but at this point aren't requiring that a Personal Identification Number (PIN) system be used to authenticate cardholders. EMV cards store cardholder data and other sensitive information in a tiny embedded microprocessor. Such cards are considered substantially safer than magnetic stripe cards currently used in the U.S.

World Smart Card Market Worth US$6.6 Billion By 2015

According to a new market research report, ‘World Smart Card- Advanced Technologies, Application and Global Forecast (2008 – 2015)’, published by MarketsandMarkets, the total global smart card market is expected to be worth US$6.6 billion by 2015, out of which the Telecommunication sector will account for nearly 53.8% of the total revenues. The global market is expected to record a CAGR of 7.3% from 2009 to 2014.
Growing mobile penetration, surge in acceptance from various governments and increased security and reliability has spurred the growth of smart card shipments, which reached 5.2 billion in 2009. Advent of new form factors such as Near Field Communications (NFC) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, growing government ID projects across the globe and EMV compliance will support the growth of smart cards for next five years, resulting into 8.8 billion smart cards shipment by the end of 2015.

Activist group to debut barcode-scanning boycott Israel app

The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is about to come out with a smartphone app that will help people carry out boycotts against Israel, according to the International Business Times. The beta version of this app is slated to be ready in the near future. The app will come with a barcode scanner, allowing users to scan products with their smartphones to see if the manufacturer has ties to Israel. The idea is to give potential boycotters all of the information they need on specific companies before buying a product. The data about the companies has been compiled by BDS, whose mission is to further Palestine rights.

Colorado's Legal Pot Growers Grumble About RFID Tagging

Imagine if a vintner had to keep track of every grape. That’s a little like the task facing Colorado’s marijuana growers, whose free-spirited ways are slowly adjusting to regulations that have sprung up around their newly legitimate business. Under the state’s rules, pot merchants, who must grow most of what they sell, have to put a microchip on each plant so it can be recorded and monitored in Colorado’s Marijuana Inventory Tracking Solution. A canary-yellow tag placed on each plant emits a radio frequency identification signal (RFID) that allows officials consulting a statewide database to track crops from bud to blunt.

Vodafone rolls out NFC mobile wallet across Germany

Mobile network operator Vodafone's NFC-based mobile wallet and prepaid SmartPass account is now available throughout Germany, following a trial in the city of Dusseldorf. The service is integrated with MasterCard-owned Trevica's TSM platform, which is designed to make it easy for German banks to deploy NFC payments to Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Deutschland subscribers, and is available to customers with any of more than ten NFC smartphones including models from Samsung, Sony, HTC and LG.

Barcoding, Inc. & AeroScout Industrial To Deliver Hybrid RFID Solutions

Barcoding, Inc. and AeroScout Industrial have partnered to deliver hybrid RFID solutions that combine passive and active RFID (radio frequency identification). By merging the best features of both active and passive RFID, this hybrid system approach creates one, unified visibility solution for tracking assets.

Barcoding and AeroScout’s hybrid RFID system consists of:
◾Active RFID from AeroScout: AeroScout’s Wi-Fi-based, active RFID tags transmit signals to standard wireless access points via their own internal power supply. These signals are then relayed to AeroScout’s MobileView software applications that determine the asset’s location, condition and status. Active RFID technology is used for real-time location tracking of high-value and high-impact mobile assets. 
◾Passive RFID from Barcoding: Although a passive RFID system collects and transmits the same location and status information as active RFID, passive RFID tags rely on readers to pick up their signal and to supply the power necessary to respond and broadcast their data. Passive RFID is used for tracking a high volume of lower-cost items that exist within an area where chokepoint/gateway detection is sufficient.
◾AeroScout MobileView: The hybrid solution collects and aggregates the real-time data from active and passive RFID technologies. This application turns the passive and active visibility data into actionable information, delivering sophisticated mapping, rules-based alerting, role-based visualization and business intelligence (BI) reporting.

What Makes RFID Systems Industrial Strength

In Balluff's new White Paper, Balluff experts explain the three fundamental qualities that determine if RFID systems will perform reliably in demanding production environments. It answers three main questions: will the RFID system integrate seamlessly with industrial control systems?; will it provide the reliability and speed that production and information systems require?; and can it maintain uptime and performance long term?
The retail environments where products are sold look nothing like the industrial environments where they are produced (think of the difference between a new car dealership and an automotive manufacturing plant). Yet the same RFID products developed for retail stores and supply chain operations are heavily marketed to manufacturers for production operations. These products may have different housings or IP ratings than their general-purpose cousins and may work fine in warehouses, but that does not necessarily qualify them as industrial grade. Production environments often have their own ruggedness, performance and connectivity requirements that only purpose-built industrial equipment can reliably satisfy. For example, general-purpose RFID equipment may have the physical Ethernet port needed to connect to a PLC, but will not support EtherNet/IP, Profibus or other industrial protocols that run PLCs and other industrial automation equipment. The reader will need to be supported with additional protocol conversion, which slows system performance and adds to implementation time and expense.

RFID Journal Unveils Finalists for the Eighth Annual RFID Journal Awards

RFID Journal has unveiled the finalists for its 2014 RFID Journal Awards. The winners will be announced at RFID Journal LIVE! 2014, the company's 12th annual conference and exhibition, to be held at the Orange County Convention Center, in Orlando, Fla., on Apr. 8-10. All finalists will be invited to speak at the event, and the winners in each category, along with the finalists, will receive a prestigious crystal award.
"The scope of the deployments in this year's submissions was truly impressive, showing that RFID has matured to the point that some companies are using it on a large scale," said Mark Roberti, RFID Journal's founder and editor. "In fact, the field of award entries for Best RFID Implementation was so strong this year that, for the first time in the award's eight-year history, we have decided to name four finalists. I have no doubt that attendees at LIVE! will benefit from hearing all of the finalists present their stories live on stage, and from viewing the new products featured in our Best in Show category."
End-user companies were nominated in several categories:
Best RFID Implementation

• Marks & Spencer, for its use of item-level RFID to improve on-shelf availability at all of its stores
• Bechtel, for its use of thousands of active RFID tags to manage materials for the construction of three mega-size industrial projects off the coast of Western Australia
• BP, for its use of passive RFID and hybrid GPS tags to track construction materials globally for a major capital project
• Colcafe, for an RFID system that provides increased visibility—from raw materials through production and storage to shipping

Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service

• Bombardier Transportation, for its PlatformSafe RFID solution that alerts personnel working near a railroad's platforms to oncoming trains
• City of Dayton, Ohio, for its use of RFID to identify which utility companies dug up and replaced asphalt in the city's streets
• Hy-Vee Supermarkets, for its RFID sensors that monitors all temperature-sensitive goods, enabling the retailer to deliver the highest-quality products to its customers, RFID

Most Innovative Use of RFID

• Fukui Shell Nucleus Factory, for its system of authenticating pearls by embedding an RFID transponder in each gemstone's nucleus
• Skyview High School, for its use of a real-time location system and location-based messaging to improve the safety of school children in the event of an emergency
• Snapsportz, for its use of RFID to link images with individual zipline customers in harsh outdoor environments

RFID Green Award:

• Kentfa Advanced Technology, for an RFID system that enables scooter owners to exchange spent batteries for fully recharged ones
• Lassila & Tikanoja, for an RFID system that collects data about recycled glass volumes and enables it to be shared with stakeholders
• Taiwan Fiscal Information Agency, for an RFID-based solution that eliminated more than 4 billion paper invoices in 2013 alone

This year, RFID Journal introduced a new award for the Best NFC Deployment, recognizing companies that are taking advantage of the unique characteristics of Near Field Communication (NFC), a short-range form of RFID. The finalists for 2014 are:

• The GunBox, for a system of locking firearms for safety and allowing owners to open the box using an NFC tag
• Post Foods, for its use of NFC cards to engage customers and generate brand loyalty at a summer concert series
• Zebra Technologies, for a solution that employs NFC technology to enable printer buyers to quickly access technical support documents

The judges also selected 10 technology providers that were nominated for the Best in Show award, which will be given to the best new product being exhibited at this year's LIVE! event. The finalists are:

• HID Global, for its HID Trusted Tag platform, which can be embedded into a mobile phone, enabling authentication for "proof of presence"
• Farsens, for its Pyros UHF battery-free sensor that can record the temperatures of tagged products or assets
• Flextronics Institute of Technology, for its automated rotating RFID portal that uploads data to the cloud
• Information Mediary Corp., for its Med-ic Smart Label, which addresses the problem of patient non-compliance with prescription medication
• Kathrein RFID, for its Kathrein Reader Antenna Interface (KRAI) technology and Smart Shelf system that can link 32 antennas to a single KRAI reader without a multiplexer
• Mojix, for its InveSense wide-area fixed RFID infrastructure for retail inventory tracking and management
• NXP Semiconductors, for its NTAG I2C (NFC Connected Tag), which offers both an NFC interface and a I2C connected interface, allowing the tag to communicate with the microcontrollers of other electronic devices
• Omni-ID, for its View 10 visual RFID tag, which stores a manufacturer's build books and uses RFID location data to trigger instructions
• ThingMagic, for its Mercury xPRESS Platform, a complete hardware, software and reference design platform for the rapid development of low-cost, high-performance application-specific UHF RFID readers and embedded solutions
• Zebra Technologies, for its ZD500R compact UHF RFID printing and encoding solution

In addition, RFID Journal's editors will present the 2014 Special Achievement Award to Joe Andraski, the former president and CEO of the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS), for his support
- See more at: http://www.symbianone.com/content/view/8809/#sthash.Tw9aG4ek.dpuf

Just the ticket

In June 1974 history was made at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio, with a ten-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum. It was the first time a commercial item bearing a Universal Product Code (UPC) was scanned by a cashier at the checkout. Forty years on, what became known as a barcode has transformed the world of commerce by providing reliable product identification, tracking and pricing. Nearly everything now comes with a barcode. As revolutionary as it was, the barcode has limited abilities. It can impart only the information it was printed with, represented by a series of horizontal stripes or a matrix pattern that can be read by an optical device, like a laser. The next generation of labelling will be more adept, containing tiny printable electronics able to generate, store and share information. These smart labels are about to become a big part of “the internet of things”.

RFID Race Track Brings Mario Kart To Life

Pennzoil, the Official Motor Oil & Auto Fuel Sponsor of SXSW 2014 Interactive, teamed up with Nintendo to re-create Mario Kart 8 at SXSW by building a custom-built track based on the Mario Kart world outside the Palmer Events Center.

2-D Barcode Scanner Ensures High Accuracy

Micronic has extended its blue-white Tracxer Code Reader line with the Tracxer Code Reader RD235 CRYO. It offers a high-end solution for scanning whole racks with 2-D data matrix or TraXis-coded tubes. Featuring a CCD image sensor, the reader provides enhanced high resolution image quality, ensuring the highest accuracy 2-D code reading. The reader also features an anti-frost system that minimizes condensation on the scanner plate. This way, tube codes from even frozen samples can be read, thereby improving productivity and preserving the integrity of samples.

Mobile payments: BLE vs NFC isn’t a fair fight

There’s a new kid on the block in the payments environment that promises to deliver even greater convenience and practicality. It’s called ‘Bluetooth Low Energy’, or BLE, and it’s based on technology which is over a decade old. Be that as it may, BLE promises to revolutionise the way consumers and retailers interact – but only if they have the latest smartphones and retailers have tablets as point-of-sale systems. Despite the fact that BLE opens up a whole new world of exciting possibilities, it is also highly unlikely to have any sort of widespread use any time soon; instead, it is Near Field Communication (NFC) which is likely to lead the way in mobile payments.

MeaWallet to launch mobile payments platform that supports NFC, BLE and QR

MeaWallet, a white label solution that supports mobile payments via NFC, Bluetooth LE, host card emulation (HCE), QR and more, is to be launched in May this year, enabling retailers, banks, MNOs and service providers to support a wide range of options for making mobile purchases in stores. The Norway-based company is working with worldwide partners including IBM, Tieto, Elavon, PayEx, Retain24, Bell ID, C-Sam, Visa and MasterCard to deliver a solution that supports access cards, coupons, loyalty cards, ID cards, tickets and mobile receipts as well as payments. "All types of smart devices and secure elements" will be supported, the company says

High security RFID component provides anti counterfeiting solution

A high security ISO/IEC15693 compliant device from EM Microelectronic is said to act as a universal identity card and as an encrypted tamperproof digital certificate to convey the guarantee of good quality. The developer says the part offers 'unequalled' RF performance while enabling efficient and secure solutions for anti counterfeiting and brand protection. Called the EM4237, the uses public stream cipher technology to safeguard data integrity and to ensure confidential communication between the IC and the reader.

Concise Analysis of the International RFID Semiconductor Market

In recent years, the vendors in the Global RFID Semiconductor market in the Apparel industry are increasing their R&D spending on RFID semiconductors. Leading vendors such as NXP Semiconductors, Impinj, Alien Technology, and EM Microelectronics have increased their investment in the R&D of RFID semiconductors. Moreover, they are partnering with software and hardware suppliers and value-added resellers for making significant investments in R&D.
Further, the focus on R&D is helping vendors to introduce RFIDs that are inexpensive and more effective. Thus, high accuracy, lower price, and better integration ability is leading to the faster adoption of RFID solutions among major end-users in the market. According to the report, one of the major drivers in this market is the mandates made by major retail giants that require their suppliers to use RFID devices.
Most of the retail giants such as Wal-Mart have instructed their suppliers to use RFID tags on every pallet that they supply.

Swaddling a baby in QR codes encourages greater care

Parents can now obtain advice about their babies by scanning quick response codes on their blankets. If there are two things that all parents of new babies have in common, it is that they will all swaddle their children in a blanket at some point and they will all have questions about how to provide those infants with the best care, and this is exactly how a new program based on QR codes plans to help. A company called Swaddle Designs has launched a tech-enabled blanket that allows parents to scan and learn.

Travel now, pay later concept tested by public transport smart card

The company behind the public transport smart card OV-chipkaart is beginning experiments with billing people for the journeys they have made on a monthly basis. Trans Link Systems hopes the concept will make it easier for people who forget to load up their cards to travel by public transport.

Experts warn RFID chips raise growing concerns

A few years ago, anyone suggesting you line your wallet with copper mesh to keep others from secretly scanning your credit cards for private information would have been relegated to the tinfoil-hat brigade, Area 51 fanatics or the lunatic fringe. That was before Edward Snowden, the NSA scandal and data breaches with Target and other national companies. These showed everyday people that just about everything important in their personal and financial world is embedded in a database, usually one they carry around in a back pocket or purse in the form of an RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification chip.

MasterCard to roll out mobile wallet in the UAE

MasterCard users in the UAE are in line next to have their online payments made more secure and easier without having to enter the card details each time they make a purchase from a web retailer. MasterCard’s new digital payment platform called “MasterPass” on mobile devices will be rolled out in the UAE this year, a top regional official told Gulf News yesterday.

LitePoint Announces First Volume Manufacturing Test Solution for NFC Devices at Mobile World Congress

LitePoint, an provider of wireless test solutions, today released its LitePoint IQnfc, the first volume production-optimized test system designed to measure and verify the physical layer performance of Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled devices. LitePoint will be demonstrating its IQnfc solution at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 24th – 27th in booth 5H31 Hall 5.
Until today, the primary method for production testing of NFC-enabled devices such as smartphones was a “pass/no-pass” approach, often utilizing an off-the-shelf NFC card reader or “passive tag.” This method, however, provides little useful data about system performance, allows marginal or even defective devices to ship to consumers and offers no information about the failure mechanism of devices that do not pass the production test.

CashWrap Case No Replacement for iPhone's Lack of NFC

My son picked up my phone the other day and commented that he liked the case I was using. It's not as bulky as some of the other ones, he told me. I agreed with him that the Incipio CashWrap on my iPhone 5 has a nice feel. But beyond being a nice case, it also allows me to make NFC-based payements using the ISIS mobile wallet, something that wouldn't be possible otherwise given Apple's deference to Bluetooth Low-Energy iBeacon technology for mobile payments. And while the Incipio CashWrap is a successful execution of a technolgy from which iPhone users have been excluded, it also underscores the continued weaknesses of the mobile wallet concept in the first place.

PrivatBank launches HCE-based mobile NFC payments service

Beating banks around the world to the punch, Ukraine's PrivatBank has launched a host card emulation-based mobile NFC payments service. The Liqpay app, now available in beta, works with NFC smartphones running on Android 4.4 KitKat, letting users register any MasterCard or Visa card in order to fund payments made with a tap of their phone at contactless terminals.

C-SAM and HyperSoft to Announce the Development of NFC- and Barcode-based Coupon Services

C-SAM, Inc. and HyperSoft Co., Ltd. announced the development of a new value added service with KDDI CORPORATION for the “Salon de Wallet” application – a mobile membership card application for the Japanese beauty salon market. The application will allow for NFC- (near field communication) and Barcode-based coupon redemption to acquire new customers and to facilitate revisits of existing users to the salon.
“Salon de Wallet” has originally been developed by C-SAM and HyperSoft in cooperation with DNP (Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.) to manage multiple membership cards of beauty salons based on barcode. Each customer’s beauty profile and transaction history is captured, enabling salon owners to communicate directly with each customer. Customers can view their reward point status, make appointments, receive beauty tips, feeds for beauty, healthcare, fashion, and gourmet, free-sampling and other lifestyle trends, and also access an exclusive e-commerce site where they can shop at the salon. Furthermore, they can take a picture (hair, nail and face) after the beauty session in the salon and save it to their personalized beauty album or share it via social networks.
The “Salon de Wallet” app is based on C-SAM’s mobile transaction platform (MTP) and is fully integrated into HyperSoft’s POS (point-of-sale) system, serving more than 7.5 million customers in more than 2,200 beauty salons in Japan. For the new NFC- and Barcode-based coupon service, KDDI adds its Trusted Service Management (TSM) solution and NFC mobile technologies. HyperSoft will promote the coupon services to the beauty salons with C-SAM, and DNP provides the NFC reader/writers to the beauty salons through HyperSoft.

Experts warn RFID chips raise growing concerns

A few years ago, anyone suggesting you line your wallet with copper mesh to keep others from secretly scanning your credit cards for private information would have been relegated to the tinfoil-hat brigade, Area 51 fanatics or the lunatic fringe. That was before Edward Snowden, the NSA scandal and data breaches with Target and other national companies. These showed everyday people that just about everything important in their personal and financial world is embedded in a database, usually one they carry around in a back pocket or purse in the form of an RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification chip.