Laxcen Debuts EPC Gen Passive Tags in the U.S.

Hong Kong tag and label manufacturer Laxcen Inc. has begun marketing its products in the United States, after the company's C50 and C70 tags, designed for apparel and health-care applications, passed the RFID Research Center's Arkansas Radio Compliance (ARC) tests a few months ago. Once a radio frequency identification product passes these tests, it is listed as an inlay approved for use on apparel within the United States and Europe. - See more at: http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?11734#sthash.0BRapJOn.dpuf

SkyeTek Inc. and RFID Oil and Gas Group Merge

Skyetek, Inc. and RFID Oil & Gas Group announced their merger. The combined company offers next generation radio frequency identification (RFID) hardware and software solutions, with a focus on the oil and gas industry. This strategic combination aligns itself with the evolution of the RFID industry toward turnkey solutions for specific industry problems.
SkyeTek is a leader in the stand-alone and embedded RFID reader technology for OEMs. Their latest Ultra High Frequency (UHF) readers, the SkyeModule Nova and Titan, are at the heart of new solutions for mobile and fixed infrastructure. "The high performance, power efficient, and reliable readers are a perfect fit for RFID enabled tablets, handhelds, portals, and other fixed read points," according to Josh Peifer, Chief Product Officer.
RFID Oil & Gas Solution Group, LLC. is recognized as a technology and thought leader in RFID systems for the oil and gas sector. Through the leadership of its co-founders Konrad Konarski and Sam Falsafi, the company has built a broad international customer base and a globally respected brand for RFID systems within the petroleum industry. "This merger represents a natural alignment of our combined technology portfolio and subject-matter expertise to the digital oilfield demands for enterprise based turn-key solutions that can be rapidly integrated and rolled-out into the field. RFID technology is an obvious choice for an oil and gas industry that is seeing rapid growth and logistical challenges, stricter regulatory requirements, and increasingly demanding operational conditions. RFID's ability to provide autonomous visibility of capital equipment, drill pipe, casing, as well as personnel safety is unprecedented," added Konarski.

Socket Mobile Focuses its SoMo 655 Mobile Handheld Computers on Emerging NFC Market

Socket Mobile, Inc. announced that commencing in June, its SoMo 655 handheld computer will be able to read and process information using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology.  NFC is an RFID technology enabling the wireless transfer of information at short range with extremely simple setup.
The SoMo 655 RFID Reader with NFC operates both as a reader and writer.  The SoMo 655 will read NFC High Frequency 13.56MHz contactless smart tags including those that are ISO/IEC 14443A and B compliant including Mifare and Sony FeliCa.  It will also read tags that are ISO 15693 compliant, EPC GEN 2 HF and ISO 18000-3 mode 3 compliant, and will read many other proprietary tags.  The RFID NFC reader plugs into the SoMo 655 handheld computer and enables single handed operations.  The model 6E2 RFID reader has a U.S. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $225.00.  The model 6P2 is a combination RFID NFC reader and barcode scanner with a U.S. MSRP of $569.00.  The RFID Readers will be in black and antimicrobial white to match the SoMo 655 and 655Rx, respectively.
The Readers will be available in June through Socket's worldwide distribution channels. SKU numbers for the Model 6E2 are RF5407-1548 (black) and RF5409-1572 (white).  SKU numbers for the Model 6P2 are RF5408-1549 (black) and RF5410-1573 (white).
The SoMo 655 with NFC is also supported in Socket Mobile's SoMo developer Software Developers Kit (SDK), allowing developers to embed support for the SoMo 655 handheld computer with NFC into their applications. Developers can obtain an SDK at: http://developer.socketmobile.com/ . SocketScan Keyboard Wedge and SocketCare support is also available.
 

Apparel Retailers Finally Get RFID

Studies had shown that RFID could improve inventory accuracy from an industry average of 60 percent or less to more than 95 percent. Yet, the apparel retail industry was still in the early stages of adoption. As is typically the case with any new technology, a few brave specialty and department store retailers pushed the envelope and served as early adopters.Today, it is hard to find a retailer that is not aware of RFID and its ability to improve inventory accuracy.