Barcode Scanner Market will Reach at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2017 to 2027

The global barcode scanners market will expand at a CAGR of 7.6% over the forecast period (2017–2027) and account for US$ 10.8 Bn by 2027-end, according to a new report. During the same duration, the market is also expected to reflect a CAGR of 6.4% in terms of volume, reaching 38.7 Mn units over 2027-end. Around 20.7 Mn units of barcode scanners are expected to be sold by the end of 2017.

In 2017 and beyond, laser-based scanner is expected to remain as the prime technology. Laser scanners are widely used in regions with established manufacturing and retail sectors such as Western Europe and North America. By the 2017-end, laser scanners are estimated to accounts for 32.3% revenue share of the market and will continue to be the most preferred barcode reader technology throughout the assessment period.

Owing to characteristics such as faster print speed and versatility, demand for portable/handheld barcode scanners is rapidly increasing in various parts of the world. Use of barcode scanners in the retail and commercial sector continues to be the highest and is expected account for a major chunk of revenue over the forecast period. Meanwhile, the healthcare industry is swiftly adopting the barcode technology as well.

Amongst regions, markets in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and North America are expected to exhibit high growth potentials. In APEJ, China and India are projected to achieve impressive growth of their barcode scanner market. By 2017-end, the region is projected to account for a revenue share of 29.5%, which is expected to increase to 33.8% towards the end of the forecast period.

New RFiD safety switch for dangerous industrial areas

The new XCSR switch offers a single safety solution for the industry, helping companies protect employees in dangerous industrial area.

Creating a safe and efficient work environment is of paramount importance to every business owner and plant manager all across the globe. As the danger level presented by industrial equipment increases, so, too, must the strength of the solutions put in place to keep those areas safe and secure. 

Installing the new XCSR contactless RFiD safety switch from Telemecanique Sensors instantly provides industrial companies with the highest level of safety-certified switch protection, allowing employers to effectively seal off areas in the workzone that are dangerous. At the same time, the design of the new XCSR safety switch essentially safeguards that company’s employees against any tampering with that protection system. Finally, these features are provided by the XCSR with a bare minimum of installation effort. A single safety solution that provides multiple benefits.

RFID Opens the Door for Residents at Multiple Sclerosis Housing Facility

Wheelchair-bound residents at Australian non-profit home-care facility Albany Creek Apartments are employing radio frequency identification technology to access rooms and enclosed areas, hands-free. The system, provided by N.A.S.A. Electronic Security Systems and ISCS Brisbane, was taken live in July of this year, using Nedap Identification Systems' uPASS fixed UHF RFID readers and software built into an ICT WX Protege controller. Albany Creek Apartments is a joint venture between two organizations: MS Queensland, a facility dedicated to assisting those with multiple sclerosis, and Youngcare, which helps find housing solutions for young people with high needs.

Lexmark Introduces RFID Laser Printing for Manufacturing

Lexmark International Inc announces Lexmark Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Laser Printing for Manufacturing, a custom solution that combines the power of Lexmark electronic forms, color print and specialty media capabilities into an all-in-one label and RFID color laser multifunction printer (MFP). The solution helps eliminate the risk of mismatches between RFID tags and labels and consolidates device management into one robust and reliable RFID-capable color MFP.

“RFID is a proven technology to help manufacturers maximize process efficiencies,” said John Linton, industry director, Manufacturing/Distribution. “Work-in-progress, logistics, yard management and document archiving are all typical areas where the radio nature of RFID helps overcome the line of sight challenges encountered with barcodes and visual labels.”

PervasID cites growing traction for RFID innovation

PervasID, based at St John’s Innovation Centre, has entered the Disruptive Technology category of the Business Weekly Awards as it increasingly commercialises Cambridge University RFID Intellectual Property. PervasID boss Sabesan Sithamparanathan claims the company’s technology provides ‘world first’ near 100 per cent accurate, wide-area, battery-less radio frequency identification (RFID) tag tracking end-to-end solution for retail, healthcare and security applications.

Over the last few years it has pioneered the development of groundbreaking, award winning patented RFID innovations based on original research undertaken by the University of Cambridge.

Design of UHF-based RFID Systems

One key factor when it comes to designing solutions using passive UHF RFID is to understand how exactly the technology works, with its benefits and limitations, and to ensure that products are designed to address business needs successfully to provide a return on investment (ROI). Basic components of any UHF RFID solution could encompass the following segments: readers, antennas, general-purpose input/output (GPIO) devices, power sources, middleware to process tag data, software, handheld readers, printers and tags. Usually, depending on the application being developed to serve a business need, any or all of these hardware components could be used, in addition to other hardware infrastructure available on the market. But before we start designing a solution, the first question to ask is what business need we are trying to solve with the application.

Why you don't need an RFID-blocking wallet

You can use a myriad of materials that are poor conducts of electromagnetism to block RFID waves — just a few sheets of thick aluminum foil will do the trick. The RFID-blocking vendors will try to overwhelm you with technical terms and specifications, including frequencies and antenna sizes. Aluminum foil works to block them all; you just may need more foil sheets. Do the “official” RFID wallets and other accessories work? Yes and no. Some have been shown to be less reliable than aluminum foil. But even if the RFID blocking products did protect better than Reynolds Wrap, the fact remains that in over a decade, not a single crime involving an RFID-enabled device has been reported in the public domain. I don’t just mean credit card crime. I mean no real RFID-enabled crime ever!

New Generation of Factor 1 Inductive Sensors from Balluff

Balluff releases a new line of M18 Factor 1 inductive sensors for use in the automotive tier supplier market. This portfolio provides extended detection ranges to enhance survivability of sensors in part loading applications, and is available with optional long and short housing form factors. With the addition of these new Factor 1 sensors, Balluff expands its broad product line of problem solving sensor solutions designed for harsh welding applications. This is extremely valuable to tier suppliers as the trend toward automotive light-weighting has increased the use of new metal varieties, aluminum structures and multi-metal assemblies.

"The new M18 Factor 1 sensors provide more flexibility in welding applications where longer sensing ranges are needed or when a customer is working with non-ferrous materials," says Shawn Day, Product Marketing Manager for Object Detection, "and a common application includes mig welding where ferrous or non-ferrous material is used." 

The new M18 Factor 1 sensors are available with weld spatter resistant coatings and weld-field immune circuitry for maximum protection in hostile welding environments

Radio-frequency technology to speed travellers at Ambassador Bridge

Travellers with high-tech identification should now be able to cross the Ambassador Bridge into Canada with greater ease. The Canada Border Services Agency announced the introduction of radio frequency identification (RFID), now working at select land ports of entry in Canada, including the Ambassador Bridge. The idea is to help speed travel between Canada and the United States, which sees almost $2.5 billion worth of two-way trade daily, plus more than 400,000 travellers.

IoT patent applications skyrocketed in 2016

The European Patent Office (EPO) received roughly 5,000 Internet of Things (IoT) patent applications in 2016, the World Economic Forum Agenda reported. That equals 54% more than those received over the past three years. Manufacturing, agriculture, health, transport and other sectors have already been affected by IoT, and more applications are expected, as anywhere between 26 and 30 billion smart objects are anticipated to gain access to the average home and workplace by 2025.

TransLink will do 'soft launch' for RFID fare gates for people with disabilities

TransLink (Vancouver) will distribute special temporary access cards to people with disabilities who cannot tap in and out of fare gates, as part of a soft launch for a new hands-free gate access technology. The transit authority’s board of directors voted on Thursday to authorize TransLink to deliver the radio frequency identification (RFID) access cards — free of charge — to eligible customers. The cards will be valid until Dec. 31, 2018. The board also approved the eligibility criteria and application process for the cards.

Kroger grocery stores to accept Chase Pay mobile payments

The Kroger Co. is teaming up with Chase Pay—the digital engagement wallet from JPMorgan Chase & Co.— to offer mobile payments starting with select retail markets and e-commerce programs in 2018. 

Kroger's payment solutions are a part of the company's Restock Kroger Plan, the strategy to create shareholder value by redefining how America eats. One of the key strategic drivers is to expand partnerships to create customer value, which includes Kroger forming alliances to accelerate digital and e-commerce platforms.

"Technology is transforming our customers' experiences and greatly influencing how we are reimagining the store of the future," said Chris Hjelm, Kroger's Chief Information Officer. "Mobile wallets enable a more seamless shopping experience for our customers and at the same time, can help us drive cost out of our business."

Through the partnership, Chase's 65 million customers will have an opportunity to use Chase Pay at Kroger for online and in-lane purchases.

RFID and the Automotive Industry: Competing at a Higher Level

The automotive industry has become more and more innovative throughout the last decade. On the face of things, we are seeing smart new digital and engineering technology being integrated into the products being developed. Look a little deeper, however, and it is clear that innovation is taking place in every area of the industry, and one particular aspect of this innovation is RFID technology. The modern automotive factory or assembly plant can be an enormous entity and needs to be carefully managed to work at its optimum level. RFID technology means that every single item can be accounted for at all times. For example, if a single item or a consignment of goods is lost or mislaid, an RIFD system can pinpoint its location in real time and correct the error.

CBA launches hardware-less payments app

Commonwealth Bank will bring a new mobile payments technology to market in Australia that enables small businesses to accept credit card payments of up to $100 on their Samsung devices, without any other hardware. CBA is teaming up with Mastercard and Samsung, as well as fintech start-ups IDEMIA and Mobeewave, to introduce the technology.Mobeewave will provide a white label product to Commonwealth Bank of its SoftPOS technology and leverage IDEMIA's digital identity security solutions. A pilot program is expected to kick off in early 2018.

Octopus inks Samsung deal to push NFC payments

Hong Kong smartcard provider Octopus announced a deal with Samsung to integrate its app into Samsung Pay, increasing the use cases for both payment systems in the country. Octopus – through its card and app – is already widely used across Hong Kong for a range of online and offline payments, including travel services through a physical card and person-to-person cash transfer on its app. Following the deal, announced today (11 December), Octopus users with Samsung handsets will also be able to make NFC-based retail payments using their Octopus accounts – a move hailed by the card company as making mobile payment “more comprehensive than ever” and “spurring progress towards becoming a smart city”.

This startup is powering IoT devices - using air!

The biggest challenge faced by the IoT and wearable devices industry is wireless communication, says Vamsi Talla, co-founder and CTO of Seattle-based startup, Jeeva Wireless. Traditional radio-based wireless communication solutions like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are expensive, drains the battery life of devices connected to it and are bulky. Developed during the founding team's graduate study, their solution to wireless connectivity consumes just 1/10,000th the power used up by a conventional Wi-Fi network. It is also significantly cheaper and more compact. But what truly makes it disruptive is that it powers devices without batteries - using just air.

A Tiny New Chip Could Secure the Next Generation of IoT

The Internet of Things security crisis persists, as billions of inadequately secured webcams, refrigerators, and more flood homes around the world. But IoT security researchers at Microsoft Research have their eye on an even larger problem: the billions of gadgets that already run on simple microcontrollers—small, low-power computers on a single chip—that will gradually gain connectivity over the years, exponentially expanding the internet of things population. And that connected electric toothbrush needs protection, too.

My French Cellar Taps Solyo To Make Their Wine Bottles Smarter

Connecting the “Smart Product” technology of Solyo with the high-touch business of My French Cellar delivers truly remarkable interactivity with wine lovers around the globe. Using the Solyo platform and NFC or QR tags, each bottle can engage a unique conversation with consumers, tailored to each moment of their needs: in store or at home. In a store, bottles will typically present pre-sales information with enlightening details, telling stories, presenting ratings, tasting note or e-coupon relevant to specific stores.

My French Cellar helps wine professionals to import and distribute French wines in the US. They orchestrate the entire importation and distribution. Thanks to Solyo, a story now comes across the ocean with the bottle, a story about people, places, time and culture.

“We want our customers to truly connect with the wines we represent, to form a bond with the vineyard itself, the wine maker, the winery and their history. Solyo gives us the platform to quickly and effectively bring robust, interactive experiences directly to the mobile devices of our customers, in the comfort of their own home. Together, My French Cellar and Solyo are delivering the next-generation experiences that delight customers and generate significant additional sales for all our partners and retailers” states Delphine Le Devehat, founder and CEO of My French Cellar.

Target launches Wallet to combine payment, coupons at checkout

Target introduced a mobile payments system to its iOS and Android app, dubbed Wallet, that aims to decrease checkout times at its stores. Wallet uses a barcode scanned at check out that includes payment and applicable coupons. Wallet can make checkout four times faster than other payment types, according to Target. Wallet is currently restricted to Target's REDcard credit card and debit card. Wallet combines savings mechanisms like Target's "Cartwheel offers", weekly ad coupons, and 5 percent "REDcard" discount. Target said the ability to redeem Target gift cards with Wallet is coming soon.

Intelity adds mobile F&B delivery app

Intelity is unveiling a new custom store in its guest service platform called ICE: Mobile Dining. ICE: Mobile Dining will provide an out-of-room dining experience for guests using their mobile device while they stay at the hotel. Browsing through the mobile dining menu, guests select drink or food items and specify their location (poolside cabana, beach chair, etc.) using manual entry, NFC Tag or a QR code. The order is then fulfilled by the kitchen or bar and delivered to the guest by an expeditor.

EZOfficeInventory Adopts RFID

The tracking software company's customers are testing its new RFID-enabled solution to capture asset or equipment location data via TSL readers that forward that information to iOS or Android devices, bypassing the problem of older operating system software on many RFID readers.

EZOfficeInventory sells asset-tracking software to make it easier for all stakeholders to access the information they need about things—from laptops to custodial equipment or tools. Several of EZOfficeInventory's customers will be the first to trial an RFID-based version of the cloud-based solution so that they can more efficiently and reliably capture data regarding the location and use of their assets across multiple sites

Paytm plans to issue 10 lakh Fastags by March next year

Digital payments company Paytm from India has processed around 1 million Fastag toll transactions in the month of November and has set a target of getting around 10 lakh vehicles with the Paytm Fastag sticker by the end of March of next year. The newly launched payments bank has partnered with National Payments Corp of India and National Highways Authority of India to facilitate these digital toll collections. It has also tied up with automobile manufacturers and dealers like Maruti, Hyundai T ..

Smarter way to fuel up

The growing use of smart devices is driving the adoption of cashless payments in petrol pumps. The options today include paying with debit/credit cards, digital wallets, as well as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that deduct the amount from a registered account. These smart payment solutions are enabling people to manage their accounts from anywhere and anytime using smartphones or tablets. Enabling such payments demonstrates the UAE's commitment to the Smart City initiative, and drives innovation and enhances customer experience. Petrol stations across the country are witnessing increasing demand and high congestion levels. To combat the situation, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) recently introduced ADNOC SMART, an innovative self-service fuelling experience where customers can drive in and out without any hassle. Fully integrated with state-of-the-art technologies, these stations endeavour to be eco-friendly.

RFID technology ushers in new era in module management

In the cotton industry, especially on the farming and ginning side, one technology holds potential to revolutionize the way modules are managed from the field all the way to the gin. “Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology utilizes radio waves to read, capture, and transmit information that’s stored on an RFID tag attached to an object, in this case, a round module,” explains Dr. Ed Barnes, senior director, Agricultural and Environmental Research for Cotton Incorporated. “The tag can be scanned and read from several feet away with a hand-held, wireless scan gun.”

Alien Technology Certifies RFID Distributor in Brazil

Alien Technology, a global provider of radio frequency identification technology, has signed a partnership with Taggen Soluções IoT to distribute Alien equipment in Brazil. At this initial stage, RFID readers, antennas and accessories will be sold in the Brazilian market, all approved and certified by Anatel. The products developed by Alien, according to Werter Padilha, Taggen's CEO, enable advanced RFID deployments in terms of capacity, reading speed, robustness and embedded intelligence. "You can associate readings with a variety of data-processing solutions that add functionality, speed and intelligence to the work of identifying and tracing objects," he states.

It's still weird to make mobile payments in the US. Here's why

I traveled in southwest England and in London, and contactless payment is basically everywhere. It's everywhere because it basically works as an add-on to relatively newer chip-and-pin credit card payments. I used Apple Pay everywhere, but there were plenty of Android Pay signs, too. The US has adopted this a lot more slowly, despite promises otherwise, because plenty of people still have older swipe-style credit cards. In the US, it also gets a lot uglier because the terminals always seem half-broken... or disabled. I walked to a Pret for a banana and, of course, I couldn't pay with Apple Pay. The staff told me to just swipe my credit card. Now I felt like an idiot for wasting everyone's time trying to use my watch in the first place.

How Impinj, Inc. Stock Fell 25.4% in November

Shares of RAIN RFID specialist Impinj fell 25.4% in November 2017, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock plunged as much as 35% lower in a single day, following the release of a disappointing earnings report. The company has several dozen RFID-reader pilot programs going on, with more coming up in the next few quarters. But clients large and small have hesitated to pull the trigger on their implementation plans quite yet. Impinj's technology is poised to improve distribution, inventory, and project-assets tracking in a big way, across industries ranging from retail goods to healthcare records.

IoT to ‘liberate’ cyberattacks: security firm

Devices used to build the Internet of Things (IoT), a network of devices capable of exchanging data, will be used by cyber criminals to ‘liberate’ attacks in the near future, said Sanjai Gangadharan, regional director, SAARC, A10 Networks, a cybersecurity firm. “IoT will continue to be used to liberate attacks,” Mr. Gangadharan said in an e-mail interview. “The attackers will take advantage of lax security standards in connected smart devices to build massive botnets that are able to deploy DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) payloads.” “When you combine this with the lack of consumer and user awareness about the vulnerabilities of IoT devices – you have the perfect storm! We call it the DDoS of ‘things,’” he said.

'Smart' fabric could turn your clothes into wearable keycards

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a “smart” fabric that they say can be used to create clothing programmed with the wearer’s identity — making it possible to open doors at home and at work with just the swipe of a shirt cuff. “With our approach we can transform everyday clothes like a shirt into a magnetic hard drive that can store codes and images, and which can be thrown into a washer and dryer without any loss of information,” Justin Chan, a Ph.D. student in computer science and engineering at the university and the lead author of a recent study about the new technology, told NBC News MACH in an email.

Mobile payments boom, but not in Vietnam

While mobile payments are becoming more widely used in many countries, the service remains unpopular in Vietnam, despite the high number of mobile phone subscribers. Can Van Luc, a banking expert from BIDV, said current conditions are all favorable for mobile payments to develop: the retail market and e-commerce are thriving, while bank cards and smartphones are more popular. But the habit of making payments in cash and the appearance of so many mobile payment solutions are hindrances to market development.

Noninvasive RFID tag measures your vital signs without body contact

Being able to carry out continuous monitoring of the body’s vital signs could be great for offering early warning about potential abnormalities. But for this kind of technology to ever become mainstream it’s necessary that it can be done in the most noninvasive way possible — meaning no mess of wires and electrodes. That’s something that researchers from Cornell University have been working on with a new project. They have created a new touch-free monitoring system that can keep tabs on a person’s heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing with nothing more invasive than a tiny RFID tag that could be placed on an item of clothing like a shirt pocket.

Amazon FreeRTOS is a new operating system for microcontroller-based IoT devices

When you think of IoT devices, chances are you are thinking about a connected camera or sensor. Most of those devices have very basic CPUs and run Linux or a similar operating system. Not every IoT device actually features a real CPU, though. Instead, they are powered by basic microcontrollers. Those devices (think smoke detectors, etc.) are often old and can’t directly connect to the cloud. They tend to run some version of the FreeRTOS operating system and kernel.

NFC Forum unveils 21 new specifications in 2017 release

The NFC Forum announced the availability of 21 new or updated near field communication (NFC) technical specifications. The specifications feature the latest NFC technology and usability upgrades that significantly impact and advance functionality in a number of key areas for consumers and businesses, including mobile device interoperability, public transportation applications and the use of NFC Tags with IoT, retail, packaging, automotive, public transportation and other applications.

Balluff's New All-in-One RFID Read/Write System for Ethernet/IP

Balluff announced the expansion of the all-in-one RFID read/write family to include Ethernet/IP communication. The rugged, space-saving housing is designed to eliminate messy cable runs back to the control cabinet and simplify RFID traceability applications in manufacturing processes. This system can operate with a direct connection to the PLC or multiple heads can be daisy chained with only one Ethernet connection running back to the PLC. "One of the great values for our customers is that this simplifies the network architecture" says Wolfgang Kratzenberg, Product Marketing Manager for Industrial Identification, "Expanding the application through simple daisy chaining is not only efficient, but makes maintenance and installation easier than ever."

Designed to withstand the rigors of a harsh manufacturing environment, the all-in-one RFID read/write system boasts an IP67 rated metal housing and highly visible LEDs. Standard M12 connectors and cables are used for power and Ethernet connections. In addition, it is capable of reading and writing large amounts of tag data at industry leading speeds, including tags which are mounted directly on metal.

Ultimately, the system is a highly scalable solution for increasing visibility on the production line. Traditionally used for palletized assembly or work-in-process applications, all-in-one RFID read/write systems enable Industry 4.0 through flexible manufacturing, efficient production, and providing unprecedented traceability in the process, with visibility at all levels of the organization. This simplified architecture eliminates unnecessary equipment expenses leading to a quicker return on investment.

RFID to Track Dentures at Nursing Homes

Dental prosthetics maker Nobilium is providing an RFID-enabled denture identification system aimed at helping nursing facilities to meet regulatory standards for denture care, while also ensuring that false teeth are never inadvertently given to the wrong patient. With RFID technology from Syrma Technology embedded in the rear gum area on a denture, Nobilium explains, the false teeth can be identified from the point of manufacture, and then at nursing homes where caregivers can link them with the correct patient.