QR code based parking solution introduced in Islamabad

Photo: Khalid Mahmood

Islamabad police have introduced a parking solution developed on the QR code technology.The technology named Park Secure will now be securing all the public parking areas, said an Islamabad police statement. Park Secure issues a digitally created QR coupon using a mobile phone and will be tagged with the vehicle information upon entry of any vehicle in public parking areas.

CLX Communications & DeviceRadio Partner to Simplify Production & Launch of IoT devices

Global CPaaS provider CLX Communications AB announces a partnership together with communication hardware provider DeviceRadio, enabling a fully plug-and-play IoT connectivity solution, further reducing the complexity for companies to launch connected IoT devices. The joint solution enables Swedish startup Bylife to quickly and easily integrate global cellular connectivity to their connected living green walls, allowing more focus on the evolution of their core product instead of how to connect it.

The CLX and DeviceRadio partnership gives companies and designers of all backgrounds the immediate ability to build IoT products from the ground up, regardless of designer expertise or IoT specific competence.


The DeviceRadio solution uses off-the-shelf hardware combined with a horizontal connectivity layer specifically designed to move data between any IoT device and customer’s own server application. The communication layer solves the complexity of connectivity, including access control and security, which removes the need for specific IoT expertise when developing a connected device.

CLX Communication provides global cellular IoT connectivity supporting data, SMS and voice, designed and tailored for enterprises managing connected products. One single CLX SIM card gives access to over 250 different operator networks in 120 countries, all managed through a comprehensive REST API providing real-time connection and consumption information.

RFID Couples With Gaming Technology for 2D Mapping of Tagged Goods

A national retailer is piloting Stealth Network Communications' new solution that leverages RFID reads on a handheld device, as well as augmented reality data, to provide wayfinding for associates as they seek products for omnichannel picking or when aiding shoppers, while management can remotely view the locations of tagged goods. StealthMatrix ARC (the acronym stands for Artificial Reality Computation) enables users to visually access the locations of RFID-tagged items on a 2D map, even as a user moves around a facility, following an arrow that directs him or her specifically to the item sought.

Edible graphene could embed RFID tags in food

Graphene is extremely thin and strong, a great conductor of heat and electricity, is antibacterial and can even hunt down cancer – and now you can have your wonder material and eat it, too. The lab of James Tour at Rice University has demonstrated a way to etch graphene onto food like bread and potatoes, as well as materials like cardboard and cloth, where it could then act as an RFID tag. Along with materials like cardboard, paper, cloth, cork and coal, the team found the technique could work with food like bread, potatoes, and coconuts. The key seems to be an organic polymer known as lignin, which is present in all those materials and is also what allowed dried wood to form graphene.

Edible QR Codes Could Deliver Exactly What Your Body Needs to Heal

A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with colleagues from Åbo Akademi University in Finland, believe they’ve come up with a new solution to producing medicine with more accurate dosage: edible QR codes. Okay, maybe it’s not a radically different idea, since you still have to consume something, but there’s more to it than how it gets into the body. And it’s probably easier to swallow than a tiny, unfolding robot.

IoT is the key to sustainability, so what's holding it back?

The IoT is imminent – and so are the security challenges it will inevitably bring. Get up to speed on IoT security basics and learn how to devise your own IoT security strategy in our new e-guide. Unfortunately, many companies are still underutilizing a tool that could help turn the tide when it comes to sustainability: IoT. A recent survey conducted by Wipro Digital and Forum for the Future found that IoT, data and connectivity have the potential to restore existing damage and reduce the future harmful effects of climate change.

Wonder chip reduces IoT encryption power consumption by 99.75pc

There was a lot going in the internet of things (IoT) realm recently, particularly on the hardware side of things as prestigious academic institution MIT revealed a number of new technological breakthroughs. Among them was a new chip that can take the power of neural networks, capable of crunching huge amounts of data, and put them natively on your smartphone. The special-purpose chip can not only speed up the rate of computation in neural networks by a factor of seven, it also manages to reduce its power consumption by up to 95pc.

Manufacturers may scrap low-margin products to cover EU barcode costs

Some “low-margin products could be at risk” as manufacturers look to cover the costs of a new EU medicine scanning law, a representative body has told C+D. Under the falsified medicines directive (FMD), all community pharmacies in the UK will have to scan medicines at the point of dispensing from February 2019, as part of European anti-counterfeiting measures.The new legislation requires pharmacies to train staff and install scanners, while manufacturers will have to put new barcodes on their medicine packs.

LG to launch IoT enabled ceiling fans in Indian market by June

South Korean consumer electronics maker LG would foray into the premium ceiling fans segment this season, which will have advance features such as Internet of Things (IoT) technology, a top company official has said. The smart fans would be connected through the Internet and would automatically adjust its speed according to change in temperature and could be controlled from anywhere through cloud computing.

Travelers beware: scammers can access personal info with QR code, barcode on boarding pass

Posting a boarding pass on social media to announce a big vacation isn't uncommon. A search of the Instagram hashtag "boardingpass" brings up around 100,000 hits. But that pass can be a ticket for scammers, and they can use it to learn a lot more information than your destination. It turns out, the barcode or QR code on a boarding pass holds a lot of personal identification, and experts say anyone that is able to scan it has a first class ticket to identity theft.

NXP and Garmin Team-up to Bring Secure and Convenient NFC Mobile Payments

Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., has chosen NXP’s PN80T embedded Secure Element (SE) and Near Field Communications (NFC) solution for the recently launched vívoactive 3 and Forerunner 645 Music featuring contactless payment capabilities. With NXP’s embedded Secure Element technology and innovative Loader Service provisioning solution, Garmin is able to easily and quickly deploy Garmin PayTM in their products without compromising security.

NXP’s Loader Service solution simplifies the development and integration of payment functionality while maintaining significantly lower setup and maintenance costs. Users can simply add their card information to the Garmin Pay wallet, powered by Fit Pay, Inc. which then syncs with their virtual wallet in their watch. As a result, Garmin users benefit from a secure and convenient payment experience while on the go.

Smart, sturdy and stylish, the vívoactive 3 smartwatch has built-in GPS and comes with over 15 preloaded sports apps. Featuring fitness and wellness monitoring tools like fitness age and all-day stress tracking, the vívoactive 3 is the perfect accessory for playing and paying. The new Forerunner 645 Music features integrated music, performance monitoring tools and advanced running dynamics to help athletes get the data they need. Whether out for a run with friends, gearing up for race day or stopping for a quick bite to eat, the Forerunner 645 Music is easy to wear all day, every day. Garmin major Pay supports Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards from an increasingly expanding portfolio of issuing banks. Having these cards in their Garmin Pay wallet gives users the same rewards and benefits of the physical cards, with the convenience of having them right on the wrist.

China's obsession with QR codes

It’s no secret that China remains a leading force in the mobile payments sector thanks to the easy access of smartphones. In 2016, the transaction volume of mobile payments in China has reached RMB 35.33 trillion ($5.61 trillion), and is projected to reach RMB 295.99 trillion ($47 trillion) in 2019, according to research firm Analysys. Simply by scanning QR codes, smartphone users can pay bills and purchase goods via mobile payment apps. We walk around the streets in China to find out how mobile payments and QR code technology has changed everyday life in China—we even saw QR codes on door plates.

Why Scannable Shelf Tags Could Improve the Retail Experience After Beacons Failed

Once upon a time, beacons—Bluetooth-powered devices that can push messages to smartphones—offered brands an opportunity to connect with consumers in physical retail locations and gather data about them. But retailers disliked beacons from an operational perspective, as products aren’t always locked into the same location in the story. Scannable shelf tags could be the answer to beacons’ problems, providing brands with the in-store interactions with customers that they desire, but it will be up to the consumer to choose when they hear from brands. According to White, the widespread availability of near-field communication (NFC) chips in mobile phones, NFC-enabled shelf tags—scannable, high-tech versions of traditional shelf tags can provide shoppers access to additional information.

Google Pays $50M for IoT Firm Xively

Google is buying Internet of Things (IoT) platform company Xively from LogMeIn for $50 million. In a blog post announcing the deal, Google said that the acquisition will complement Google Cloud Platform’s (GCP) IoT efforts and allow the company to provide a managed IoT platform that connects and manages devices as well as processes the data from them. The move is seen as a significant one for Google because it gives the company’s Cloud IoT Core more IoT engineering expertise and more device management and messaging capabilities. In addition, customers will be able to combine the Cloud IoT Core with Xively’s device platform to take advantage of a more extensive feature set.

Honeywell ending fight over handheld scanners

A Fort Mill industrial conglomerate and a former Charleston startup have settled a year-long legal fight over barcode scanning technology. Honeywell says it’s dropping its patent infringement claims against Code Corp. after dragging the company to federal court. Code will pay a “significant lump sum” to resolve the dispute. The settlement agreement also requires Code to redesign some of its scanners and pay annual royalties for some of Honeywell’s patents.

Technology manufacturer Vizinex RFID moves to larger, East Allen facility

A Lehigh Valley company that designs and makes radio-frequency identification tags is expanding to meet a growing market for the new technology, one of its executives said Tuesday. Vizinex RFID last month moved about three miles to a larger facility at 6343 Winside Drive in East Allen Township, Vizinex designs and makes RFID tags for diverse tracking applications — from rugged oil industry environments, to medical devices, to long-range vehicles.

Checkpoint Systems Introduces RFID Versions of Its Mini and Attack Spider Wraps

Checkpoint Systems, a leading global supplier of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS), RFID solutions and Alpha High-Theft Solutions for the retail industry, today announced RFID versions of its Mini and Attack Spider Wraps.

Previously available for use with traditional EAS systems, the new RFID versions are ideal for retailers seeking to protect a wide range of high-risk merchandise with RFID technology. This advanced technology ensures that protected products are available for purchase by consumers.

RFID and EAS versions of the Mini Spider Wrap offer 32-inch cable lengths to maximize display opportunities for small packaged goods, such as housewares, coffee makers, iPods, mobile phones video game hardware, software zip drives, ink and toner cartridges, etc.

What is it actually like to live in a house filled with IoT devices?

While a lot of people might have an Amazon Echo, or a Roomba vacuum cleaner, what would it be like if someone filled their house to the brim with these gadgets? This idea inspired Gizmodo reporters Kashmir Hill and Surya Mattu to test it in action, with Hill acting as the guinea pig and Mattu as the researcher observing the results. In the piece, Hill lists a number of issues that quickly become apparent, most notably that she and her partner became creeped out by cameras recording their every move and frustrated by coffee makers that refused to listen to instructions. On the more worrying end of the scale, Mattu’s observations showed a near-continuous stream of data being sent from these machines to their creators, even when no one was at home.

RFID boosts PCB production

The PCB industry is faced with multi-layered challenges in the areas of continuous improvement of production processes and the optimisation of quality. Gavin Stoppel, product manager at HARTING, believes that UHF RFID can provide the solution. UHF RFID-supported PCB routing is already close to achieving the quest for the printed circuit board that can control the entire manufacturing process. The board practically has its own memory and can provide data. However, it can now also store current states and information alongside this information. If the UHF RFID chip is directly embedded in the bare circuit board, it provides internal memory that offers benefits over the board’s entire life cycle.

Emergency vehicles to get RFID stickers

Emergency vehicles would be fitted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) stickers in order to hasten their entry to major toll plazas in the north and the south of Luzon, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced. This will be made possible following the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between MMDA and the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC). The MOA states that around 100 RFID sticker tags will be installed to government and emergency vehicles that pass through major toll roads managed and operated by the MPTC.

Qualcomm ramps up IoT business in Brazil

Qualcomm is placing its bets in the development of the local Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, with two noteworthy announcements. The company has signed an agreement with the government of the Brazilian state of São Paulo to implement a factory under a joint venture with Taiwanese company USI focused on production of processors geared at IoT applications. Best known for its dominance of the mobile chip market, Qualcomm is increasingly turning its attention to other mobile services and products using tech developed at its Israel facilities. According to Qualcomm, the idea is to start manufacturing activities in 2020. The factory will be located in the technology hub of Campinas.

Hortilux cultivates an illuminating IoT approach with Mendix

Dutch manufacturer of grow lights Hortlux has developed a digital platform where IoT-sourced insights, harvested from commercial greenhouses, are shared with customers. There are three elements to Hortilux’s IoT approach. First, there are the sensors that Hortilux installs in the professional greenhouses of its customers. These collect various types of information, including data on temperatures, carbon dioxide levels and power quality in the lighting installation.

Second, there is the platform on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud where this data is stored and managed.Third, there is the Hortisense platform, which provides growers with an interface by which they can view the information. This was (and continues to be) developed on Hortilux’s behalf by consultancy firm First Consulting, using low-code, rapid application development tools from Mendix.

Gimmicky IoT devices detract from IoT's real potential

Making fun of silly implementations of the Internet of Things (IoT) is easier than shooting fish in a barrel. No matter how ridiculous the last IoT device may seem, there’s always something even more outré in the works. That’s fine — up to a point. It doesn’t necessarily hurt for IoT to enter people’s lives in friendly, non-threatening, non-mission-critical applications. Ideally, that can make IoT seem approachable instead of creepy, mildly useful instead of invasive. But there’s a limit to this approach. The endless parade of pointless IoT gimmicks threatens to trivialize the technology, leading consumers (and business people) to dismiss the IoT as the realm of smart toothbrushes and smart hairbrushes and smart refrigerators — and internet-connected toilets.

Phy’s new platform generates dynamic landing content from standard QR codes

Phy is out with a new QR-based platform for dynamically generated pages of linked previews. Called Multi-Action QR Codes, it employs standard QR codes that can be read by any regular QR scanner. QR scanning has become a widely available capability, native in the camera app for Apple devices, and it is found inside several popular social apps, including Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest and Twitter.

NXP Tech Helps Secure Wearable Payments on Garmin Fitness Trackers

NXP Semiconductors technology is playing an important supporting role in the mobile payment capabilities of two wearable devices from Garmin, the company has announced. NXP Tech Helps Secure Wearable Payments on Garmin Fitness Trackers. Its PN8OT embedded Secure Element and NFC solution is being used in Garmin’s Vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 645 Music fitness tracking bands, both of which support contactless payments via a system called Garmin Pay. In addition to enabling tap-to-pay functionality with the fitness-tracking bands, NXP’s technology supports Mastercard and Visa tokenization services, allowing for EMV-like security for Garmin Pay transactions.

Barcodes will disappear from supermarkets in five years, experts say

Barcodes could be taken off the shelves in five to ten years to make way for new, invisible technology, according to experts. The new barcodes, produced by US company Digimarc, cover the entire packaging of the product, making the struggle to scan an item a thing of the past as it can be read at any angle. The company have already implemented their innovative new scanning technology in two American stores, Wegmans and New Seasons Market.

Campari eases liquor ordering with NFC-enabled fridge magnets

Campari America, the U.S. distributor of Skyy vodka and Wild Turkey bourbon, is distributing special refrigerator magnets that consumers can tap with a smartphone to order spirits for home delivery. The "Campari on Tap" magnets are equipped with a special near-field communication chip (NFC) that opens a product page on Drizly, the online shop for alcohol. From there, a smartphone user can order Campari brands for delivery. The "smart" magnets are being distributed in liquor stores in New York City. Each magnet is branded with one of six Campari products: Campari, Skyy Vodka, Wild Turkey, Aperol, Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum or Espolòn Tequila.

Stack-On Adds RFID Capability to Elite, Stand-Up Gun Safes

Stack-On, an Alpha Guardian brand, has added RFID, instant-open capability to two of its most popular firearm security safes. Both the Elite 40 Gun Safe and the Stand-Up Home Defense Safe now feature RFID locks in addition to the standard electronic keypad and backup key locks. RFID technology allows the user to unlock the safe and access the contents without having to manipulate dials, keypads or keys.
To open the safes, users simply hold one of the included RFID devices over the sensor and the safes automatically unlock. Each one comes with an RFID key fob, hard card and decal, which can be affixed to almost anything such as the back of a cell phone.

Digital revolution delivers barcode babies

Patients at Mackay Base Hospital no longer have to decipher the messy handwriting on doctors' notes and instructions. That's because Mackay is the first regional Queensland hospital to go completely digital; tracking medication, treatment, allergies and even which mother gave birth to which baby. Once that information was tracked on paper files but each patient now has a barcode - including babies. Baby Leyland Quinn was oblivious to the fame but can claim to be the first baby in Queensland to be born with a fully integrated electronic medical record when he was delivered on October 23 at Mackay Base Hospital.

RFID Enables Hands-Free Transit Entrance for Vancouver Disabled

Metro Vancouver transportation network TransLink has launched a hands-free access system for those with mobility issues at 23 Greater Vancouver area SkyTrain transit stations. The system employs radio frequency identification technology to prompt gates to open for those carrying UHF RFID-enabled badges so that they don't need to use their hands. The installation represents 40 percent of all the stations, the agency reports, and is slated to be taken live in all SkyTrain and SeaBus stations by the end of this year.

RFID Pilots Address Perishable Foods, Beauty Products

Avery Dennison is helping ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification technology to make deeper inroads into the retail market, with solutions and pilots intended to manage cosmetics and fresh foods. Several retailers have been piloting cosmetics as part of their RFID tracking solutions, and a chain restaurant is currently testing the technology as part of Avery Dennison's Freshmarx Food Safety program. To further enable the use of RFID on food products, the technology company has developed a microwave-safe inlay that could be applied to food packaging without reacting adversely to microwaves, or to the heat caused by them.

Fast-growing Untuckit in RFID pilot

Untuckit, the fast-growing brand whose signature shirts are made to be worn untucked, has made the leap to bricks-and-mortar with ease. Founded online in 2011, the start-up has grown from five stores at the end of 2016 to 25 locations at the beginning of 2018 — a number it hopes to double by year-end. It uses data collected by Sato’s RFID chips on men’s shirts, combined with RetailNext traffic counters and other in-store data points, to track which shirts are tried on, if the sizing fits and purchase information. The data allows Untuckit to identify the optimal merchandising mix based on what people try on versus what they buy.

New IoT botnet offers DDoSes of once-unimaginable sizes for $20

Organizers of a new botnet made up of infected home and small office routers are brazenly selling denial-of-service attacks of once unimaginable volumes for just $20 per target. Calling itself Los Calvos de San Calvicie, the group is advertising several services on this site. Among the services are distributed denial-of-service attacks of 290 to 300 gigabits per second for $20 each. While a third the size of some of the biggest recorded attacks, 290Gbps is still enough to bring most sites down unless they seek DDoS mitigation services, which in many cases cost considerable amounts of money. Just five years ago, 300Gbps was considered enough volume to shut down the Internet's core infrastructure.

RFID: Considering the Future of Modern Buildings

Newer buildings must adopt an approach that relies on modern expertise, which goes beyond the limitations of manned surveillance and keeps round-the-clock mon-itoring in constant check. This is what RFID manages to achieve, implemented in construction as a method of constant analysis from a project's conception to its completion. When applied to tools and gear, the costly and dangerous equipment is constantly tracked in order to ensure its proper use, while eradicating any chance of misplacement or theft. Subse-quently, project management at large is supported through the technology, swapping out manual tracking (invoices and manifestos) for on-demand digital means.

The Mobile Wallet acquires Trupay to integrate its UPI, QR code platforms

The Mobile Wallet Pvt. Ltd, a digital wallet and pre-paid cards company, has acquired Kae Capital-backed Trupay to integrate the latter’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and quick response (QR) code-based payments stack with its platform, the two companies said. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Delhi-based Trupay, founded in April 2015, offers a plug-and-play payments platform for businesses. The acquisition will allow The Mobile Wallet, which operates under the brand tmw, to enable its merchant base to collect payments using UPI and Bharat QR.

Amazon is experimenting with its own QR code style ‘SmileCodes’

QR code style markers — those lil’ barcode-looking boxes you’ll see on ads from time to time, meant to be scanned with your phone to launch some website or app — have yet to really find their footing in the U.S. But that’s not going to keep Amazon from taking a stab at it. Amazon is rolling out its own take on the concept and calling them “SmileCodes.” If you’ve scanned a QR code before, the idea will seem similar: see a code in, say, a magazine, open a scanner (built into the Amazon app), line up your camera with the code, and… something happens. What that something will be will vary from code to code, but they can open product pages, play videos (movie trailers, product reviews, etc.), etc.

Small RFID Tag from SML Group Offers 30 Percent Sensitivity Boost

Branding, technology and solutions company SML Group has released a small new ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID inlay that, according to the company, offers 30 percent greater performance than other tags of its size. The high-performance tag is intended to make the RFID tagging of apparel easier by requiring less space on hang tickets, or it can be sewn into care labels. According to the company, it supports the tagging of very small items, or with discrete labels, within dense environments. The GB4U8 inlay measures 42 millimeters by 16 millimeters (1.7 inches by 0.6 inch). It leverages NXP Semiconductors' UCODE 8 chip, along with SML's own antenna design, to accomplish high read sensitivity and improved read rates (see NXP to Release More Sensitive UHF Chip With New Functionality).

NFC Specs Updated for Mobile, Tags

The head of the NFC Forum provides perspective on the latest update of the group's specifications. The 2017 Technical Specification Release from the NFC Forum is made up of 21 new or updated near field communication (NFC) technical specifications.  The new specifications are a big step toward ensuring interoperability between NFC solutions in the market with various existing infrastructures, unifying new and existing specs to ensure interoperability and functionality across all solutions using NFC technology. The 2017 updates were driven by a number of market trends including a prediction that 36 billion connected devices will be in use by 2020 in the Internet of Things. That’s four IoT devices for every person on the planet, a big increase from the already more than two billion NFC-enabled smartphones currently in use.

U.K. Hospitals Testing Passive Ceiling-Mounted RFID for Real-Time Location

Location-tracking solutions company Harland Simon has expanded its RFID technology by partnering with PervasID, a Cambridge, England-based RFID technology firm. Several hospitals have piloted PervasID's new Space Ranger 9200 overhead reader as part of their Harland Simon RFID Discovery system, to automatically track the movements of assets and equipment. NHS Forth Valley, in Scotland, and Addenbrooke's Cambridge University Hospital have both completed pilots of the technology as part of their existing RFID Discovery solutions (see Scottish Hospital Expanding Hybrid Active and Passive RFID System and RFID Boosts Medical Equipment Usage at U.K. Hospital).

Code sues Honeywell at ITC and EDTX for attempting to monopolize barcode reader market

On January 10th, image-based barcode reading solutions provider Code Corporation of Salt Lake City, UT, announced that it had filed antitrust actions against Morris Plains, NJ-based engineering conglomerate Honeywell International at both the U.S. International Trade Commission and in the Eastern District of Texas. Code, which is seeking an injunction on the importation and sale of barcode readers marketed by Honeywell for the healthcare industry, alleges that Honeywell engaged in a campaign to mislead distributors about the legitimacy of Code’s barcode reader products as part of an effort to monopolize that market.