Swarm Technologies raises $25M for space-based IoT network

Swarm Technologies is raking in $25 million in a funding round aimed at getting a constellation of sandwich-sized satellites up and running for the Internet of Things. The satellites, known as SpaceBEEs, are so small that the Federal Communications Commission turned down the Silicon Valley startup’s application for a launch license last January. The mission went ahead anyway — largely because Seattle-based Spaceflight, the company that was taking care of the logistics for liftoff aboard an Indian PSLV rocket, didn’t know Swarm’s application had been rejected.

Barcodes to make hospitals safer

A supermarket style barcode scanning system could revolutionise hospital safety and save the NHS millions of pounds, according to the Department of Health. The technology - used in retail for decades - has been tested in six hospitals in a programme called Scan4Safety. It can help determine whether products are safe to use and still in date, slash needless stockpiling and also help track patients who have been given implants which turn out to be faulty. After tests in Derby, Leeds, Salisbury, Cornwall, North Tees and Plymouth, scanning could soon be rolled out across all Trusts in England. Figures show each hospital would save £11million a year by adopting the scheme.

Bossier man steals more than $180,000 by switching out bar code stickers

A Bossier City man pleaded guilty on January 7, 2019 to using a merchandise price changing scheme to steal almost $200,000 according to U.S. David C. Joseph. Peter Stifner, 39, of Bossier City, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to three counts of wire fraud. According to his guilty plea, Stifner conducted a scheme to steal merchandise from Walmart, Sam’s Club and Target. He obtained barcode stickers of lower priced merchandise, brought the stickers into the stores and placed them over the barcodes of higher priced merchandise.

Odyssey Investment Partners Acquires Barcodes, Inc.

Odyssey Investment Partners LLC announced that an affiliate has acquired Barcodes, Inc. Headquartered in Chicago, Barcodes is a solution provider of products and services that enable businesses to digitally capture and act on data related to their assets, people, and transactions. 

The Company's Automatic Identification & Data Capture and Identification & Access Control products, which include barcode scanners, mobile computers, label printers, point-of-sale systems, identification cards, RFID equipment, and other related consumable products, enable customers to improve productivity and profitability in their businesses. 

In addition, Barcodes offers value-added services to complement its product offering, including system design, configuration, integration, and technical support services. Barcodes primarily sells to small and medium-sized businesses as well as select Fortune 500 customers across the US, Canada, and UK. The Company maintains strong relationships with the premier manufacturers in the industry and effectively engages its customers through multiple sales channels and its service organization.

Bluetooth’s new direction: Update makes it easier to find lost keys, and other important stuff

The group responsible for Bluetooth introduced a new feature that gives the widely used wireless technology the ability to sense not just the proximity of a nearby object but also its direction in relation to another device receiving or sending a signal. The new direction-finding feature, released by the Kirkland, Wash.-based Bluetooth Special Interest Group as part of the new Bluetooth Core Specification 5.1, promises to make it easier to locate objects in a variety of settings, ranging from museum exhibits to the key ring under the couch cushion. The release Monday means that developers and device makers will be able to start incorporating the technology into their devices.

Dutch firm to integrate blockchain in RFID tags

Citizens Reserve, Inc., developer of the SUKU supply chain platform, has partnered with Dutch radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Internet of Things (IoT) company Smartrac. Forbes reported that Smartrac, purchased in 2010 by JPMorgan-owned One Equity Partners, will be integrating blockchain technology in its products, to enhance security and tracking abilities. Its CTO, Dinesh Dhamija, said in an email, “The combination of Smartrac’s digital enablement capabilities along with Citizens Reserves’ SUKU platform will provide a unique identity for each physical product with a transparent and accessible supply chain solution.”

QR Code on the packaging of Club Candonga Top Quality strawberries

For the fifth year in a row, the Club Candonga will participate in Fruit Logistica, which will be held in Berlin from the 6th to the 8th of February. Carmela Suriano is the creator and CEO of the Club, and she said to FreshPlaza, “The 2018 campaign was very positive in terms of revenue for our partners. During the first months of the year, the weather was not very good and the offer reduced. In general, the production was not constant and the volumes were lower than in the 2017 campaign”. Club Candonga will showcase a new packaging at the international horticulture fair. Suriano continued, “Starting from 2019, we will attach a QR code on boxes and baskets. This will allow the consumer to immediately trace the producing partner.

SML helps UK retailer take RFID nationwide

SML has been working with Matalan for the past two years, resulting in the retailer determining that it needed to improve inventory accuracy across its entire business. To facilitate this, Matalan embarked on deploying RFID into two pilot stores using SML’s Clarity software suite. The outcome was that the retailer discovered various benefits, most importantly that its inventory accuracy wasn’t at an acceptable level. Within each of the two store pilots, Matalan staff were able to count in excess of 100,000 items of merchandise over a three hour window.

ZKTeco USA partners with visitor management software developer V-Authenticate

ZKTeco USA has added QR code-based One Time Password authentication technology from V-Authenticate to its solutions portfolio. It’s the product of a new distribution partnership between the companies. “Aimed at helping organizations to confirm the identities of visitors to their premises, the solution allows administrators to send their guests a scannable QR code or an OTP via text or email, allowing them to quickly and immediately authenticate upon arrival using their smartphone.”

Swiss ‘Smart Card’ Crypto Wallet Tangem Gets $15 Million From Japan’s SBI Group

Switzerland-based Cryptocurrency ‘smart card’ wallet manufacturer Tangem has secured $15 million in funding from Japanese finance giant SBI Group, the company confirmed in a press release Jan. 21. Tangem, which began issuing its first wallets in June 2018, aims to increase cryptocurrency adoption by making assets spendable in a manner similar to conventional smart cards often used in transport and loyalty settings. Ticketing and loyalty will now form two of the target industries Tangem hopes to leverage to spread crypto smart cards, according to Tangem’s press release. The company also said it is eyeing initial coin offering (ICO) token distribution, identity and anti-counterfeiting.

US Secret Service is probing how crooks use smart credit cards for fraud

Credit card thieves have been taking advantage of smart card technologies to avoid getting caught, according to Krebs on Security. The US Secret Service offices in New York and St. Louis have apparently been working on a criminal investigation involving fraud rings using Fuze Cards to store stolen card data. Fuze Cards allow you to store up to 30 credit card details, and you can switch between them using the small screen on the front. It makes the data of the card you want to use available to merchants via a magnetic stripe and an embedded chip. You can also use them to withdraw money from ATMs.

NXP's Smart Market Demonstrates RFID for Shopping Experience

Several brands and retailers, as well as technology solution providers, joined forces with NXP Semiconductors in demonstrating what the technology company calls a "smart market," at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas. The simulated market leveraged NXP's Near Field Communication (NFC)- and RFID-based products to demonstrate how technology can make product inventory more accurate, and shopping more interesting and efficient for consumers. The smart market showed how store access and payments can be accomplished via wearables or smartphones, and also demonstrated electronic shelf labels and intelligent refrigerators that can serve as vending machines.

Georgia Poised to Pick Vulnerable Barcode Voting Technology

The state of Georgia, still reeling from reports of multiple election security breaches over the past two years, has moved one perilous step closer to replacing its 16-year-old F-rated touchscreen voting machines with yet another glaringly vulnerable touchscreen voting system. Ignoring the advice of independent cybersecurity experts, Georgia’s Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections (SAFE) Commission on Thursday recommended that the state purchase controversial new touchscreen ballot-marking devices that use barcodes to capture and count voters’ selections. The touchscreen system that the commission recommended generates paper printouts with barcodes that are supposed to encapsulate voters’ selections. These barcodes, which humans can’t read, are the only portion of the paper printouts counted by the scanners.

Pirate-busting QR code on Bitzer spares

Extending its fight against counterfeiters, compressor manufacturer Bitzer has added QR codes to the packaging of its original spare parts. The German company has previously announced action against product pirates selling counterfeit compressors and fake oils. Bitzer compressors have been equipped with QR codes for an authenticity check  since 2015; this service will now be phased in for most Bitzer Original Spare Parts as well. By scanning the code, users can check the authenticity of their products plus obtain further relevant information.

Soliton Technologies to launch barcode reader

Bengaluru-based, Soliton Technologies will launch Nuera industrial fixed-mount barcode reader for 1D and 2D (QR code, data matrix) barcodes, using its Nuera Smart Camera platform.

Vignesh Eswaramoorthy, brand and marketing manager, Soliton, said, “The Nuera Smart Camera is used to automate inspection with the help of a vision sensor and inbuilt processor. Our own industrial IP67 rated Smart Camera is a huge advantage for us.”

The Nuera barcode reader can be used in applications such as packaging inspection, logistics, and product identification among others. Apart from Smart Camera and barcode reader, Soliton will also highlight its flagship product Prim, colour registration and cut-off control system; Nuera Pro HDMI and WiFi, and Nuera sorting demo.

How to Scan a QR Code Without Downloading an App

First, they were everywhere - train platforms, the back of pamphlets, postcards and other printed/ad materials. Then, once users realized they had to download a separate app just to read a code, numbers dropped - it was just easier to Google search the name of a company and go straight to the page than to download an app, open it, scan the code and then switch over to the browser to view the content But the idea and concept of a QR code remained strong. Finally, mobile manufacturers rose to meet the challenge, by allowing newer models of mobile phones to scan QR codes just by using the built-in camera app

Authentication Collaboration Combines Facial Recognition with Barcode Scanning

Toronto-based Applied Recognition and New York’s Intellicheck are putting their heads together to offer a selfie-based authentication solution. The companies are essentially licensing their technologies to each other, allowing both to combine Applied Recognition’s biometric facial recognition with Intellicheck’s barcode reading technology. The end result is an authentication system in which an end user takes pictures of the front and rear of a barcoded identity document, as well as a selfie; then, facial recognition technology compares the images to verify the user’s identity.

RFID companies innovate to harness the growth opportunities generated by Manufacturing 4.0

According to a recent market analysis by Frost & Sullivan, the growth of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and cloud have given a huge boost to the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in Manufacturing 4.0. The interconnectedness of devices has resulted in massive volumes of RFID data that needs to be managed and analyzed, Frost & Sullivan’s analysis asserts, which is prompting RFID manufacturers to develop high-memory tags that can hold more information, software platforms with a business intelligence layer, as well as cloud-based solutions.

Replacing Transit Windsor bus passes with smart cards starts with tunnel service

The 15th of the month is normally the first day when riders can buy their calendar-based magnetic bus pass for the following month, but the old bus pass no longer exists for people wanting a $95.70 Tunnel Pass or a $157 Combo Pass (for riding the regular system as well as the tunnel bus). From now on, they’ll buy a tunnel or combo smart pass, for the same money but with added convenience, Transit Windsor sales and marketing manager David Calibaba said Tuesday. The smart pass can be reloaded over and over, in increments of 15 or 30 days, meaning you could load your pass for the entire year if you want. And instead of buying a pass for February which runs from Feb. 1-28, a new smart pass loaded with 30 days will run 30 days starting from the first time you tap the farebox reader on a bus. (Photo Embee473).

ByteScout BarCode Reader makes scanning barcodes a breeze

We haven’t seen a lot of Barcode scanners for Windows 10 probably due to the fact that there’s no mobile version. It wouldn’t make sense for a lot of developers to create a barcode app when it can’t be used easily in hand, but one particular developer didn’t agree with that sentiment. They’ve managed to create an app known as the ByteScout BarCode Reader. It’s quite interesting from our limited use, and we can see why folks would want to use it. However, unless you have a compact Windows 10 product, you won’t be using BarCode Reader on a regular basis

RFID tag arrays can be used to track a person's movement

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags have become a key component of global commerce, enabling stakeholders to track physical assets quickly and reliably. Deployed properly, the tags could be used in a new class of wearable designed to track physical movement and shape change.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have figured out how RFID tags could be used do things like control virtual avatars or tell slouching users to sit up straight.

Barcodes to make hospitals safer

A Supermarket style barcode scanning system could revolutionise hospital safety and save the NHS millions of pounds, according to the Department of Health. The technology - used in retail for decades - has been tested in six hospitals in a programme called Scan4Safety. It can help determine whether products are safe to use and still in date, slash needless stockpiling and also help track patients who have been given implants which turn out to be faulty. After tests in Derby, Leeds, Salisbury, Cornwall, North Tees and Plymouth, scanning could soon be rolled out across all Trusts in England. Figures show each hospital would save £11million a year by adopting the scheme.

RFID technology for vehicles by end of this year: DMT

The Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), radio frequencies used to automatically identify and track motor vehicles in India would be implemented by the end of this year, Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) Commissioner General A.H.K. Jagath Chandrasiri said. Under the new system the Police would be able to identify vehicles without stopping them, he said. “The Police can get information related to the vehicle to some extent to ease their inquires,” Mr. Chandrasiri said. Addressing the media, the Information and Communication Technology Commissioner of DMT Susantha F. Suraweera said the Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) was the use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to the back of the windscreen of vehicles

UHF RFID Reader Systems Capture Laundry Tags in Motion

Identification solutions company Datamars has released two new RFID readers for its laundry-management solutions that are intended to make the reading of linen or workwear tags faster, as well as provide greater accuracy, for large-scale laundry businesses. Both serve the clean textiles management process, after laundry has been washed and dried and needs to be sorted and shipped to a customer. The Open Tunnel and UHF Portal Plus follow the 2017 release of a small UHF RFID tag known as the FT401 Laundry Chip. The new technology is being used by industrial laundry companies in Europe and the United States, according to Julien Buros, Datamars' textile product and service director, in order to gain a faster and more accurate view of the cleaned textiles that they pack and deliver to customers: hotels, hospitals and elder-care facilities.

LPP Starts Global RFID Roll-Out for Its Fashion Brand Reserved with Checkpoint Systems

Checkpoint Systems announced at NRF 2019 that it is expanding its relationship with Polish fashion retail group LPP, with the deployment of a large-scale Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) program to improve merchandise availability, operational efficiency and the consumer experience. The program will be deployed across LPP’s entire supply chain from manufacturing through LPP’s e-commerce platform and to over 1,700 outlets spanning 23 countries.

With more than 200 million items sold each year, LPP has created the biggest apparel manufacturing/retail company in Central and Eastern Europe. The socially responsible Polish family company was looking for a solution that would improve operational efficiency across its estate, while enhancing inventory visibility for its five high fashion retail brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and Sinsay.

Checkpoint already supplies Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) technology to LPP and the new RFID @Source program will enable items to arrive in-store, shelf-ready, reducing the time store employees spend checking deliveries and enhancing inventory accuracy. It demonstrates Checkpoint’s ability to offer both EAS and RFID technology simultaneously to meet the needs of the Polish retailer.
Introducing RFID technology is also expected to increase profitability through improved efficiencies, with early estimates indicating a 3 percent sales uplift. It will also improve the identification of single items in the supply chain, while also transforming product visibility and availability in store. The technology also enables LPP to easily pin-point top-sellers and key trends in individual outlets, meaning it will be able to tailor its inventory to individual stores and their customer base more accurately.

Jet Label & Packaging invests in single-pass RFID insertion

Canada’s Jet Label & Packaging has installed a single-pass RFID inserting system involving an existing Mark Andy flexographic press and an RFID application unit from Tamarack. Jet Label & Packaging, Western Canada’s largest producer of labels and printed tape for a broad range of industries, used an existing Mark Andy press at its manufacturing facility for the upgrade. Engineers from Mark Andy retrofitted the press to allow room for the Tamarack components. The resulting single-pass RFID insertion sees labelstock briefly opened for RFID inlay, then relaminated via finishing operations. The new system then verifies RFID function with a reader system after die-cutting.

Yubico Adds NFC-Enabled and Lightning Security Keys

The people holding off on enabling strong two-factor authentication on their various accounts are quickly running out of reasonable excuses. This week, that list got even shorter when Yubico launched an NFC-enabled hardware security key that works wirelessly, as well as a separate key with a Lightning port connector for Apple hardware. The Security Key NFC is a modified version of the existing YubiKey, which has a single USB-A connector. The addition of the NFC (near field communication) capability allows people to use it with some Android mobile devices as well as some Windows laptops that have NFC readers attached.

RFID helps Kellogg providers to make visits meaningful for patients and reduce wait times

Technology that retailers use to make a shopping experience more efficient could also benefit your next eye appointment. Called radio-frequency identification (or RFID), the tool helps streamline operations by knowing where everything is and where everything goes. It can help a large store maintain a clearer picture of inventory counts, for example. At the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, RFID serves another purpose: to track and reduce patient wait time and enhance time spent at the doctor's office.

A partnership between Kellogg Eye and the U-M Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety (CHEPS) unlocked a whole new realm of potential applications for RFID technology.

Expansion could make Fletcher RFID plant world’s largest

Henderson County approved more than $500,000 in incentives for a local manufacturer looking to expand operations at its Fletcher facility, an investment of nearly $27 million that would mean 68 more jobs. The Board of Commissioners approved the five-year incentive package for Smartrac, a manufacturer of RFID tags, at its meeting Monday night. The decision came after Smartrac’s vice president of operations at the Fletcher facility, Chris Hykin, told the board the company is looking to gain an early foothold in the RFID industry, which he said is set to grow significantly in the next decade.

Blockchain Technology can be Critical to IoT Infrastructure Security

IoT makes it possible to connect previously closed devices and appliances to the Internet and allow users to control their operations remotely. However, as more closed systems are made accessible online, they also become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and hacks. An emerging technology alongside IoT which offers much promise in helping secure connected devices is blockchain technology. While blockchain technology gained prominence originally in the world of fintech by ushering in the revolution of digital payments, this underlying technology behind the success and rise of cryptocurrencies could play an important role in cybersecurity, especially in the IoT space.

Scan QR Codes in Your Pixel's Camera App

Pixel owners can enjoy a feature that iPhone users have had for years, the ability to scan QR codes in the default camera app. By including support for this feature, Google has provided its users with two things. First, the convenience of not having to download another app, and second, an extra layer of security as you avoid the potential malicious QR scanning apps created by third-party developers. This feature is available to the entire Pixel phone lineup, from the Pixel 1 to the Pixel 3 XL.

Dubai bank adds cashless card withdrawals to mobile banking app

As part of its commitment to provide the best customer experience in digital banking, Emirates Islamic has introduced Cardless Cash Withdrawal - a unique feature available on the Bank’s Mobile Banking App. Customers can now initiate the cash withdrawal from the Bank’s Mobile Banking App and the funds can then be withdrawn from any Emirates Islamic ATM without using a debit or credit card. This innovative service also allows the Bank’s customers to make transfers to recipients using only their mobile phone number. Beneficiaries will receive an SMS with a one-time PIN to withdraw the amount transferred from the closest Emirates Islamic ATM.

JCB begins EMV QR mobile payments rollout

JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., announced that JCB has launched EMV standardized QR Code Payment service. JCB QR Code Payment is a new mobile payment solution for JCB cardmembers to scan the QR Code displayed at the merchant point-of-sale by their mobile phone. This merchant-presented QR Code Payment is a cost-efficient and easy implementation solution for JCB partner financial institutions and their merchants.

Bank SinoPac in Taiwan and Sacombank in Vietnam became the first banks to offer the JCB QR Code Payment service. SinoPac will start the service full scale at merchants who used to accept only cash such as fish markets, flower markets and taxis in January 2019 and expand new merchant base to more than 3,000. Sacombank has just announced its new mobile banking app "Sacombank Pay", for which their JCB Cardmember can choose JCB Card as a source of funds and will offer QR Code payment service at more than 2,000 merchants from 28th December 2018.

BIBD introducing Brunei’s first NFC mobile payment in January

BIBD will be introducing Brunei’s first near-field communication payment service on their mobile application for Android this January 23, enabling users to pay at card terminals worldwide by “simply tapping” their phones. In a media engagement yesterday at Belluno, BIBD showcased their NFC system called the BIBD NEXGEN Wallet, which will be incorporated into their upcoming update of their mobile application V3.9. The service syncs up a users’ debit or virtual cards to the ‘wallet’ – effectively acting as their substitute – so users can make instantaneous payments with their mobile at any Mastercard or Visa terminal, locally or abroad without their debit cards.

INEC tackles Atiku on use of smart card readers

The presidential candidate of the Nigerian Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, Thursday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of making a U-turn on its plan to use Smart Card Readers (SCR) in the upcoming 2019 elections. The commission, however, promptly denied the allegation, saying it was false. The commission had some weeks ago reaffirmed its decision to foreclose the use of incident forms, insisting on 100 per cent use of smart card readers in the 2019 polls – a measure aimed at correcting abuses in previous elections.

JavaScript API edition of Dynamsoft's barcode SDK released

Dynamsoft has updated its Barcode Reader Software Development Kit as a pure JavaScript API Edition, based on WebAssembly, to enable cross-browser and cross-platform online barcode scanning. These new features will empower developers with new conveniences for users. Users can scan barcodes in real-time from a browser using their smartphone without requiring an app download. The new JavaScript barcode reader supports real-time localization and decoding of various 1D and 2D barcodes from static images. It also supports decoding from a camera’s video live stream whether from desktops, tablets, or mobile devices

RFID Doing More than ID

RFID is a workhorse in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets. Passive tags, like work badges and key fobs, need a base station but not the tags. Sensors are a big market and putting sensors in places that are hard to reach, hostile, or mobile is a costly proposition. That price could drop, and the sensors could be more approachable with help from MIT’s Auto-ID Lab who are experimenting with sensor feedback to RFID devices. The researchers have their sights set on glucose sensing and that news come shortly after Alphabet gave up their RFID quest to measure glucose through contact lenses.

How blockchain will transform the IoT

Two giant industrials, Bosch and Volkswagen, are among companies that are taking seriously the idea that the Internet of Things (IoT) and decentralized data marketplaces should co-exist. That means a type of "blockchain meets IoT" is likely in our future. Both German organizations have recently teamed up with fellow-country, decentralized transactional platform IOTA on various development projects. IOTA’s Tangle is a transactional data transfer and settlement system for connected devices. Bosch announced in November that it intends to use a combination of its XDK (Cross Domain development Kit) product (an IoT prototyping and programmable sensor module used as a come-on to get organizations to work with Bosch on custom mass production and series engineering), and morph XDK with IOTA marketplace along a masked communications channel.

IoT cryptomining exploits on the rise

December 2018 McAfee Labs threat report shows sharp increase in malware targeting IoT devices, which can then be used for cryptomining exploits IoT malware threats have increased from just over 5,000 in Q4 2016 to over 45,000 incidents detected in Q3 2018. IoT threats may target any kind of connected hardware including routers, smart devices, webcams and more, and according to McAfee, are generally directed toward Linux-based systems. IoT devices have been used in the past by malicious actors in DDoS attacks, such as the massive 2016 Mirai malware attack that affected millions of users of applications including Twitter, Spotify, PayPal. However due to their low processing capabilities, they have largely been discounted as a potential source of cryptomining power.

Vehicles with RFID tag to get green tax relief from Jan 3

The Indian Environment Pollution Control Authority (ECPA) has directed Municipal corporations in Delhi to give environment tax exemption to vehicles having RFID tags in a bid to increase its usage, the Times of India reported.

The new system will be applicable at eight toll plazas - Aya Nagar, DND Flyway, Shahdara main, Shahdara flyover, Tikri border, Kapashera border, Rajokri border, Kundli border- the daily said quoting a senior official from the south corporation.

Semtech's LoRa Technology to Connect IoT Devices in Brazil

Semtech Corporation recently announced that the company’s Low power, high Range (LoRa) devices and wireless radio frequency technology will be put to use in Brazil’s network, which is based on the LoRaWAN protocol, deployed by American Tower (ATC). LoRa Technology enables long-range connectivity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and aids in connecting sensors to the cloud. Moreover, to enhance efficiency and productivity, this technology helps in real-time communication of data and analytics.