Current Sensor Market to Reach $5 Bn by 2030

Current sensor market size is anticipated to surpass USD 5 billion by 2030, according to the latest research study by Global Market Insights Inc. Growing adoption of green energy across power grids, due to increased concerns associated with climate change and environmental protection, will drive the product demand.

A dramatic shift in preference for renewable energy systems is fueling the requirement for hall effect technology in current sensors. Hall-effect sensors are commonly integrated into power generation systems, PV inverters, central/off-grid inverters, solar string monitoring, grid-tied renewable energy systems, and converters for wind & solar energy.

The current sensor industry share from the grid infrastructure applications will depict more than 8% CAGR from 2022 to 2030. There is a substantial rise in electricity and energy demand in developing countries, along with a growing need for robust power grids capable of withstanding power outages and failures. The integration of current sensors will surge in power grids used for energy supply from solar farms, wind turbines, hydropower stations, and nuclear power plants. Consistent investments in the developed nations to modernize their grid will bolster the acceptance of suitable current sensor components.

Instrumems Announces New Bubble Detection Sensor

Instrumems, a pioneer in smart multi-sensor solutions, announced its new Bubble detection sensor.

Engineering teams and system architects will benefit from the efficiency of the sensor's fast response to quantify micro-size bubbles occupying <50% of a channel.

According to the company, the new bubble detection technology is ideal for food processing (i.e., food safety analysis), additive manufacturing (i.e., 3D printers), life sciences (i.e., microfluidic control in labs), and medical applications (i.e., dialysis, drug delivery). Comparable alternatives like ultrasonic sensors are 5x the cost with restrictions on tube types and accuracy.

And with Instrumems, there are no constraints with tube material or thickness, while the tiny form factor makes it easy to integrate into small tubes.

Telit Acquires Mobilogix to Provide Custom IoT Project and Solution Design Services

Telit announces the acquisition of group assets from Mobilogix, a California-based startup company specializing in custom IoT solutions worldwide.

The acquisition allows Telit to expand in the growing segment of new and existing IoT adopters that want to reduce complexity and time to market.

The acquisition adds comprehensive device engineering expertise and resources that focus on optimizing specifications for handoff to electronic manufacturing services, original device manufacturing, and the attainment of regulatory approvals and carrier certifications.

Momenta invests in Shoreline IoT

Momenta announced an investment in Shoreline IoT, the creator of the one-stop Asset Performance Management (APM) solution for industrial condition-based monitoring. This is the seventh investment from Momenta's AIoT Ecosystem Fund, powered by Advantech, the world leader in digital industrial solutions.

Asset-intensive industries, such as manufacturing and energy, are plagued by unpredictable operating performance, lost production, and escalating costs. APM solutions unlock machine data and use analytics to improve the reliability and performance of these capital assets. When successfully deployed, they can help improve a company's bottom line by providing actionable knowledge to stabilize production performance, reduce operating costs and assure optimal return on their assets.

APM Solutions are already a multi-billion-dollar market, with the high-end market focused on monitoring the most valuable industrial machines already instrumented and connected. However, there is a significant opportunity at the opposite end of the market.

Most industrial machines are un-monitored or only monitored via manual inspection. They are sometimes referred to as 'dark assets' because their conditions are relatively invisible most of the time. The lack of real-time visibility for these dark assets can lead to reliability and maintenance issues, and ultimately to higher expenses and ESG compliance issues for asset operators. Dark assets remain unmonitored because it's hard to make monitoring them simple, easy, painless, and useful. Shoreline IoT solves that with an easy-to-install, fully integrated APM solution available as a service.

Picnic Works and Minnow Technologies Create Partnership to Bring Enhanced Automation Solutions to Foodservice Industry

Picnic Works, a Seattle-based developer of kitchen automation technology, announced a partnership with Minnow Technologies, a neighboring Seattle IoT startup that has developed the Pickup Pod, a self-service pickup solution for foodservice operators.

The partnership leverages the expertise of both companies to help commercial kitchens, stadiums, large franchises, universities, and commercial food service providers envision and enable end-to-end food automation services. This includes a focus on mobile and kiosk ordering, automated food assembly, and secure contactless pickup solutions.

A customer can place a mobile or kiosk order that is made automatically by the Picnic station and then put in a heated or insulated Pickup Pod for the customer to retrieve at their convenience.

At universities, students can place mobile pizza orders which are assembled by the Picnic Pizza Station and then picked up from a Pickup Pod. End-to-end automation solutions like these can help increase the efficiency of a kitchen at peak times, reduce food waste through efficient just-in-time ordering and production, and increase customer satisfaction with ordering and pickup.

Apple may face a DOJ antitrust complaint over AirTags

Apple may be facing a potential US Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit, this time focused on AirTags and its other hardware.

Sources tell Politico that DOJ lawyers are drafting an antitrust complaint against the tech giant.

The DOJ began investigating the iPhone maker in 2019, as part of a larger government antitrust probe into Big Tech.

AirTags use ultra-wideband technology and Apple's Find My network to locate devices, often much more precisely than Tile's early-model Bluetooth-enabled trackers.

Blue Bite Named an NFC Forum 2022 Innovation Award Winner

Blue Bite, part of Markem-Imaje and Dover, has been named an NFC Forum 2022 Innovation Award winner for Most Innovative Use of NFC.

In collaboration with Blue Bite, the company introduced an authenticity guarantee, as well as a NFC-powered program that assures the authenticity of purchases, including refurbished items, dramatically improving the transaction experience for consumers and sellers.

In addition to utilizing NFC tags, Blue Bite unlocks the potential of physical products by empowering brands to build dynamic digital consumer experiences and channel them through physical items using connecting technologies like QR codes and Shadowfencing™.

The NFC Forum Innovation Awards support and recognize the development and deployment of innovative and exemplary NFC products, services and applications, with a focus on improving people's lives through contactless technology.

Blue Bite has also been recognized by dotCOMM Awards, receiving a Platinum Award for Mobile/Apps.

Freight Farms Named 2022 IoT Monitoring Solution of the Year

Freight Farms, a manufacturer of container farming, announced it has been awarded IoT Monitoring Solution of the Year in the 2022 AgTech Breakthrough Awards conducted by AgTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in the global agricultural and food technology markets today.

Farmhand is Freight Farms’ IoT farm automation software and is the only software of its kind. Farmhand allows indoor farm operators to control temperature, lighting, and other environmental variables in their farms by connecting to in-farm sensors.

Farmhand is flexibly architected so that many different indoor grow setups (beyond Freight Farms’ container farms) can be operated using the software.

The IoT software is able to interact with different controllers, sensors, modules, HVAC units, lighting systems, and cameras. It allows for both monitoring and controlling different indoor farming systems, so that data from these setups can be fed back to operators to improve operational and plant performance.

Among farmhand’s distinct and unique offerings is a feature that visualizes the entire crop planning and planting process. It automatically performs any necessary calculations, then adapts farm modes to tailor the environment to those crops. It also provides analytics that aggregate sensor data to identify trends from previous harvests to optimize future ones, as well as providing crop growing “recipes” that are ever-improving based on data from farmers.

Importantly, farmhand enables production of higher quality, more flavorful, and more nutritious produce by dialing in specific environmental settings to replicate an ideal climate for plants to thrive. The “recipes” feature takes the guesswork out of this by preloading the ideal temperature, nutrient, CO2, humidity, and light settings for growing different plants into the software, which operators can select based on what they are growing.

Board Challenges QR Code Voting System

The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to approve a resolution that would eliminate the QR codes used in Georgia's statewide voting system.

According to Commission Chairman Harry Johnston, the board has received many requests from the public to adjust the voting system but does not have the power to make the change.

Despite a lack of evidence that the QR technology has been used to manipulate the vote historically, it has nevertheless "caused distrust in the voting system" among Cherokee County residents.

Deezer defines the power of music in QR campaign to attract Gen Z

Deezer is repositioning its brand to attract younger users. As a first step, a new marketing campaign launched on August 22 in France, Germany and Brazil. French agency Buzzman was chosen as the main partner for the campaign, and the wider brand development.

Deezer presents a number of intriguing scenarios that at first glance might not tell the full story. After scanning a QR code on the image, a song will be played which will either elevate or change the perception of the scenario. The artists range from icons such as Edith Piaf, global superstars like Dua Lipa, and local heroes such as Heuss L'enfoiré, Jul, Die Prinzen and Vitor Kley.

The campaign will show imagery in multiple outdoor formats, including 8 M2 billboards, as well as digital activations, social media, and TV across France, Germany and Brazil. Additionally, Deezer is creating a TikTok challenge where people will enhance or change a situation with the power of music.

Google Cloud will shutter its IoT Core service next year

Google Cloud will shut down its IoT Core service, giving customers a year to move to a partner to manage their IoT devices.

Google believes that having partners manage the process for customers is a better way to go. 'Since launching IoT Core, it has become clear that our customers’ needs could be better served by our network of partners that specialize in IoT applications and services,' a Google spokesperson explained.

Competitors AWS and Microsoft offer similar services, which provide a way for customers to manage their IoT devices, while ingesting and making sense of all of the data coming in from those devices.

Developer Product from Blues Wireless Accelerates Prototyping Low-Power IoT Device Clusters

 

A fast-growing IoT startup specializing in embedded wireless solutions, Blues Wireless announced the general availability of their new product, Sparrow. Sparrow is an efficient and economical solution to the las

t mile problem of internet-connecting a group of low-cost, low-power device sensors for shared data backhaul to the cloud. The developer kit provides a complete solution, with reference hardware, example firmware, and an easy-to-deploy web application.

Sensors are organized into clusters, and LoRa-based sensor data is routed through inexpensive Notecard. The Notecard's unique developer experience was designed to simplify cellular, democratizing a capability formerly only available to sophisticated engineering firms. This simple developer experience enables unprecedented speed from concept-to-deployment.

Datanet crafts Zebra RFID solution for BE Switchcraft

Datanet has deployed a Zebra Technologies’ radio frequency identification (RFID) solution for Adelaide-based customised electrical switchboards manufacturer, BE Switchcraft.

Datanet introduced an RFID solution which included Zebra’s FX9600 Fixed RFID readers, complemented by Zebra-compatible RFID antennas and an RFID label printer.

This solution helps the BE Switchcraft team gain real-time visibility into each stage of its switchboard manufacturing process. The data collected is integrated with BE Switchcraft’s MYOB enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to provide valuable updates on the status of each project and financial data associated with the projects in production.

BE makes customised electrical switchboards for large building applications such as the Parliament House Canberra, Adelaide Convention Centre, and Port Moresby Football Stadium.

Cardknox Announces Integration with the Verifone M400 and e285 Payment Terminals

Cardknox announced its integration with the M400 and the e285, two payment terminals developed by Verifone, a fintech leader providing valuable end-to-end payment solutions.

By offering support for the broadest range of terminal options, merchants are able to keep up with the latest consumer payment preferences for card-present transactions. At the same time, software developers and ISVs benefit from Cardknox's plug-and-play payment integrations for a wide range of POS and e-commerce systems.

With the growing demand for cashless and contactless payment options, these two payment terminals from Verifone bring merchants increased opportunities to capture sales while providing consumers with a frictionless payment experience.

The M400 and e285 terminals feature high-definition touchscreen displays, superior battery life, a range of connectivity options, and support for all major payment methods — including contactless, mobile, and EMV.

Shell Malaysia offers RFID payments at station network

Shell has partnered up with Touch ‘n Go to offer a cashless experience for customers throughout 88 of the brand’s forecourts across the nation.

The number of sites enabled with this new cashless fuelling experience is expected to increase twofold by the end of the year.

Customers will need to link a tag to their Touch ‘n Go eWallet account and register, upon successful activation, users simply need to park their vehicles at the RFID-designated fuelling bays.

Bank of New Zealand cuts contactless transaction fees

Merchants in New Zealand can now accept contactless payments on an ordinary Android NFC smartphone using a low-cost software point of sale (sPOS) solution.

From 2024, all merchants using the app will be charged the NZ$10 (US$6.40) basic monthly fee levied at launch for those without a BNZ account and the service will calculate a flat-rate monthly transaction fee package for each merchant according to their net monthly sales.

BNZ has launched the BNZ Pay tap-on-phone payments acceptance app as a “safe, secure and easy to use” solution for small- to medium-sized businesses such as weekend market vendors, local cafes, sole traders and taxi drivers.

Healthcare Asset Management Market to Touch USD 370.81 Billion

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the healthcare asset management market was valued at USD 17.10 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 370.81 billion by 2029, registering a CAGR of 46.9% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2029.

Healthcare asset management entails efficiently and cost-effectively managing and maintaining machinery, equipment, and physical assets. Pumps, plumbing, compressors, wheelchairs, refrigeration, generators, condensers, mobile beds, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), and other hospital systems are typically included. It saves time and money, increases asset utilization, locates equipment faster, keeps the right inventory on hand, and promotes employee communication.

The global healthcare asset management market is being driven by the rising acceptance of asset management solutions in pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, the pharmaceutical sector has increased its radiofrequency identification (RFID) usage. In international pharmaceutical manufacture and distribution, the technology has evolved into a systematic aspect of supply chain management.

Moreover, the development of IOT based healthcare asset management and advancement in healthcare asset management device technology will provide beneficial opportunities for the healthcare asset management market growth. Additionally, the increasing demand from emerging markets and technological advancements will further expand the healthcare asset management market's growth rate in the future.

Worldwide Location Intelligence Industry is Expected to Reach $36 Billion by 2028

The Global Location Intelligence Market size is expected to reach $36 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 15.3% CAGR during the forecast period.

The approach of generating insights through location data to address spatial issues is known as location intelligence. LI analyzes location data as an integrated aspect of a business and societal problem, extending over simple data presentation on maps. Executives and decision-makers now have access to unprecedented volumes of corporate data, including a variety of geographic data due to a significant number of devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Location intelligence is derived through visualizing and analyzing large amounts of data in relation to a specific location, and it is used to facilitate prediction, holistic planning, and problem-solving. Seeing all pertinent data in the context of a location on a smart map, application, or dashboard provides new perspectives. competitive edge.

The presentation and analysis of geographical data are used to achieve location intelligence (LI). Businesses can use location intelligence technologies to detect where an event has occurred, analyze why it is occurring, and gain insight into what caused it by layering geographic data, such as traffic, demographics, and weather, to a smart map or dashboard. Many businesses are using geographic information system (GIS) technology to build location intelligence as part of their digital transformation.

RF Technologies Celebrates its 35th Anniversary

RF Technologies (RFT) announces its 35th anniversary as a provider of life safety solutions.

RF Technologies began as the brainchild of Glen Jonas, founder and CEO. In 1987, RFT started setting the standard in safety and security for those that need it most.

Since then, the company has grown to offer a wide array of radio frequency-based safety systems.

RFT entered the market with the CODE ALERT offering, which expanded over the years to provide nurse call, wander management, and fall detection systems in the Senior Living space.

By 1995, RFT offered one of the first Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Infant Security solution sold into hospitals. Over the years, the SAFE PLACE line of products grew to not only protect infants, but also, mothers, pediatrics, and staff as well.

In 2002, RFT’s offerings expanded beyond the healthcare and senior living markets. With the acquisition of the PinPoint Company, protecting people in hospitality and educational markets with Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) became reality.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Market to Record a CAGR of 10.39%

The radio frequency identification (RFID) market size is expected to grow by USD 8.88 bn from 2021 to 2026. In addition, the growth momentum of the market will accelerate at a CAGR of 10.39% during the forecast period.

The industrial segment will contribute the highest market share growth during the forecast period. In the manufacturing process, incorporating RFID middleware helps in understanding and tracking the movement of semi-finished goods. The increasing applications of RFID in the industrial processes during the forecast period will drive the growth of this segment.

The radio frequency identification (RFID) market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as trying to expand the scope of their offerings and allowing an increase in customization to compete in the market. Alien Technology LLC, ASSA ABLOY AB, Avery Dennison Corp., CipherLab Co. Ltd., CoreRFID Ltd., Datalogic Spa, eAgile Inc., FEIG ELECTRONIC GmbH, Fujitsu Ltd., GAO RFID Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Impinj Inc., Mojix Inc., Nedap NV, NXP Semiconductors NV, RFID4U, Siemens AG, SATO Holdings Corp., Unitech Electronics Co. Ltd., and Zebra Technologies Corp. are among some of the major market participants.

Beacon market to grow at a CAGR of 41.91%

The Beacon market was valued at US$1,215.257 million in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.91% over the forecast period to reach a total market size of US$14,087.993 million by 2027.

Beacons are small, inexpensive devices that broadcast Bluetooth low energy signals or Bluetooth smart signals, using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Compatible apps on mobile devices can listen to signals from adjacent beacons and trigger a series of experiences, including sending a promotional notification, video, URL form, and others, via the app.

Additionally, beacon technology is widely used in a wide variety of industries, such as retail, healthcare, travel and tourism, and education due to its advantages such as superior accuracy in comparison with other geolocation methods, low battery consumption, and not requiring internet connection, among others.

One of the key market trends gaining traction is the adoption of Bluetooth smart technology, loop technology, and over-the-air (OTA) technology based on artificial intelligence. The technology is increasingly being adopted by companies in order to enhance their market presence. For instance, Uber announced, in October 2019, that an updated version of the colorful Beacon gadget would be available as Beacon 2.0., which will sit on the interior of the car and reflect the color chosen by drivers in the app to help them find their cars in crowded situations.

Huawei Pay goes live in Italy

Customers of Intesa Sanpaolo bank in Italy can now add their PagoBancomat payment card to a Huawei Pay digital wallet and use it to make in-store NFC mobile payments.

Intesa Sanpaolo is the first bank in the country to add support for Huawei Pay.

Huawei Pay is also now live in Russia, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Austria, South Africa and Pakistan.

More than 34m merchants worldwide to accept contactless payments on NFC smartphones

The number of merchants worldwide using software point of sale (sPOS) solutions to accept contactless payments on an ordinary NFC smartphone or tablet will increase from 6m in 2022 to more than 34.5m by 2027, according to Juniper Research.

The forecast predicts increases in total contactless payment volumes from 195bn in 2022 to 408bn in 2027 and the rollout of Apple’s Tap to Pay for iPhone sPOS feature as being among the key drivers of the increase.

The research forecasts that Apple’s decision to enable third parties to develop sPOS solutions leveraging iOS NFC capabilities will result in an influx of iOS-specific services.

Study by Cantaloupe and Michigan State University Shows Contactless Payment Transactions Soar

Cantaloupe, a digital payments and software services company that provides end-to-end technology solutions for the unattended retail market, partnered with the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University for a joint study on payment trends in unattended retail.

The results of the study show that contactless transactions at vending machines soared during the height of the COVID pandemic from January 2020 to October 2021, the time of the study.

The study saw the overall share of cashless transactions increase dramatically from 51 percent in January 2020 to 62 percent in October 2021 compared to cash transactions, which decreased from 49 percent to 38 percent in the same time period.

The rise in cashless payments overall is being driven by consumer adoption of contactless payments, or any payment method that uses either near-field communication (NFC) or radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to “tap to pay” — such as a credit or debit card with a chip, or a mobile wallet. The study found that from January 2020 to October 2021, contactless transactions had grown steadily month to month from 18 percent of total transactions to 43 percent of total cashless transactions overall.

NFC, UWB and MST contactless technologies in Samsungs foldable phones and wearables

Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro all offer NFC functionality, while some also include ultra wideband (UWB) capabilities and the phone maker’s own MST magnetic stripe emulation technology.

The two new foldable phones both offer NFC and/or MST — the company’s proprietary magnetic secure transmission technology that can emulate a magnetic stripe card when the device is presented to a swipe terminal.

The two new smartwatches both feature NFC.

The devices were announced at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event on 10 August and will be available at retailers from 26 August.

LiftMaster Doubles Down With the Expansion of its Secure View Line of Smart Garage Door Openers

The global market for Smart Locks, estimated at US$2.4 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$4 Billion by 2026, registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% over the analysis period.

The United States represents the largest regional market for Smart Lock and is projected to reach US$1.0 Billion by 2026. China is expected to spearhead growth and emerge as the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR of 15.8% over the analysis period.

LiftMaster, a brand of professionally installed residential garage door openers, is expanding its line of Secure View garage door openers that include myQ smart access technology and a built-in camera.

The new LiftMaster Secure View 84505R comes with the same streaming videos, recorded events, motion detection and 2-way communication capabilities as the Secure View 87504-267. Plus, it provides homeowners who place a high importance around the security/safety of their home with a mid-tier price point.

As the desire to have a smart garage door opener with video capabilities continues to grow, LiftMaster is looking to meet those needs with its Secure View openers. In a recent survey of 1,000 homeowners, over half of young families would like a smart garage door opener with video capabilities. Eighty-six percent said they would feel better if they could visually confirm their garage door was closed and 77 percent believe having a smart garage door opener with video

Global Smart Locks Market to Reach $4 Billion by 2026

The global market for Smart Locks, estimated at US$2.4 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$4 Billion by 2026, registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% over the analysis period.

The United States represents the largest regional market for Smart Lock and is projected to reach US$1.0 Billion by 2026. China is expected to spearhead growth and emerge as the fastest growing regional market with a CAGR of 15.8% over the analysis period.

As Industrial Internet of Things (IoT)/Industry 4.0; factory automation and smart factory gains momentum, equal emphasis will be placed on smart security system. As production and process machinery and equipment in plants and factories become increasingly intelligent, automated and data rich and data-driven, access control for these system also becomes equally important. Ensuring right authentication to the rightly credential employee becomes more important than ever to ensure asset protection and prevent asset mismanagement and damage.

Industrial and manufacturing access control systems are growing in popularity in parallel to the smart factory trend. The importance of smart factory security cannot be undermined. In addition to cyber security of manufacturing IoT networks, physical access to manufacturing systems is also important to ensure safety of equipment, processing quality and final quality of finished products.

Under this scenario, locks, key cards, and video surveillance, among others are witnessing robust demand. Smart locks especially are witnessing growing importance and prominence given their ability to scale to a digitalized factory environment and needs by offering synergistic digital and electric features and functions.

Sri Lanka introduces barcode-based fuel pass system

Sri Lanka implemented the QR system to refill tanks at gas stations recently to streamline fuel distribution and restrict the sale of petrol and diesel in illegal markets.

The government provides a fuel pass after registering and verifying the chassis number and other details of vehicles.

The government adopted the new barcode-based fuel distribution system as the island battles a crippling gasoline shortage amid a severe cash crunch and dwindling foreign exchange.

People have been queuing up for days to fill their tanks.

Identiv Delivers 41% Year-over-Year Growth in RFID Business

Identiv announced a pivotal quarter for its transponder business, with radio frequency identification (RFID) revenue up 41% year-over-year.

Identiv's IoT-enabling RFID and near field communication (NFC) solutions verify identities and security, and are embedded in billions of everyday objects, including medical devices, packaging, mobile device accessories, books, athletic apparel, wine and spirits, perishables, and pharmaceuticals.

Significant demand for Identiv's RFID solutions fuels capacity expansion to second location in Southeast Asia.
,
"We've secured an outstanding leadership role in the RFID industry as a solutions provider in the IoT sector, as evidenced by our multi-quarter track record of 100% RFID customer retention. We continue to broaden our base of RFID customers with new design wins, supporting a company record 38 non-recurring engineering (NRE) contracts at the end of the second quarter 2022," said Amir Khoshniyati, VP and GM, Transponder Business.

RFID Handheld Reader Market Reaching USD 8.88 Mn by 2028

The RFID Handheld Reader Market Size was estimated at USD 1716.33 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 3113.56 million by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.88% during the forecast period.

According to this latest study, the 2022 development of the Third-Party Replacement Strap for RFID Handheld Reader will have a huge change from the earlier years.

RFID Handheld Reader is a device that provides the connection between the tag data and the enterprise system software that needs the information.

Cellular IoT Subscribers Increased by 22% During 2021 to Reach 2.1 Billion

According to a new report the global number of cellular IoT subscribers increased by 22 percent during 2021 to reach 2.1 billion. The major regional markets China, Western Europe, and North America grew similarly during the year as the world recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2026, the report now projects that there will be 4.3 billion IoT devices connected to cellular networks worldwide.

The top ten mobile operators reported a combined active base of 1.8 billion cellular IoT connections at the end of 2021, accounting for 86 percent of total connections. China Mobile is the world's largest provider of cellular IoT connectivity services with an estimated 801 million cellular IoT connections. China Unicom and China Telecom ranked second and third with 300 million and 297 million connections respectively.

Vodafone ranked first among the Western operators and fourth overall with 142 million connections, followed by AT&T with 95 million in fifth place. Deutsche Telekom and Verizon had in the range of 45-55 million cellular IoT connections each when counting T-Mobile USA's customers as part of DT's IoT subscriber base. Telefonica, KDDI, and Orange were the last players in the top ten with about 31 million, 23 million and 20 million connections respectively. The year-on-year growth rates for the largest operators were in the span of 0 - 41 percent.

IoT connectivity services account for around 1 percent of total revenues for most operator groups. The publisher's analysis of the IoT business KPIs released by mobile operators in different parts of the world suggests that global IoT connectivity revenues increased by around 15 percent during 2020, while the monthly APRU dropped by 2 percent to € 0.38.

Mobile Aspects obtains patent approval on channel-drying with RFID

Mobile Aspects, a Pittsburgh-based health care logistics platform provider, has recently obtained a new patent approval on its iRIScope system — an endoscope storage cabinet that utilizes both RFID technology and automated channel-drying. With this latest patent (the second for iRIScope),

Mobile Aspects is now the only company that can offer channel-drying with the use of RFID technology.  

iRIScope provides a simple and safe way to dry the outer surfaces and interior channels of endoscopes, while offering the advanced features of an automated endoscope tracking system.

iRIScope, which includes robust software to measure information on scope usage and lifecycle management, is the world's only endoscope cabinet with RFID technology, air drying and channel-drying in one unit.

SyncWords Launches Automatic Translations via QR Codes

SyncWords, a provider for virtual event live captioning and translation, can now translate your live event with simple QR Code access directly to mobile phones for in-person attendees. Offering this add-on feature helps create a user-friendly attendee experience while co-existing with corporate signage and branding.

Thus, for your hybrid or in-person event, a simple scan of the code can mean enhanced ease of use and accessibility for participants in 100+ languages, as well as greater audience reach and performance evaluation for organizers.

What SyncWords QR Codes Can Do for Your Event
When captioned and subtitled by SyncWords, QR Coding your hybrid or in-person event makes it easy for attendees to access the library of languages.
It is interactive and simple to use, scalable, and ready-to-go. Added to this, it is cost-effective, user-friendly, and customer-oriented.
It promotes accessibility and inclusivity for all attendees, especially those who are hard of hearing, with easy access and good usability.
Since SyncWords supports events in different languages, event partners don't need to worry about captioning or translating recorded content if/when publishing post-event. It is already there.

Neology Commences Litigation in Superior Court of California Against RFID Manufacturer

 

Neology, a provider of integrated solutions for radio frequency identification (RFID) applications, has commenced litigation in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Diego against RFID manufacturer Confidex Ltd. and Confidex, Inc.

Neology seeks damages and injunctive relief based on claims for breach of contract, unfair competition and declaratory relief to prevent Confidex from making, offering to make, selling, distributing, offering to sell, having sold, using, having imported, or importing into the United States any RFID devices that are compatible or comply with the ISO-18000-6C protocol, which is an international standard governing the way RFID products communicate with one another in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) spectrum.

Neology in late 2013 sued Confidex for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware claiming that certain of Confidex’s RFID products compatible with the 6C protocol infringed various Neology patents. Rather than litigate Neology’s infringement claims, Confidex and Neology entered into a Settlement Agreement that, among other things, provides Confidex not make, offer to make, have made, sell, distribute, offer to sell, have sold, use, have imported, and/or import into the United States, for any purpose, any RFID devices that are compatible or comply with the 6C protocol during the life of Neology’s asserted patents. Confidex also agreed not to permit any third parties to do any of the same acts with any of the Confidex products.

FDA's Proposed Rule to Modify the NDC and Barcode Regulations

Regulatory Strategy Jerry Phillips of Brand Institute (BI) recently summarized plans of rhe FDA to modify regulations to establish a uniform, 12-digit format for the National Drug Code (NDC) (21 CFR 207.33) that can accommodate longer NDCs once the FDA begins issuing 6-digit labeler codes.

The FDA estimates that it will exhaust its inventory of available 5-digit labeler codes and begin assigning 6-digit labeler codes in 10-15 years. summary on the recent FDA proposal to modify its regulations to establish a uniform, 12-digit format for the National Drug Code (NDC) (21 CFR 207.33) that can accommodate longer NDCs once the FDA begins issuing 6-digit labeler codes. The FDA estimates that it will exhaust its inventory of available 5-digit labeler codes and begin assigning 6-digit labeler codes in 10-15 years.

The FDA is also proposing to revise the drug barcode label requirements to allow the use of either linear or nonlinear barcodes, so long as the barcode meets the prescribed standards, said Mr. Phillips. "This will affect all manufacturers of pharmaceutical drug products in designing compliant and safe labels and assuring that patients receive their correctly prescribed medication."

Varla Scooter Upgrades NFC Tech for The Anti-theft System of Varla Eagle One Pro

Varla scooter has upgraded the NFC tech on their Varla Eagle One Pro, which is an all-terrain scooter for both on and off-road. With this upgrade, users can now lock and unlock their scooters using their NFC-enabled smartphones.

This new feature adds an extra layer of security for users, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access and operate the scooter. In addition, the NFC tech allows users to track their scooter's location in real-time, so they can always know where their scooter is. With this new upgrade, Varla Scooters continue to show its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

The Varla Eagle One Pro is an e scooter that comes with a large 3.5-inch LCD display placed right at the center of the handlebar. The display has a built-in NFC reader that prompts you to scan your NFC card the minute you turn on the power button. The NFC capability of the e scooter aids in theft prevention. Varla scooters are equipped with an anti-theft alarm system that is triggered when someone tries to tamper with the electric scooter or move it without scanning the correct NFC card. The alarm system will sound off, and the scooter will automatically lock itself, making it impossible to ride. This makes Varla scooters one of the market's most secure e - scooters today.

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a type of wireless communication that allows for close-proximity data exchange. NFC is most commonly used in devices like smartphones and smartwatches but can also be found in things like door locks and NFC tags. NFC has many uses, including enabling access to secure locations and tracking users.

Greece rolls out digital ID cards

Greek citizens can now create, store and present digital versions of their national identity card and driving licence using a digital identity wallet on their smartphone.

The Greek government has begun rolling out the Gov.gr Wallet for both Android and Apple devices,

Each citizen can with a few clicks create and save the digital copy of his ID and/or driving licence.

The digital copies have exactly the same validity within Greek territory as the corresponding paper certificates. Therefore, as of today, citizens can show them instead of their ID or driving licence.

Global Passwordless Authentication Market predicted to reach USD 53.64 billion by 2030

The Global Passwordless Authentication Market size is estimated to be USD 12.79 billion in 2021 and is predicted to reach USD 53.64 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 16.7% from 2022-2030.

Passwordless authentication is a security process which relies on few unique biological characteristics of an individual in order to verify his/her authenticity. It is a method of authenticating user's identity without the use of passwords.

Passwordless authentication comes with several benefits such as improved user experience, better security, and reduction in total cost of ownership. In order to get confirmation, both samples (human and machine) of the biometric data should match.

Growing penetration of smartphones and other consumer electronic devices is a major factor contributing to the growth of the biometric authentication market. In addition, growing need for an additional layer of security beyond passwords is another factor augmenting the growth of passwordless authentication market.

Moreover, rapid adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence and internet of things (IoT) in devices such as smartphones and tablets among others is another key factor responsible for the growth of the passwordless authentication market. Fingerprint sensors and smartcards are used to verify identities, and these security points allow for a seamless experience and makes way for a smooth flow of data between points.

Yuengling Reveals World's Largest QR Code

D.G Yuengling & Son, Inc., America's Oldest Brewery, unveiled the world's largest QR code grown from crops, a one-of-a-kind version of its iconic Stars and Stripes QR code currently appearing on special cans of Yuengling Lager.

In recognition of the farming community, which plays an integral role in the beer industry, Yuengling recently partnered with a family business in Farmland, Indiana, Chalfant Family Farms, to grow the world's largest QR code from real, live crops.

Carefully planted in May 2022 to form the code's unique design, the crops have now grown to form the world's largest QR code—measuring roughly a ¼ mile long by a ¼ mile wide—or about the length of 20 football fields.

The very same QR code is now also featured on Yuengling's limited-edition camouflage Team RWB cans. When scanned, fans unlock the opportunity to immerse themselves in a digital Stars & Stripes experience where they can donate to Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB), the brewery's longtime veterans charitable partner; watch Stars & Stripes Brand Ambassador Lee Brice's "More Beer" music video; enter to win tickets to see Brice on tour this summer and shop in the brewery's virtual gift shop. Click here to discover the full capability of the QR code.  

"This is a QR code like no other," said Sheryl Yuengling, 6th generation family member. "As we enter the back half of the summer, we wanted to offer up a unique and fun reminder to support Team RWB and have some fun with Lee Brice. Today's unveiling further highlights the brewery's year-round campaign dedicated to supporting our nation's heroes."

MySize's Smart Mirror Positioned to Serve the Rise of Hybrid Retail

MySize, an omnichannel e-commerce platform and provider of AI-driven measurement solutions, announced that its FirstLook Smart Mirror, designed to serve the hybrid retail customer, was recently featured on Israeli channel 13 as an innovative retail tool that serves evolving shopping habits.

FirstLook Smart Mirror is an interactive, mirror-like touch display that provides shoppers in physical stores with an enhanced, online shopping experience and contactless checkout. Seamlessly fitting into any retail environment, it can be placed in fitting rooms and other high-traffic, strategic locations.

Offering a hyper-personalized measurements profile, powered by a QR code, the mirror recommends to shoppers the best pieces for them based on the stock currently in store, along with an in-booth checkout option.

Injectable UHF RFID Tags Tested in Fish

Omni-ID has developed an injectable UHF RFID tag for fish that enables them to be individually tracked after they are caught by commercial fishermen.

This can be accomplished whether the animals are in underwater fish cages or as they move through underwater chutes or on conveyor belts at processing plants before being transported to stores. The tags would be removed before the meat is packaged for consumers.

The specialized UHF tags are being developed as an alternative to the low-frequency (LF) RFID tags used to track fish, in an effort to improve tag read reliability and range, and to lower the cost of tracking individual fish.

Alaska Airlines to roll out NFC bag tags

Passengers travelling on flights operated by Alaska Airlines will be among the first to transfer their flight details to an NFC-enabled electronic bag tag attached to their checked luggage by tapping their NFC smartphone on the device, avoiding the need to print a physical tag when they arrive at the airport.

At the airport users will be able to scan the electronic bag tag at a self bag-drop point directly rather than having to first print a paper tag and attach it to their luggage before dropping it off for loading.

The activation is done by simply touching the phone used for check-in to the electronic bag tag, which has an antenna that powers and reads the information transmitted from the phone.

Y Soft is extending its RFID and contact reader range

Y Soft, a digital transformation office solution provider, is extending its RFID and contact reader range with the release of its entry-level YSoft MFX Lite reader.

With over half a million units sold, Y Soft is an established and leading hardware manufacturer of RFID and contact reader devices. The company researches, develops, builds, certifies and strenuously robot tests its products in-house in the EU. The MFX Lite expands Y Soft's consolidated reader range, which is both comprehensive and easy to map to specific technological needs.

The MFX Lite comes with a product-lifetime warranty and numerous unique technologies help prevent the occurrence of any read errors. Based on Y Soft's industry-defining hardware performance assurance, which equates to over 2.5 million hours of mean time between failures (MTBF) testing, the reader has been tested five times more robustly than the closest competitors' technology.

The MFX Lite can authenticate across many scenarios and provides a robust hygienic solution that eliminates the need for staff to touch any surfaces to identify themselves. Plus, with follow-the-sun global support and the product-lifetime warranty, in the unlikely event that the device encounters a problem, there is someone standing by in the user's time zone to help solve it.

Automotive Image Sensors Market to record USD 4.22 Bn growth

Technavio expects the automotive image sensor market size to grow by USD 4.22 billion between 2019 and 2024. The market observed a YOY growth of 22.45% in 2020 and the growth momentum is expected to accelerate at a CAGR of 29.05% during the forecast period.

The steady growth of the camera-based ADAS market has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Competitors have to focus on differentiating their product offerings with unique value propositions to strengthen their foothold in the market. Market vendors also have to leverage the existing growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

The market growth in the driver support system will be significant over the forecast period. The need to reduce the burden on drivers and improve safety is increasing the adoption of driver support systems among automobile manufacturers.

Rising deployment of 5G is to Boost Internet of Things (IoT) Sensors Market

The global IoT Sensors market stood at US$ 27.4 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach US$ 173.7 Billion by the end of 2032. The market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 20.3% in the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.  

Surge in demand for integration of Industrial IoT in sectors that demand sensor based measurements for observations is projected to drive the expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors during the forecast period.

Besides this, various recent initiatives such as Smart City plans and the emergence of Industry 4.0 is anticipated to support the growth of the market. Due to these initiatives, market witnessed a CAGR of 23.9% from 2015 to 2021.

Moreover, Industry 4.0 initiatives across various regions such as China and Europe are expected to benefit the market during the forecast period. For instance, 60% of the manufacturing operations are interconnected with IoT sensors in prominent companies such as Accenture. Rapid adoption of IoT sensors in industrial sector is stimulating the growth of the market.