The United States Patent and Trademark office has just published a patent from Apple, Inc. (filed December 27, 2007) for “An apparatus for providing radio frequency identification (RFID) and touch sensing capability”

This could show up in Apple products in a number of ways, but one side effect could be to add RFID reading capability to the iPhone. In the same way the camera integrated into the iPhone allows rudimentary barcode scanning capability, an RFID chip inside the next iPhone could turn it into a basic RFID reader.

Coupled with collaborative technology, RFID can help manage efficient responses such as the recall of suspected food products and notifying affected parties. For example, a calf can now be tracked from birth to the slaughterhouse as it is in Australia, where the National Livestock Identification System legislation mandated, in 2005, RFID tagging for cattle stock.

There are even pilots where, combined with global positioning system (GPS) and “shock” technology, farmers can manage RFID-tagged cattle within certain geographical boundaries.

Let’s envision how RFID and collaborative technology can work together to help assure the quality of pork humans consume.

According to a survey conducted by Australia-based University of Wollongong’s Centre for Business Services Science, one reason companies adopt radio-frequency identification technologies is to gain an advantage over their rivals, and another is improved data accuracy. Companies that have not adopted RFID, however, cite the technology’s cost as one of the most important factors influencing their decision.

(Original article: http://www.smartbrief.com/news/comptia/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=6BBCD91D-F82A-4F8E-A30B-79D6476F5235&copyid=D42F4495-2E52-4B17-B810-DB06651E6965)

Tetherball, an industry leader in mobile loyalty and rewards solutions, has unveiled its breakthrough RFID-based mobile marketing platform and a test with International Dairy Queen.

According to CBS News, the test is being conducted at a single Dairy Queen store in Rochester, Ind. The solution tracks customers’ purchases and makes are make customized coupon recommendations upon their entering the store.

“We are a big believer in the future of mobile marketing,” said Jamie Guse, Web site manager for International Dairy Queen Inc. “Through (Tetherball’s) innovative RFID-based Mobile Loyalty Program, we are able to provide great offers to our customers in a fun and easy way while precisely measuring the effectiveness of our Dairy Queen Mobile Rewards Program.”

International Dairy Queen Franchisee Dave Reasner has been working with Tetherball for nearly two years to refine the mobile loyalty program for his stores. The program now averages more than 900 members per store, with continued solid growth in membership and redemption rates. The solution is “making a measurable difference in our year-over-year traffic and revenue,” he said.

Mobile banking and payments is considered a promising area, in which near-field communications (NFC) is widely viewed as the pinnacle. NFC promises to turn the mobile phone into a secure credit card by enabling the exchange of data between devices over about four inches of distance. While companies work out the kinks to make it attractive for all members of the ecosystem, including carriers, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that can be affixed to the mobile phone are cropping up as a temporary solution – one that Aite Group senior analyst Nick Holland says is extremely flawed.

“This is seen by the people who put the stickers out as some interim technology that will magically get us to NFC, whereas what is really required is a solid business case for NFC and a level of merchant penetration for contactless payments that makes NFC viable,” Holland said. “This, as far as I’m concerned, is a step in the wrong direction. This is not something that will accelerate NFC. If anything, it’s going to be a distraction.”

Companies including Blaze Mobile, MasterCard, First Data and, as of today, Alcatel-Lucent and Tetherball, are among those using RFID stickers to bridge the gap to NFC. Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) announced today its touchatag venture will work with Belgacom mobile and micro payments company PingPing, to create an open model of application development for contactless cards and mobile payments. Through the partnership, Belgian consumers can use one contactless card or sticker to launch mobile payments or other mobile applications.

Given some of the negative news this year related to the use of radio frequency identification, as well as the decline in capital spending by most businesses, some had predicted the industry might have suffered a devastating blow from which it could not recover. I doubt anyone who attended last week’s RFID Journal LIVE! event in Orlando, Fla., would reach that conclusion today.

Our seventh annual conference and exhibition attracted 2,400 people, which was down a bit from last year’s total of a little more than 3,000. But many people, including exhibitors, feared attendance would be a lot lower, given that many trade shows have been down 50 percent or more due to the challenging economic conditions. They were pleased to see the aisles filled, but they were absolutely thrilled as they engaged in conversations with attendees. Most end users at the event were focused on specific projects with budgets and timelines. They are investing in RFID technology.

Last week, I said I thought RFID had crossed the chasm (see RFID Crosses the Chasm), and LIVE! 2009 confirmed that to be true. Those who attended this year were not visionaries dreaming about how RFID would one day transform the global supply chain. They were businesspeople from a wide range of industries and countries, seeking solutions to common business problems—lost and misplaced assets, inventory inaccuracy, shipping and receiving problems, and so forth.

I spoke to several end users during the free consultations we offered at the event. All had a solid understanding of RFID, and knew it could help them. They sought insights regarding which solution would be best, and wanted to know which vendors they should talk to.

Most applications being considered by attendees were closed-loop. That’s not surprising. Many companies have issues stretching across the supply chain, but it makes sense to tackle issues within their own control. They also seek solutions that can deliver a fast return on investment. Still, these early deployments will lead to additional projects down the road. At a private lunch hosted by ADT, one gentleman told me, “I got all the information I need to move ahead with my project, but I got five or six other ideas of how RFID could really help us.”

The attendees with whom I spoke impressed with the quality of the RFID products being exhibited. Hardware and software products are getting less expensive and easier to deploy. Motorola’s new reader is a case in point—it’s half the size and cost of its predecessor, but also has some great new features, such as built-in indicator lights and power-over-Ethernet, so you don’t have to run power cables to every location in which you want to place a reader.

ODIN Technologies, winner of our second Best in Show award at this year’s RFID Journal Awards ceremony (see Voegele, Vail, FOCUS and ODIN Technologies Win RFID Journal Awards), introduced a very cool self-contained, mobile RFID portal that can be installed in any ISO-standard shipping container in less than a minute. The unit comes with magnets enabling it to be popped into place, and also offers Wi-Fi, cellular and satellite communications capabilities to transmit the RFID data it captures.

In some ways, I think this event was critical to the RFID industry’s continued growth. The business that exhibitors get from attendees will enable them to continue investing in new products and services; without that continued innovation, the industry would stagnate. Next year, I predict that we’ll see even more attendees ready to invest, and I’m sure we’ll also see exhibitors with new, innovative products.

(Original article: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/4841)

Radio Frequency Identification, which is better known as RFID, can be translated as the use of radio frequencies to read and transmit information through the use of small devices called tags. These are currently being used by healthcare organizations in order to tackle new challenges.

Such challenges are “operational efficiency, patient safety, and improvement of the business processes”, declares one of the TechNavio experts. In fact, healthcare providers and payers, including patients, “are transforming the usage of RFID from technology that is used to reduce costs to facilitating, automating, and streamlining identification processes.”

Healthcare organizations, including hospitals, nursing homes, home healthcare facilities, health maintenance organizations, laboratories, clinics, physician offices, and pharmacies situated within hospitals, form the cumulative healthcare industry in the report, which has recently been published by TechNavio Insights.

According to the report “RFID in Healthcare industry 2008-2012, by 2012”, “the market for RFID tags in healthcare industry is expected to reach $153.2 million driven by the development of lower cost tags and installed infrastructure, which will enable high volumes of articles to be tagged.”

(Original article: http://marketpublishers.com/lists/4538/news.html)

 

This RFID asset management system, basing on 13.56MHz, integrates best asset tracking practices with RFID asset tracking tags and multi-tag RFID readers. With this RFID tracking system, assets can be secured and tracked automatically as they move throughout the areas.

RFID tags are integrated as part of this passive RFID asset tracking system. There are series of RFID asset tracking tags that are fit for different enviroment. Each DAILY’s RFID tag has a unique ID for the security of asset mangement.

To take inventory, handheld RFID reader DL8033 and fixed RFID reader DL810 is used to track the tagged assets in the RFID asset tracking system. And RFID reader DL8033 is used to receive and collect asset data while RFID reader DL810 gives the real-time monitoring and alerting to improve the security of this RFID asset tracking system.

This RFID asset tracking solution can be deployed and tracked automatically to maximize asset utilization, thus reducing error and the time of finding items.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) devices have widely been used for tracking for years; recently, scientists from U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a unique tracking technology that monitors the environmental and physical conditions of containers of nuclear materials in storage and transportation.

“RFID technology is ideally suited for management of nuclear materials during both storage and transportation,” said Yung Liu, Ph.D., Argonne senior nuclear engineer and RFID project manager. “Key information about the nuclear materials is acquired in real-time,” he explained in a March 24 press release.

Data on the status and history of each individual container are available with a click of the mouse and can be used to augment and modernize DOE’s existing management systems for nuclear materials.

“The Argonne system can simultaneously monitor thousands of drums 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Any abnormal situation, such a loss of seal, a sudden shock, a rise in temperature or humidity, can trigger an alarm for immediate action,” Liu explained.

The monitoring of tens of thousands of radioactive and fissile material packages has been a challenge for DOE to ensure accountability, safety, security, and worker and public health.

The system is comprised of active transponders, or tags with long-life batteries ( greater than 10 years), on each package, readers that collect information from the tags, control computer, and application software. The information is constantly updated and communicated via a secured network, thus decreasing the need for manned surveillance.

This RFID technology also has applications outside the nuclear field and may be used for other hazardous materials or any valued material, according to Liu.

“This new Argonne RFID technology, expected to be patented, has applications in many industries, and as the technology is further developed, its usefulness is bound to grow,” Liu said.