RFID Gazette

With mandates coming from Wal-Mart, Target, Tesco, Metro-AG, and the Department of Defense, suppliers are experiencing an urgent need to get with the RFID program as soon as possible. One of the aspects is RFID middleware. And choosing the right middleware provider should prove beneficial down the long run.

retailindustry.about.com reports on the Forrester Research results:

To assess the state of the RFID middleware market, Forrester evaluated 13 middleware vendors using the Forrester Wave methodology, including approximately 75 criteria. The following companies, which include RFID pure play vendors, application vendors, platform giants, and integration specialists were included in the assessment: ConnecTerra, GlobeRanger, IBM, Manhattan Associates, Microsoft, OATSystems, Oracle, RF Code, SAP, Savi Technology, Sun Microsystems,TIBCO Software, and webMethods.

Many early RFID middleware solutions focus on features like reader integration and coordination and basic data filtering capabilities.

Read more: RFID Middleware

Privacy watchdogs are concerned about Grantex Inc. sewing RFID chips into the uniforms it supplies to companies such as Steelcase Inc. and General Motors. The chips are meant to track inventory, but of course the same technology could be used to track the people wearing the uniforms.

According to the Detroit Free Press:

Grantex uses the low-frequency "smart tags" to automatically track and sort its thousands of uniforms. After the chips are programmed, a computer scans the garment to tally how many times it has been laundered or if it needs to be mended or undergo special cleaning.

Company president Douglas Singer said he and vice president Gordon Reynolds looked into RFID and determined it would cut down on sorting time, improve efficiency and capacity, and reduce labor costs.

Read more: Computer chips in uniforms: tracking inventory or wearers?

The RFID integration industry is growing as more consultants target specialized fields, according to research group ABI Research.

Tekrati reports:

Initially, the RFID consulting opportunity focused on helping enterprises understand what the technology is and how it works, as well as scoping the business case for its use. ABI Research says that large consulting organizations have already morphed their services to act as integrators and project managers, and to help develop their clients' longer-term planning.

The analysts say the next phase in this evolution is beginning in earnest: the staffing and organization of consulting groups targeting vertical markets.

Read more: RFID Integration Services Grow with Industry Specialization, Says ABI Research

Four have merged to create a $65 million corporation, NEXT GENeSYS.

According to eWeek:

Earlier this week, Swedish-based RFID smart packaging startup Cypak announced new R&D funding. Meanwhile, analyst groups released research pointing to stronger growth for RFID in pharmaceuticals than in some other sectors.

Geared toward delivering prescription drugs directly to uninsured minority members, NEXT GENeSYS is an entity that comprises medical and hospitality RFID specialist FutureCom Global; Wi-Fi PDA maker CareDecision Corp.; mail-order pharmacist CareGeneration Inc.; and KCWG Pharmaceutical Solutions, a $100 million-plus wholesale prescription-drug provider.

Read more: Merger Creates $65M E-Pharmacy with RFID

Alanco Technologies division TSI has rolled out RFID tracking systems in a few prisons around the U.S. including the Calipatria State Prison of California, the J.W. Maxie Maximum Security Youth Institution of Michigan, and the Ross Correctional Facility in Ohio.

SecureIDNews reports:

TSI PRISM is made up of six component parts-two types of personal transmitters and five infrastructure components. The personal transmitters include a wristwatch worn by inmates and a pager-like device for prison officers and staff. The five infrastructure components include indoor and outdoor antennas, calibration transmitters, collection nodes, a central server, and client terminals.

Read more: Real-Time Prisoner Tracking

According to a recent study by Meta Group, use of RFID by pharmaceuticals will pass use of radio frequency identification by consumer packaged goods within a year and a half.

Information Week reports:

The "immaturity of EPC tag technology" is the limiting factor in the rate of RFID adoption, the report says. Current EPC specifications, for example, lack safeguards to prevent one chip's programming being copied onto another, a key requirement for guaranteed authentication. Such technology limitations, according to the report, reduce RFID's potential usefulness in the pharmaceutical industry to simple "track and trace" applications until EPC specifications are revised.

Read more: RFID To Flourish In Pharmaceutical Industry

Twenty-nine states in the U.S. will begin testing RFID cattle tracking.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $615,000 to the state Agriculture Department for a pilot study to track cattle using radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags attached to the ear.

Pennsylvania is one of 29 states participating in the 12-month study. State Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolf said the technology promises to allow animal movements to be rapidly traced in the event of a disease outbreak.

The new METRO Group Innovation Center in Neuss, Germany will be using RFID solutions designed by Intermec for its RFID inventory tracking system.

According to E-consultancy:

The Innovation Centre is designed to give METRO Group's suppliers access to live RFID demonstrations, systems and products. Intermec is supplying RFID forklift, conveyor and dock door readers for the centre, as well as RFID-enabled mobile computers and printers.

The partnership builds on Intermec' RFID participation in METRO Group's Future Store in Rheinberg, Germany, which demonstrates how emerging technologies can benefit retailing operations from inventory to point of sale. Intermec provides RFID case and pallet-level tracking capabilities to the Future Store.

Read more: METRO Group Selects Intermec to Provide RFID Systems for New RFID Innovation Centre

Checkpoint's RFID-enabled inventory tracking system has increased its library market share.

According to TMCnet.com:

Checkpoint's new library partners include the prestigious Berkeley Public Library in Northern California; Plano Community Library (Ill.); Chicopee Public Library (Mass.); Redford Township District Library (Mich.); Salem-South Lyon District Library (Mich.); Port Charlotte Public Library (Fla.); Lincoln Parish Library (Ruston, La.); City of Allen Public Library (Texas). Additionally, two academic institutions, the University of Southern Indiana's David L. Rice Library and the New York Institute of Technology, have also selected Checkpoint's Intelligent Library System based on the company's strength in serving the demanding and specialized needs of university libraries.

"We are happy to have the opportunity to work with such a diverse collection of libraries," notes Doug Karp, General Manager, ID Products Group at Checkpoint Systems.

Read more: Checkpoint Systems Grows RFID Library Market Share; 10 New Customers Opt for Company's RFID Library Solution

Balancing privacy with security is always tricky business. Enter the RFID passport, which has caused heads to turn at CASPIAN. They argue that biometric passports containing an RFID chip could aid governments in tracking their citizens going about their personal business, or worse yet, the private information could land in the wrong hands. But in today's world of terrorist threats, many countries around the globe are seeing the use of RFID on passports as a necessary upgrade of important paper documents. Most likely, each RFID chip would contain a digital image of the citizen's face, which would then be compared to a facial scan taken at the airport. Limiting human inspection of the documents would help to lessen the amount of errors made.

According to CNET News.com:

The first country to take the plunge will likely be Belgium, which plans to conduct an e-passport trial later this year, with possible real-world implementation by next year. The U.K. Passport Office recently announced that it is looking for volunteers to help test the recording and verification of facial recognition, iris and fingerprint biometrics. And New Zealand and Canada are also actively looking into conducting trials.

Read more: E-passports to put new face on old documents