RFID Gazette

California S.B. 682 drafted by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) would prohibit RFID from being implemented in personal identity cards and documents. If passed, it would be called the Identity Information Protection Act of 2005. The bill was approved by a senate judiciary committee in a 6-to-1 vote earlier this week. Supporters of the bill include the ACLU and the Electronic Freedom Foundation. They claim that the use of RFID chips in personal identification such as passports, driver's licenses, or student ID cards would make identity theft easier for criminals and also put individuals' privacy at risk. According to CNET News.com:

The California bill also puts the state at the forefront of a national debate. The U.S. State Department plans to issue passports containing RFID chips soon, and schools and libraries across the country are experimenting with them too. A Republican-backed federal measure that has passed a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes implanting RFID chips in driver's licenses.

Read more: California bill would ban tracking chips in IDs | CNET News.com.

Read the bill: (PDF)

Strengthening the End-to-End Integrity of Your Supply Chain against Counterfeiting, Diversion and Product Loss

July 25-27, 2005 – Sheraton University City Hotel – Philadelphia, PA

As RFID mandates increase, small RFID based companies have begun to create partnerships with established players in the field. An ABI report writes that in order to face the growing demand for RFID, many organizations fill the need to consult with their larger friends in the industry. ABI also has released its RFID Industry Database, which will provide a searchable online directory of product and service offerings in the RFID market. Supply and Demand Chain reads:

But partnerships may only be a way-station for RFID vendors. ABI forecasts that out-and-out acquisitions will become more common, and there will be major consolidation as larger vendors better understand where these small companies fit into their portfolios.

Read more: Goliaths Allying with Davids on RFID, ABI Says

In Ireland, it is expected that RFID will emerge in food companies rather than retailers. Jim Bracken of GS1 Ireland reports that early adopters of RFID in Ireland will be food suppliers who cater to the world market. The technology will help to cut costs by stremlining the supply chain process. According to Ireland Online:

Topics covered included the benefits of RFID for the manufacturing and retail sectors, how to devise an RFID adoption strategy, and how to realise value and return on investment from RFID deployment.

Read more: Food companies set to be first with RFID

David Grober writes that Harvard Medical School CIO John Halamka not only supports RFID technology, he uses it. He's got an RFID chip implanted in his arm. For Halamka:

"I felt the only way to really understand the pros and cons of the technology would be being an early adopter myself," Halamka explains during a CIO sessions video interview. "We’re spending vast amounts of money and hurting a vast number of patients in this country because we’re just not delivering healthcare accurately enough."

It will be interesting to see how many more people will go as far as to implant foreign objects within themselves. Before you think that this may be beyond bizarre, think of the pacemaker and the artifical heart. Not so bad now is it?

Read more: Rx for a CIO: RFID implant

On tracking the student body by ZDNet's Ed Gottsman -- A school in the Wakayama prefecture in Japan has found a series of new applications for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. In addition to using them for taking attendance (you badge into classrooms) and tracking at which bus stop you get off (to ensure that you don't exit at the wrong one), they're planning to equip [...]

A centralized RFID controller for managing dense deployments of large numbers of RFID readers and the WLAN switch controller products are strikenly similar. Cisco Systems leads the RFID network equipment market with 64% of the 2004 share. The company has now begun participation in routing to manage the data from these RFID routers. Smart routers are evolving a system to capture messages off the RFID network. Huawei has 18% of the 2004 market share, and plans to participate in the RFID network segments. Accoring to Yahoo!:

Tracking cases and asset management are dependent on information networks being in place. These applications are anticipated to drive market growth for radio frequency identification technology at an average of 67 percent to more than $3.1 billion in 2011.

Read more:

-- Support for Device Management and Next-Generation of RFID Standards Provides Reduced Administration, Increased Security, and Enhanced Performance --

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), today announced the availability of Sun Java(TM) System RFID Software 2.0, a key component of its RFID system strategy. Sun Java System RFID Software enhances core infrastructure technologies like Sun Java(TM) Enterprise System and Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS) and simplifies the integration of RFID data from the edge of the network to enterprise application systems.

A bit of a departure from our normal RFID news. But being Catholic, I needed to share the good news with anyone else who may come here. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has been named Pope Benedict XVI. Link: The Pope Blog: Pope Benedict XVI.

Earlier this month, Metro Group, Philips, and Internec announced a new RFID chip that will comply with the improved G2 RFID standard. This new high-speed processing standard should allow for quicker and more accurate communication between RFID chips and their readers. Gartner, an analyst firm, believes that "These announcements of the availability of G2 equipment represent a positive development for enterprises seeking to adopt this advanced UHF RFID technology." The firm also warned that the differences between G1 and G2 technology will dramatically change the attitudes of RFID suppliers. Some may be left behind the new G2 revolution. According to Computer Weekly:

"The market is now moving toward true globally unified standards for UHF RFID. G2 tech- nology offers incrementally improved performance in all areas."

Read more: Plan for high-speed RFID, says Gartner