by Kurt Bell, vice president Sales & Marketing, Jolly Technologies

Without a doubt we have seen an increased interest in applications and requests from customers that would benefit from RFID, contactless and ultra high frequency technologies. We have also seen many specialty entry/exit tracking markets where the implementation of these technologies provides a faster way to move and track people through checkpoints.

We will see more projects for such integration come to fruition in 2009. Industry segments that seem to be leaning toward the technology include event management, construction, petrochemical and other high-security sites.

Hansgrohe, a German manufacturer of fittings for kitchens and bathrooms, has deployed an RFID-enabled system to track the flow of shipping containers between two manufacturing facilities. The system uses inlays provided by UPM Raflatac and a back end software system developed by noFilis to collect and compile data for the company’s resource planning system.

RFID solutions distributor BlueStar has announced the addition of Zebra Technologies’ P4T and RP4T RFID-enabled Mobile Thermal-Transfer Printers to its product line.

Zebra touts the printers as an RFID-enabled mobile thermal-transfer printers. The portable printers are designed for indoor and outdoor applications in the government, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and mobile field service sectors.  

Canadian RFID solutions provider GAO RFID Inc. has introduced a low frequency RFID reader series designed for verifying code numbers of RFID transponders. The readers are suitable for use in personnel identification, POS systems, security systems and access systems.

The LF RFID Code Verifier (GAO 211001 series) offers contactless reading of RFID tags and can write a unique code to each tag during the manufacturing process. Other features of the reader include an LCD screen to display scanned ID numbers and a RS-232 interface that is decimal or hexadecimal code number selectable.

GAO’s new reader can function as an offline stand-alone unit.  

Another device joins the recent parade of products from China’s Daily RFID. The newest addition to the Daily RFID family is a long range reader intended for use in car access control solutions.

The new DL910 reader has a read range of up to 15 meters and supports multiple protocols including ISO 18000-6C (EPC Gen 2) and ISO 18000-6B, as well as offering multiple port interfaces.

The reader has a range of configuration options, enabling its use in a variety of applications beyond car access control, including logistics, warehouse and production line management.

Daily RFID is a subsidiary of PAN Group Co. Ltd. headquartered in Guangzhou, China.  

Daily RFID continues its year-end roll out of new products with a low power UHF RFID reader designed for writing and testing. The DL9600 reader is approximately half the size of a business card and can be connected with Pocket PCs, PDA’s, handheld terminals and other mobile devices.

The reader is compliant from 860 MHz to 960 MHZ and can encode and read tags compliant with both the ISO 18000-6C (EPC Gen 2) and ISO 18000-6B standards. It also allows multiple configuration possibilities to enable rapid testing of new RFID tag prototypes.

Daily RFID plans to market the DL9600 at a $420 per unit cost.  

Orizin Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a Bangalore-based RFID hardware maker, has announced a New Year’s gift of sorts to prospective business partners. The Indian firm is offering an economically priced integrated RFID demo kit for solutions providers and resellers interested in a long-term business relationship with Orizin.

The demo kit, with products from Orizin’s Dominion series, consists of one 2-port UHF reader, two antennas, ten passive tags and software development kit. The demo kit is expected to be delivered within 4 weeks of ordering.

“This is a great opportunity to get a first hand experience of RFID technology.” says Suresh Rao, chief technology officer of Orizin. “We will provide free email support to our partners for a 3 month period.”  

China’s Daily RFID has announced a new RFID reader designed for library management applications. The DL810, a 13.56MHz HF multi-tag reader integrates anti-collision technology to increase scanning speeds in a library setting.

The new reader uses an anti-collision algorithm to enable a stack of tagged books to be scanned simultaneously, with good accuracy. As a result, the device offers a read rate of between 30 and 50 tags per second.

The new reader has a read range of up to 90 cm, which can be optimized when it is in a system which also uses Daily RFID’s DL810 antennas.  

Microelectronics Technology Inc. (MTI), a Taiwan-based provider of communication and network equipment, has announced plans to add RFID technology to its product line. Company officials are looking at the expansion into RFID, along with new WiMax equipment offerings, as a way to combat the current rough economic times.

WS Packaging Group Inc. and ASK, have formed ASK-intTag, a joint venture that will manufacture and market contactless cards and tickets for U.S. and Canadian markets.

The new company will be the print silver-based inlays on paper, the composition of which is highly resistant to forgery. ASK-intTag will produce a range of products for markets involving food, health care, gaming, event ticketing, secure identification, financial bank cards and mass transit, among others. Initial production will focus on secure identification, financial bank cards and mass transit.