Microsoft will unveil two RFID-oriented software packs for its BizTalk enterprise connectivity software suite. The RFID enhancements are part of Monday’s first public beta release of BizTalk Server 2009, which takes advantage of virtualization and enhanced failover clustering featured in Windows Server 2008.

SecureRF Corporation, a provider of RFID solutions, has received a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the United States Air Force. The grant will fund research to create a secure, satellite-enabled RFID system to locate and track in-transit assets without providing targeting information and exposing tactical locations or logistics information to unfriendly forces.

A system based on RFID devices from Sirit Inc. has been selected to upgrade operations on Uruguay’s only automated tollway. The automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system is a cooperative effort by Uruguay-based Telsis S.A. and Telectronica, a company which has deployed AVI systems throughout Latin America.

Taking inspiration from marathon organizers in major cities like London and New York, an organization in charge of hiring workers for the railroads of southern India will use RFID technology to time physical fitness tests of potential recruits.

The Railway Recruitment Cell of the Southern Railway in India has received permission from the country’s Ministry of Railways to use RFID tags to time the “physical efficiency tests” of candidates for certain classes of employment on the railroad.

In an effort to reduce its return rate of unsold books, Japanese publishing house Shogakukan Inc. has introduced a two-tiered distribution system for retailers. The publisher has deployed RFID technology to keep the potentially complex system accurate.

Unsold books returning from bookstores is an unwanted reality of the publishing business, especially since many of the returned volumes are destined to become waste product. Shogakukan estimates that if just 25 percent of the books returned to publishers in Japan are designated waste, the financial loss would be the equivalent of $1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Pixavi, a Norwegian provider of industrial wireless communications solutions, has introduced the Xtag, an active RFID tag which serves as the cornerstone of a Wi-Fi based Real Time Locating System (RTLS). The system is considered intrinsically safe, making it appropriate for hazardous area applications, such as mines, chemical plants or oil and gas production.

The Xtag is battery-operated and can operate on any existing Wi-Fi network. It can pinpoint equipment and personnel position with a precision up to 2 meters. The tag is part of a diverse explosion proof wireless product range offered by Pixavi.  

Yeon Technology, a Taiwan-based RFID developer, has announced it has secured design protection for four of its RFID devices in the European Union. Additionally, it has received three patents in Taiwan for technology related to its UHF antenna designs.

Yeon Technology is a subsidiary of the YFY Group, a conglomerate of Asian businesses that began with the packaging manufacturer Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing. The RFID business was founded in 2006, and has in the past claimed some breakthroughs in the development of low-cost, RFID-enabled packaging materials.  

An RFID-enabled retail display created for a London store by Lime-IT, a UK information technology firm, has shown early signs of success. Within the first two days that the display was active, 800 customer interactions were recorded.

by David C. Wyld, Southeastern Louisiana University

The global postal and package shipping market has long been projected to be one of the largest potential RFID applications. However, while leading shippers UPS and FexEx were early proponents of RFID, they have backed off on significant RFID projects, due to their sizable investments in bar code based auto-ID systems.

In truth, these legacy systems have–thus far–proven good enough for now, meeting both customers’ expectations to be able to track and trace shipments on an almost real-time basis and the firms’ internal needs for business intelligence and visibility.

Expanding both its market capabilities in Asia and its global presence in the RFID industry, UPM Raflatac has announced the opening of a new RFID product manufacturing site in Guangzhou, China.