Mobile device security

According to a new report by Datamonitor, which is a leading provider of online data, analytic and forecasting platforms for key vertical sectors, with headquarters in London.
The report “Enterprise Mobility: Trend Analysis to 2012” also predicts global enterprise expenditure on mobile devices will grow from US$6 billion (S$8.15 billion) today to an estimated US$17 billion by 2012.

The report highlights that this kind of growth underlines the need for IT managers to begin to implement mobile device policies. “Enterprises are fighting a losing battle against employees when it comes to mobile devices and they should consider supporting a limited selection of devices rather than banning them outright”, says Daniel Okubo, technology analyst with Datamonitor and the report’s author.

According to the independent market analyst, security concerns are the largest barrier to mobility deployments. In a Datamonitor survey of 467 IT managers, Chief Information Officers and IT decision makers conducted in March 2007 to establish issues that are currently preventing enterprises from investing in mobility solutions, the majority of the 467 respondents rated security as the greatest barrier to adoption of mobility solutions. According to the study, as mobile devices like the iPhone are increasingly becoming popular among end users, enterprises are finding that employees want to be able to integrate their personal device with their corporate email account and other applications. They do not want one device for personal use and an IT issued device for work. However, according to the report, so far very few IT departments have yielded to these changing scenarios and are refusing to be responsible for managing such a wide variety of mobile devices. It also notes that the iPhone has set a new standard for device userability and the trend of ‘consumerization’ is going to continue.

Psion Teklogix in Pep Stores

Pep Stores is part of the PEPKOR Group, one of the world leaders in the retailing industry. With 1100 stores in South Africa announced that using Psion’s TekSpeech system has benefited by moving from RF technology to a hands-free picking solution in order to maintain and even improve picking and distribution levels.
This shows that hardware companies need software to accelerate the sale of their hardware. As Bill Gates once said, “Its the Software - Stupid!”

RFID Chips Go Edible

Hitachi recently came up with tiny "powder" RFID chips. Well tiny's fine, but what if you want to eat your chips? You're in luck. Kodak just filed a patent for edible RFID chips. They're designed for monitoring a patient's gastric tract and are covered in a harmless gelatin, which eventually dissolves.

What's more important than that they can be ingested is that these prove that RFID chips embedded deep in the body can be read by a scanner. But Kodak is also saying that pills could be manufactured with these chips inside them, so that doctors or nurses can confirm a patient took them.

While this might seem a bit scary, they might possibly be used for early-stage Alzheimer patients that are still living by themselves. Because of their use, however, these chips would (hopefully) not be used for food supply chain management. My question, what is Kodak, a maker of photography products, doing coming up with such a chip?

RFID Sushi

Two of my favorite things, technology and raw fish! I never really thought these two things would go together so well. At Pintokona, a Kaiten Sushi (conveyer belt sushi) restaurant in Roppongi all the plates are fitted with RFID chips. These chips serve two purposes. First, the chips are used to track how long the fish has remained on the conveyer belt. After 30 minutes the chefs are alerted and the fish is removed ensuring only fresh sushi as the plates pass by. The second function makes adding up the cost a simple wave of a magic wand. Normally at Kaiten sushi they count up the plates based on color and tally the total - sometimes may lead to overcharges or undercharges, but here all they have to do is pass a RFID scanner over the plates. The UHF tags embedded under the plate can take even hot dishwashing cycles. Now that's way i called eating my sushi in technological style! When is Malaysia gonna implement this?

Mobile software development

A strong expertise in Mobile Software development is required to build applications for mobile phones. Those who are engaged in building applications for organizations which incorporate their software into their product offerings should be well versed with the latest mobile phone software development and software programming tools and technologies. The programming expertise one needs to have is in the following fields mentioned Windows CE, Windows mobile, .NET Compact Framework, Symbian and the list goes on. The programming languages used for the mobile phone software development is C#, C++, Java. One has to obtain expertise in Windows CE and Windows Mobile (Pocket PC’s and Smart phones), Symbian (Smart phones), J2ME (J2ME enabled Smart Phones), BREW (mobile phones), Blackberry OS if one want to build career in Mobile Phone Software development. The field of Mobile Phone Software development provides excellent avenues & revenues to grow and high salary packages attract lot of people to jump into this field. Check out the companies like Optegra and Newspage.

Animal Tracking using RFID

The harsh environment of animal identification makes high demands upon the quality and reliability of electronic devices. AGRIDENT Readers and transponders are developed and designed for that challenge from the beginning and have proved since many years their extraordinary reliability in many applications. The disk transponder was the first transponder on the market that survived the slaughterhouse process for pigs, including the flames, without any additional shielding. AGRIDENT has brought the RF/ID Technology into a new dimension of reliability and cost/benefit ratio. Here the picture showing Agrident with Psion Teklogix Workabout with LF reader. The AIR200 Reader contains a configurable interface to the Workabout PRO and enables the user to integrate transponder data very easily in his OS WINDOWS application. The data are available in different data formats. The reader modules fits easily in Gen 1 and Gen 2 of the Workabout PRO handheld computer using the X-Mod interface and are compatible to the different operating systems of WIN CE.NET and Windows Mobile.

Cell phone Boarding Pass

Pretty soon you'll be able to board Continental Airlines flights with a boarding pass stored on your phone. As part of a new pilot program, Continental will be testing the using of electronic passes that could signal the end of the paper passes we know and love. The three month trial will be available for passengers flying out of Houston for now. A unique barcode is sent to a user's phone by the system. It is encrypted and tied directly to the user's handset, so the chances for fraud are low. When you get to the gate all you have to do is open up the message on your screen, the gate attendant will scan it using the Psion Teklogix Workabout Pro Gen2 handheld with barcode reader, and you can proceed to your uncomfortable seat. Though this makes perfect sense, and I could see it being rolled out quickly across a number of airlines. Make sure you don't forget to bring your cell phone...

RFID Malaysia: Passport to new beginning

Raja Azahar said that the Ministry has taken steps to tighten up security measures regarding the movement of both local and foreign citizens, particularly between the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan that border Thailand.
The main concern of the Ministry was border crossings without passports – just a border pass as the only travel document.
“This was the loophole in our system. The minister said that we had to tighten procedures for foreigners because undesired elements could enter the country without any record.
“The border pass was just a piece of paper without any security features – not even a photograph,” he said.
This has changed effective Jan 1,2008 this year.

Raja Azahar explained that those who apply for a border pass have to pre-register themselves and enter their thumbprint into the department's biometric system. But rather than being an inconvenience, it actually makes subsequent crossings easier.
In the case of a six-month pass, he said, “They do not have to show a border pass – they only have to enter their thumbprint. If everything is according to the profile, we allow them to enter or leave the country.”
He reveals that there are approximately 2,000 entries in the database at the moment.
Raja Azahar assured that there were no serious security issues, but the measures were meant to stop those taking advantage of the lax enforcement of immigration laws.
“Anybody who crosses the border will need a travel document and we will have a record of all border crossings. At the same time, we have improved the security element by means of the biometric system.”
Another issue is the potential use of RFID (radio frequency identification device) in visas and passports, which the Ministry is looking into at the moment.
“The whole idea of using RFID is to enhance the security of travel documents, but it can also translate into convenience for the holders.
“We are in talks with Singapore to embed RFID in passports to facilitate faster clearance (through immigration checkpoints). With RFID we can capture all information – we will know if they have a valid passport or even capture their photo.”
However, the use of RFID will not replace biometric systems.

RFID technology is best utilised when it is embedded in visas attached to passports of foreigners entering the country.

Qualiti Alam

Qualiti Alam Sdn Bhd first received its first load of scheduled waste in Oct 1996. They use barcode to scan and track their assets supplied by RES.

Fancy 2D-Tag on Magazines

What is Semapedia?

The goal is to connect the virtual and physical world by bringing the right information from the internet to the relevant place in physical space.

To accomplish this, we invite you to create Semapedia-Tags which are in fact cellphone-readable physical hyperlinks. You can create such 2D Barcode Tags easily yourself by choosing and pasting a Wikipedia URL into the form above. Once created, you put the Tags up at their according physical location. You just hyperlinked your world! Others can now use their cellphone to 'click' your Tag and access the information you provided them. Pretty cool!

Barcode Art

I thought I was one of the few who thought that barcodes had a place in art. Looks like I'm not alone. Even our pals at GS1 are behind this modest effort. Obviously not our pals in Fremont trying to lay claim to a patentable idea themselves. This is further proof the idea is universal. Barcodes are now contemporary visual memes. Try barcoding Mona Lisa?!!

On-spot billing

Tenaga Nasional and Syabas are using Zebra portable printers for printing on-spot billing. Supplied by Powercomp, one of the Malaysian companies doing AIDC.

Iphone

Iphone is almost here, watch out Malaysia!