TECH.ED delegates track by RFID

Microsoft on Monday announced plans to track Australian delegates attending its annual Tech.Ed conference in Sydney 2008 using RFID tags embedded in conference badges.
The move comes months after 50 academics, researchers and students at the University of Washington (UW) began a social networking experiment, which has seen participants voluntarily tag themselves. The system records the location of tags every 5 seconds and publishes movements to a Web page.

In Australia, human-targeted deployments of RFID tags have largely been limited to state prison systems. ACT Corrective Services in April said it had commissioned U.S. RFID provider Alanco and NEC Australia to install a Wi-Fi-compatible inmate-tracking system within its walls.
Microsoft's social experiment can take place only over the five days of the conference, although it could involve a much larger sample size than the UW experiment, with the conference typically attracting no fewer than 1,000 delegates.

The software giant will allow delegates to opt out of the tracking experiment, but they will be enticed to participate with the offer of greater access to conference information. Delegates who opt out will have standard barcodes printed on their badges instead.

The benefits promoted to delegates to partake the RFID tag experiment include access to real-time information on when sessions are filling up, the ability to see what sessions others are interested in, and tracking where Microsoft so-called MVPs (most valuable players) and regional directors are.

Microsoft will also track sessions that each delegate attends and will use that information to customize sessions, the company said in a press statement. It will also send delegates an instant record of what sessions they have attended.

The RFID tracking system took just three weeks to build and deploy, according to Microsoft.

YCH Group enjoys fruits of Oracle-RFID project

An investment of S$1.2 million down south of Malaysia in a little island, between partners Y3 Technologies and Oracle have resulted in the successful implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) in a bonded warehouse environment. A bonded warehouse is an area approved by customs authorities to store controlled items such as cigarettes or alcohol for re-export or for local consumption.

Using Oracle's 10g infrastructure software, Y3, an affiliate company of logistics solutions service provider YCH Group, was able to improve the visibility of its operations and better monitor the movement of goods within a bonded warehouse.

RFID will help YCH cut down on excess manpower, data errors and redundancy in data entry, and allow better visibility of stocks as they pass through the entire supply chain, according to a media statement jointly released by the YCH and Oracle. It is also now easier for government officials to conduct spot checks on the bonded warehouse, without having to physically climb onto the crates to do so.

The collaboration has also resulted in several new enhancements to a mobile version of Oracle Edge Server. This software was deployed in the mobile RFID and barcode reader used in this project, and was instrumental in speeding up the project by easing the addition of RFID specific extensions to YCH’s warehouse management solution.

Cars control by Iphones?

Iphone app with car key control system link to audio system. How about Iphone car steering from your Iphone?

Penang Library uses UPM

Penang Public Library is Malaysia’s first library to use an RFID system compliant to the EPC Global Gen2 standard. EPC (Electronic Product Code) is a set of identification coding or numbering standards. The system, implemented by Smartag Solutions Bhd., uses RFID tags supplied by UPM Raflatac.

There are roughly 500,00 copies of reading materials in six different libraries in Penang, and over 800,000 library users. A successful RFID project now provides Penang Public Library Corporation with optimal performance through a unique combination of technologies.

The Library Tagging system from Smartag Solutions uses UPM Raflatac’s DogBone tags, which ensure that accurate readings taken in a split second can be documented using RFID Inventory Management. The RFID technology provides Penang Public Library Corporation with a fast, accurate means of gathering inventory information on large quantities of library materials.

Nissan hub using RFID in Singapore

A new Nissan hub is tapping radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to help cut time for identification and retrieval of new cars, from an average of 24 hours to two hours.

Located in the Western part of Singapore, the new TC Nissan Hub operated by Tan Chong International is believed to be the first RFID-enabled automotive facility in the country. Tan Chong International is the exclusive local distributor of Nissan vehicles.

Tan Chong's project was awarded a grant of S$120,000 (US$82,632) from Singapore's National RFID Centre (NRC) earlier this year, under the NRC's S$4.5 million (US$3.1 million) RFID Innovation Platform initiative. To date, the Centre has funded 11 projects to the tune of S$1.25 million (US$860,750), an NRC spokesperson told ZDNet Asia.

Bartronics wins deal with Avitar

Bartronics India Limited (Bartronics), one of India's largest bar code and RFID technology companies today announced that its subsidiary, Bartronics Asia, has been selected for a RFID project from Avitar Group, in which Bartronics Asia will aid and manage the Avitar initiative to automate the distribution process using RFID technology.

Avitar, a Singapore-based group with operations around the world, is focused at its core in the wholesale and distribution of mobile phones, including software products, with a focus to expand into related businesses in the international arena.

Bartronics will develop an application specifically aimed at mobile phone distribution warehousing, where each mobile phone box is tagged with an RFID label and each label in turn associated to an International Mobile Equipment Identity (Unique IMEI) number of each phone via a handheld RFID reader. The Bartronics application involves automatic scanning and reading of mobile phone boxes stacked up on a trolley for outbound dispatch.

The RFID application detects and reads mobile phone boxes en masse when a trolley is pushed through a Gantry RFID reader at exit doorway to ensure physical outbound quantity matches actual quantities dispatched.

Helveta RFID tiimber tracking

Amajor pilot of Helveta’s timber tracking software and radio frequency identification system has been completed in Malaysia. And the

Oxford-based company now predicts take-up

of its technology growing worldwide as pressure

mounts on supplier countries and individual supplier companies to verify wood legality and sustainability. The Malaysian project was carried out in a 129,143ha concession in the state of Terengganu in conjunction with the Forestry Department of PeninsularMalaysia (FDPM) and Terengganu State Forestry Department. All trees tracked through the chain of custody were tagged using one of two passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tags compliant with the EPC Gen 2 and ISO 18000-6C standards. The tags were selected based on availability and form-factor criteria. One tag operated at a frequency of 860 to 960 MHz, the other at 865 to 869 MHz.

RFID tags were either stapled to a tree or log, or nailed in with a hammer, to determine the best method of attachment. None of the tags were damaged during the process, despite the fact that they lacked special protective coverings. Four RFID-enabled Teklogix Workabout handheld computers, running Helveta's CI Mobile data-capture software, were used in the field to read a unique ID reference number encoded to each tag. From there, RFID-enabled Workabout devices were utilized to confirm the ID number at the various checkpoints along the supply chain as trees were felled, and as logs were processed.