IBM Unleashes New RFID Middleware
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In the increasingly competitive RFID arena, IBM on Thursday will release the first three products from its recently formed $250 million S&amp;A (Sensor &amp; Actuator) arm.
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The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) today announced the adoption of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate).
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The RFID services from IBM will include consulting, business case development, technical proof of concept, pilots for the client and trading partners and full system implementation for industrial companies.
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IBM has released the latest version of the core middleware product of WebSphere, its application server platform, promising new autonomic, or self-healing, features.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft is adding capabilities for RFID and EDI to its BizTalk Server business process management platform as well as making BizTalk friendlier for application developers. Being released Monday, BizTalk Server 2006 R2 adds a device abstraction layer enabling it to record information from RFID systems. Relevant RFID reads are connected to core supply chain processes or enterprise applications. Business rules can be applied to the data coming from the RFID readers. "This is the first time that we've shipped any RFID technology from Microsoft," Burley Kawasaki, director in the Microsoft Connected Systems Division, said. BizTalk Server enables exchanging of business processes. "It's all about connecting your systems regardless of the age, protocol, or vendor," Kawasaki said. Microsoft is maintaining the BizTalk Server 2006 nomenclature in the upgrade to send the message that upgrading is easy, according to Kawasaki. Also featured in R2 is out-of-the-box support for business-to-business integration standards, including EDI, the HIPAA and HL7 standards for health care, and SWIFT for financial trading. Pre-built classes and schemas are featured with users able to integrate BizTalk Server with partners' systems compliant with these standards. Real-time visibility is provided into supply chain operations. "With the R2 release, we're including these [standards] just out-of-the-box," said Kawasaki. Adding EDI support helps users, an analyst said. "One of the big [features in the release] is the increased EDI capability, which customers will now be able to get from a single vendor instead of having to go to multiple vendors," said Ken Vollmer, principal analyst at Forrester. "I think that's a smart move." EDI basically runs industries like retail and health care, Vollmer said. For developers, Microsoft is linking parts of the .Net Framework -- the ECF (Windows Communication Foundation) and Windows Workflow Foundation -- to BizTalk Server, enabling developers to develop composite applications, such as a front-end system that brings data from multiple back-end systems. "Probably the most notable part of R2 is that it provides seven adapters and wizards that enable easy communication to and from BizTalk Server and Web services-based applications via WCF," Ronald Schmelzer, senior analyst with ZapThink, said. "This means that they are pulling it into their Web services infrastructure and unifying a larger part of their platform." With the product introduction, Microsoft is releasing BizTalk Server Branch Edition, which creates a hub-and-spokes model in which a branch location can automate event collection in real-time and send key information back to the central BizTalk Server hub. Also part of the rollout is a Beta 2 of the planned BizTalk Server Adapter Pack. This serves as an abbreviated version of BizTalk Server providing for point-to-point integration between applications. Initial systems supported are SAP and Siebel applications as well as the Oracle database. Adapters are scheduled to be available in the first half of 2008. In the interoperability space, Microsoft is bolstering interoperability with mainframe and IBM AS/400 midrange systems by including capabilities of the company's Host Integration Server software within BizTalk Server. Host Integration Server is being discontinued as a separate product. "You now get that capability as part of BizTalk Server," Kawasaki said. Microsoft also is releasing version 1 of its Enterprise Service Bus Guidance manual. "Our customers have been using BizTalk and .Net for many years to build ESB architectures," Kawasaki said. The free manual features pre-built code as well as guidance, patterns and practices. It can be downloaded off the company's CodePlex site. While some companies like Progress Sonic view an ESB as a specific product category, Microsoft sees ESB as an architectural model for connecting systems together using a bus. The Enterprise Edition of BizTalk Server 2006 R2 is priced at $34,999 per processor. The Branch Edition costs $1,799 per processor.
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(InfoWorld) - IAnywhere SolutionsÂ is adding location tracking capabilities and support for a wider range of sensor technologies in RFID Anywhere 3.0, the latest version of its sensor management software announced on Monday. The previous versions of RFID Anywhere allowed customers to collect data from RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, create reports with that data and integrate the data with other enterprise applications. With the latest version of the software platform, companies can collect more data including location and environmental information from a variety of technologies including active RFID, passive RFID, RTLS (Real Time Location System) and barcode into a single reporting and tracking system. Previously, customers using a variety of sensor and tracking mechanisms would use separate management software tools to monitor each technology, said Martyn Mallick, director of RFID and mobile solutions for iAnywhere. Passive RFID is theÂ technology used by Wal-Mart StoresÂ and other retailers to track products or pallets of products as they move through the distribution system. Active RFID chips can hold more data and can be read from a greater distance. RTLS is used primarily to track and find items, such as computers or medical equipment. RTLS sensors often communicate with Wi-Fi networks. RFID Anywhere 3.0 users can also collect environmental data. Some active RFID tags now include light, temperature and humidity sensors, Mallick said. By collecting that data along with tracking and location information, users can make better business decisions, he said. For example, a produce shipper can decide to send a load of lettuce that has been exposed to above-optimum temperatures to a local retailer where it can be bought and consumed quickly, rather than send it across the country, potentially taking days for it to reach store shelves. RFID Anywhere 3.0 is integrated with existing RTLS location and active RFID systems, collecting data from software from Ekahau, AeroScout, RF Code, and others. Collecting information from thousands of tags can produce an overwhelming amount of data, but RFID Anywhere allows users to set parameters to help control the flow. "The most important thing we recommend really to customers is that not all the data is valuable," Mallick said. "Typically 75 percent to 80 percent of data can be filtered out because it's not of value." Some data may only be useful for one or two days, after which it can be deleted. Other data doesn't actually need to be collected. For example, if a product is sitting on a shelf, its sensor doesn't need to repeatedly send data saying that it hasn't moved. The sensor reader can instead be programmed only to send data once the product moves, he said. RFID Anywhere 3.0 will become available later this month. Customers can deploy the software in as many sites as they want, paying based on how many data collection devices are connected to the network.
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Hoping to drive biometric devices into the mainstream, IBM on Monday unveiled its first ThinkPad that features an integrated fingerprint reader that will work in tandem with an embedded security system.
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The database and mobile software company is set to reveal details on updates to its flagship products and outline RFID plans.
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IBM is fleshing out its On Demand computing strategy with the release later this year of Websphere 6.0, the next incarnation of its flagship application server software.
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Radio-frequency identification is a technology that&#39;s touted as the replacement for the bar code. These postage-stamp-size RFID tags contain a tiny microchip that&#39;s smaller than a grain of sand and capable of storing information.
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The tech giants are injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into RFID technology, which aims to advance the tracking of items from ho-hum bar codes to smart tags packed with data.   -washingtonpost.com
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The company is taking radio frequency identification technology to casino gaming tables.
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When US retailing giant Wal-Mart announced last November its intention to introduce Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, it pushed the retail industry into action overnight.
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2004  - Sara Lee Corp. is testing radio frequency identification tags on some product cases and shipping pallets to meet a mandate that RFID technology be used on goods sent to
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Next-generation RF tags touted as a way to boost network security.
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Enterprises face dual 2005 deadlines relating to RFID and supply-chain data synchronization. Those that haven&#39;t moved forward with a product-information-management strategy will be under-prepared to realize RFID&#39;s value.
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IBM (NYSE: IBM) is rolling out a new version of WebSphere software, using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and middleware targeting retail operations.