RFID Heads to Cell Phones
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Next-generation RF tags touted as a way to boost network security.
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(InfoWorld) - On Wednesday, presenters at RFID World in Boston focused on using second-generation active and passive RFID tags to provide advanced security and authentication, as well as ways to broaden the reach of the technology. Among the buzz from attendees was how the average wireless device could soon become an RFID reader, or perhaps a related radio-capable device for Near Field Communication, a short-distance radio technology to give a mobile user easy access to all kinds of data. One attendee, Russ Lamer, said he was just starting early investigation into ways that fleet truck drivers could equip their standard cell phones to act as a kind of "speed pass" to quickly pay for fuel at a truck stop, similar to the Speedpass used at Mobil gas stations. Lamer, manager of emerging technologies at Wright Express in South Portland, Maine, said drivers might also have fuel discount coupons delivered wirelessly to their phones that could be used during fuel purchases. With some of the mobile payment technologies he is investigating, Lamer said the modern trucker may eventually be able to pay by authorizing a credit card via the cell phone. "It makes the most sense" for the cell phone to work as the RFID reader, Lamer said, adding that he is interested in finding which chips could be used to provide the functions and at what cost. Other attendees said they were dazzled by an MIT presentation last night that showed emerging technologies similar to RFID that would allow someone with diabetes to read his or her blood sugar level easily several times a day with a cell phone receiving data from a patch on the arm. Steven Georgevitch, senior manager of supply chain technology at Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems, said in an address that all the emerging wireless technologies are exciting, but warned IT managers to plan ways to prevent RF interference, especially in large companies with many wireless applications. At Boeing, there are 150,000 employees in 70 countries, and a variety of wireless technologies are used, including active and passive RFID, GPS, and two variations of wireless location services. Badges worn by employees also use proximity radio technology, in which an employee is identified by passing close to an RFID reader at entrances to buildings, Georgevitch said. With so much variety in unlicensed spectrum, Boeing has tried to manage possible RF interference with an internal organization called the Frequency Management Organization. The group studies a proposed wireless use from an employee group, conducts technical tests on it, and then approves or rejects the project, Georgevitch said. Boeing's chief technology officer also has veto rights over which projects can move forward. "RF should be treated as a scarce resource," Georgevitch advised IT managers in other organizations. "Everybody wants to use RF or plug into Bluetooth or 802.11. Collisions are inevitable."
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This week, a company is launching technology that will make it possible for someone to choose what appears on phones that have Caller ID, the feature for displaying identifying information about an incoming call.
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Ziff Davis - RFID deals are really flying at the Frontline show. In one agreement, Linux handheld terminals will come together with wireless emulation for the enterprise. Through another, three IT firms will support Beaver Street Fisheries' bid to move RFID a step beyond mere compliance.
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Camera phones that automatically know their locations, digital cameras that can show where a photo was taken and GPS devices that take geotagged pictures,  are coming to a pocket near you.
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RFID tags, the dime-sized devices that can track inventory from the factory to the store, are being embraced as one of the hottest of new technologies. But Patrick J. Sweeney II likens most available applications of RFID, or radio frequency identification, to the user-unfriendly personal computers of the 1980s: a blank screen and a command prompt.
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Ziff Davis - FedEx's Ground division already uses wireless RFID for asset tracking, but officials are taking a wait-and-see approach to other RFID possibilities.
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RFID data is vulnerable under certain circumstances, but tougher standards have been developed to protect information stored on RFID chips and to prevent hackers from using sensitive data stored there in malicious exploits.
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InfoWorld - There's already an RFID security brouhaha brewing in Washington, and if some people have their way, it won't be the last legal fight waged in the nation's capital over use of the wireless technology.
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is in news these days. And it is the middleware that gives meaning to the collection activity of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, turning the data for usable purposes.
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Mini USA has found a way to use RFID technology to help its customers get their name in lights -- on billboards as they drive by one in several select cities.
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Printed symbols called SpotCodes can help cellphones with cameras find their way around cyberspace.
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The next bubble ready to burst? Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a technology bubble ready to burst according to a new report by Dublin-based firm Heavey RF.â¦
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RF Code has unveiled a device for tracking assets with active RFID tags that can be worn on the belt, transferring the data wirelessly to a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device.
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RFID is out there, but the onslaught has been slowed by practical and economic considerations.
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A new inkjet-printed technology enables a different kind of wireless connectivity between devices.
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With the countdown for compliance with radio-frequency identification mandates from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and others&#39; closing in, concern is growing that supplies of the necessary