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I German grocery chain is now testing item level RFID in their stocking system.  The article I posted this off of is very small with very little details but they do say that this company has decided to go with “ADT Security Services’ new Sensormatic iREAD RFID” as their RFID technology based on costing issues, so this stuff must be pretty cheap.  I haven’t checked it out but I think I just might.  There is also a link in the story to some media coverage this story has gotten.  Feel free to click the link below to read a “little” more.

Karstadt deploys item-level RFID in Stock System : RFID News

Well sorta…..

A Swedish label maker has released the first ever self inventory apparel rack.  The key phrase in that last sentence being “released the first”.  What I mean by this is that this product is not a new idea.  It is one of the ideas that has been in peoples minds since item level RFID tagging had been conceptualized.  It is no different than a smart shelf, except of course that it is a rack.  Nothing really all that exciting about the technology, other than the fact that you can get one of these things now.  It follows the release of the HP smart cabinet which I blogged about some weeks ago.  I’m sure some people are kicking themselves right now for not releasing this very quickly but it’s only Sweden, how bad could that be?  If you want to view the full article click the link below.

Sweden : Labels maker Nilorn develops new RFID technology - Technology News Sweden

A press release today on MoreRFID.com states that a new study was done comparing RFID versus contactless smart cards in an attempt to “crystallize” any confusion consumers are having between the two technologies.  The report covers current uses of each technology and the similarities between them.  It also covers the differences of how each technology works and addresses privacy and security concerns with current contactless smart card implementations.  /*End Normal Blurb*/

The report is available for $3012.93 USD which is absolutely outrageous for a research paper.  I’m sure the report doesn’t cover a whole lot and by the use of the title they are trying to say that contactless smart cards are not RFID.  Wrong!  Contactless smart cards are RFID, and always have been.  They are just different from commercial type RFID smart labels and THAT is the difference they are trying to highlight.  I can’t say too much about the report as I am not going to pay that kind of money to read a 26 page report on a study done in June of 2007 since the technology has changed a lot since then.  The research is sure to be outdated and probably is an attempt to misdirect nay-sayers so that the technology won’t come under so much fire.  RFID companies are making good strides in the realm of security with RFID and it is only a matter of time before they get it as close to right as they will be able to do.  I would like to see a big company like this do a study on how to prevent RFID based theft or protecting personal information that may be stored on RFID, rather than a report comparing apples to oranges.

MoreRFID - RFID Versus Contactless Smart Card

On RFID Solutions Online yesterday, a new product was announced from Time Domain that has upped the anti on real time location systems.  The product, PLUS, is an ultra wide band (6.4 Ghz) real time location system that does a little more than competitors.  Normal RTLS are based on approximation and can usually triangulate a tag within a few meters.  The PLUS system is said to be able to pinpoint objects with an accuracy of about 12 to 36 inches, which includes through walls.  It also has another benefit in being able to still remain accurate in noisy environments where other RTLS solutions would fail.  The system can work in 2-D and multi-floor tracking scenarios and can follow assets and people with a much greater accuracy than comparing technologies.

The tag works much like other RTLS systems where it’s tags emit a burst of data once every second that is picked up by readers (2″ X 2″) in the ceiling and transmitted to a database.  It also includes a time synchronization unit that allows for synchronous reads and power.  For more information on PLUS, click the link below.

RFID Tags: Time Domain Launches PLUS Ultra Wideband Real-Time

Is anyone else a little scared?  I know I am.  Verichip has designed a tag with the help of Digital Angel that senses glucose levels in diabetes patients and reports that data back to the RFID reader.  There is a chip inside a person that can tell what your sugar levels are at any time!!  What is next, drug testing implants?  How about DUI testing by scanning your hand under an RFID reader?  Or better yet, you cannot even start your car if the reader recognizes you have any debilitating chemicals in your blood, plus it automatically calls the police and lets them know you were going to drive away drunk and you get a citation for conspiring to commit a criminal act.  Did anyone see Minority Report, we know how this will end.

Verichip Corporation’s and Digital Angel Corporation’s Self-Contained Implantable RFID Glucose-Sensing Microchip Currently Featured on FoxNews.com and is Expected to be Featured on Fox News Channel Today

Well if you haven’t heard about it yet than now is a good time.  A lot of casinos are thinking about embedding RFID tags inside their chips.  This helps manage the flow of chips, deter counterfeit chips, and track chip locations throughout the casino floor.  Some places are also scanning at the exit of the casino in order to account for chips removed from the floor.  This press release describes another casino that has decided to jump on the RFID train with a pretty aggressive implementation plan.  They plan to have 250 tables RFID enabled by May of 2008.  The tags come from Magellan Technology and run at 13.56 MHz.  They say in the press release that they will be using the PJM protocol which is ISO/IEC 18000-3 Mode 2 and the PJM stands for Phase Jitter Modulation.  At the bottom of the press release is some information about all the parties involved.  Click the link below.

Foxwoods Resort Casino Selects 13.56 MHz RFID Technology for Its Casino Operations

According to a press release reported by UsingRFID.com today, Advanced Research Company has licensed Motorola RFID technology to create a few new products for the market.  One of these products is called Storage+, which is an RFID cabinet.  The unit looks pretty cool with a touch screen interface and network capabilities.  You can view the items in the cabinet any time over a web browser as well as track when items were removed and by whom.  It also allows for access control to the items in the cabinet.

The have also released OpenCrib which is used as a check in and out system for tools and equipment.  If you have ever worked in a factory you have seen this room.  This allows for easier inventory of items as well as real time tracking of items in use with time and who checked them out.  You can also have it send alerts and updates via email say if someone took a tool out of the building that wasn’t checked out, etc.  This device is very similar to another device I saw yesterday. 

This other device, manufactured by AutoCrib, is called the IntelliPort (pictured above) and it is basically the same idea except it also includes other sensors and cameras to increase security.  For more information on any of these devices click the links below.

AutoCrib Announces RFID Portal - IntelliPort

Manufacturer’s Website (OpenCrib, Storage+)

New smart storage cabinet to use Motorola’s RFID

Atmel has come up with an RFID tag that has a cryptographic engine built right in!  This is a big step forward in securing data on the tag.  According to the article there is security data that is embedded on the tag which is never broadcast and is used to provide mutual authentication to read devices.  This means that the tag has to allow the reader and the reader has to allow the tag.  Apparently this security information cannot be accessed as the lock bits have been blown via the factory and each tag has a unique data set.  The tag allows for tons of customization in regards to permissions.  It is broken down into (up to) 16 sectors that can be individually assigned permissions like read, read/write, write once, and requires authentication.  They also say the device supports full E-Pedigree (it’s not the term they used but as I just posted about it) directly on the tag and not in a database.  If the data is as secure as they say it is then that is awesome.  They offer 1k to 64k of user storage on top of the memory used for their security information.  It runs the common ISO 14443-B standard as protocol so that means HF.  These tags are also available at $.75 but you have to order at least 25,000.  I am interested to see if anyone can crack this card because if not then this might be the future of proximity cards like the E-Passport and RFID enabled credit cards. To view all the things Atmel has crammed into this card click the link below.

RFID Device With 64-bit Embedded Cryptographic Engine

Alright, I’m not going to try to explain this because in all honesty I have no idea what most of this stuff is talking about.  If you are a hardware guy are you know something about printed electronics then I’m sure you will get most of this.  I have posted a previous article about printed electronics and, I guess, according to this article that technology is not as simplistic as this one and this one is cheaper or easier to implement or something.  Hell I don’t know, just click the link below to read for yourself.  Either way it’s freaking cool!

Printed Electronics World.com: A step closer to ultra low-cost disposable printed organic RFID tags