2007 Trends in RFID Tags (Radio Frequency Identification Tags)

Most folks have heard of RFID tags or radio-frequency identification tags and some folks are concerned about electronic security and Big Brother syndrome that this new technology might lead too. Many of those incited by the sound and fury over RFID Tags do not want large corporations or to the government to know every single thing they do and everywhere they go or everything that they buy. However, RFID tags will indeed help consumers and the citizenry by lowering costs of all the products and services that are delivered due to creating a more efficient distribution system.

The economies of scale will lower costs and provide people with a higher standard of living and a better quality of life. Indeed, RFID distribution-streamlining strategies for companies like Wal-Mart show big promises. Even the US military is using RFID tags to help streamline its logistics flows and track shipments now. Protecting our ports and cargo containers can be done with active RFID tags. As this technology increases in performance it will serve a much greater market and have applications in nearly every Industry Sector.

When first introduced RFID showed much promise and yet some of the earliest adopters were somewhat under whelmed, yet now due to demand RFID tags are meeting the challenges of company?s needs. In fact today passive RFID tags can be read from further distances and the costs have come down significantly. RFID tags can now be printed on a computer printer and stuck to packages as labels thus getting closer to replacing some Bar Code Technologies.

We as a society should discuss the future of RFID and how this will affect the way we do business and live, without the conspiracy theorists and background noise, which does not understand the value of this technology. Perhaps this article is of interest to propel thought in 2007?

Lance Winslow, a retired entrepreneur, adventurer, modern day philosopher and perpetual tourist.

Radio Frequency Identification Device - RFID

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the utilization of radio waves to recognize the objects. Unlike barcode, in RFID one can find a product without virtually coming in touch with it. The tracking number is stored in a micro-chip, which is connected to the aerial. The chip is then enables to put on the air any tracking data to the receiver. Finally the information will be converted into a digital format, which is read by the computers.

A usual RFID tag holds a microchip attached to an aerial escalated on a substrate. The data storage capacity of a chip ranges from 64 bits to 2 kilobytes. For e.g., information about a manufactured goods or consignment-date of production, and destination, can be downloaded to a tag.

A reader is necessary to recover the data stored on an RFID tag. A reader is a device, which has one or more aerials that releases radio wave and take delivery of signals reversed from the RFID tag. The reader then forwards the data into digital form to attached computer.

RFID Advantage

Whether you are related to tracking record in a warehouse or keeping a large bunch of apparel assortments, there is a requirement of a completely automated data receiving and evaluation system which will help out to sustain track of precious assets and equipments. RFID technology offers exclusive solutions to hard data tracking of record or equipment- specifically in applications, where optical based systems not succeed and when write/read capabilities are necessary. The technology is constantly developing, with unlocked designs becoming more and more accessible.

Benefits of RFID vs. Barcode

The barcode's optical nature needs labels which can be detected by lasers. The straight line between reader and labels is usually difficult, not practical, or even unfeasible to attain in industrial atmosphere. In a move to achieve proper functionality, a barcode reader requires clean and clear optics, label must be spotless and free of scratch, and the label and reader must be rightly oriented to each other. On the other hand, RFID technology makes tag enabled to read from a larger distance, even in worst environments.

Additionally, the data imprinted on a barcode is set and cannot be distorted. On the other side, RFID tags have electronic memory as same as to the common computer or digital camera to hold data and this can changed or updated dynamically.

RFID presents particular features which are not accessible with any other automatic identification technologies. Albeit, not all RFID systems offer every single feature, following are few common advantages of RFID.

. Enduring identification or read/write ability
. Do not require contact or straight sight line for reading
. Practical resistance from incomprehensible paint, dirt etc.
. Automated functioning
. Broad range of tag alternatives and frequencies
. Reading capability ranges from few inches to several feet
. Tremendously high data reliability

RFID Applications can be used in many trades other than retail, which includes animal recognition, supple production (tracking and control), laundry tracking, asset identification, and many many more.

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The Relationship Between RFID Technology and ID Cards

The relationship between RFID technology and ID cards is close and personal. While both types of identification work extremely well individually, their efficacy together is amazing. For example, while it is conceivable that even the best ID cards can be forged, or lost and used by unscrupulous individuals, a card using RFID technology offers numerous protections.

If a card is lost, but has an RID tag, it can easily be tracked. While this may not lead to the apprehension of the individual who originally took it, it could lead to the card itself, and any damages could then be reversed.

Another, simpler way that RFID technology helps in the use of ID cards is via readers, the strongest of which can scan information up to thirty meters or more away. This displaces the tedium of a physical reader and allows people in the area to use the system more effectively.

This is especially important in work environments and places like schools with a high volume of people. If people simply have to flash their card at a reader, this speeds up traffic a great deal. Besides work and school environments, RFID technology and ID cards work in many other ways as well.

A scenario that this combination would prove extremely capable at aiding would be traffic crossing tolls on bridges. An ID card could have an RFID tag that would allow for a prepaid toll card. The driver would then flash the card at the reader as they drove by; they would only have to slow down, not stop, and wouldn't have to fumble for change or money.

In fact, RFID tags are used in this way already, although without the ID card, in the Bay Area as an optional payment method for traffic crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Called the 'FasTrak' the tag is mounted in the window and operates on a prepaid system so all the car has to do is slow down to be read and then continue on its way.

The areas in which ID cards and RFID technology can be combined and used are many, and their increasing use together portends greater levels of security for those in work, school and other environments.

DiscountID.com is the worldwide low-price leader in photo ID card printers and security products. For more information, visit Discountid.com.

Marcela De Vivo writes for the Discountid.com

Let the RFID Cycle Begin - Intemec

Let the RFID Cycle Begin - Intermec

RFID a great growth market

A new revolutionary technology is forming called RFID or Radio Frequency Identification. This technology greatly improved the ability to track items, any item. The current leading market solution uses a one way system where, for example, a simple "bar code" at your local grocery store where the grocery clerk has to run the bar code over a scanner. These readings are very man-hour intensive as each individual item must be scanned RFID is a two way system where a reader could scan every item at a Wal-Mart (WMT-48.14) store. Then each item with a RFID tag would respond or "chirp" back to the reader. Using the two way RFID system a single person could take complete inventory of a store almost eliminating all the man-hours of manual inventory. A reader mounted on a fork lift truck would track each item the hyster moves into the warehouse. The RFID will allow a single person the ability to inventory unlimited amounts of items.

Using our simple forecasting theorem which mathematically helps us forecasts how successful technologies will be; our approach signaled that RFID will be revolutionary.

Please refer to forecasting a revolution Multiplication of Moore's law http://www.durig.com/duriglaw.html .

Here are some of the many uses of RFID. Tracking gamblers at a black jack table so the house knows who's betting big, tracking prisoners in a jail to see who was involved in a scuffle, tracking prescription drugs for counterfeit, tracking cattle for mad cow disease, tracking cars so police could immediately identify a stolen car or a car with outstanding issues. More examples, tracking passports to see if the picture is correct, tracking products for Wal-Mart to almost any store and warehouse, tracking the Department of Defense inventories for most items, Boeing can track parts for building aircrafts and Ford tracking parts for it automobiles. It appears that both the scope and magnitude at this time is limitless.

Industries tracking consumer goods from shoes to cement blocks to frozen food to cars, including boats, planes, parts and supplies can utilize it in all aspects from manufacturing, inventory and shipping to retail outlets.

Judging from our theorems, RFID will see revolutionary growth to the likes of the cell phone, Personal Computer and the Internet that also at the beginning of their cycles scored extremely high.

IdtechEx forecast

From IdtechEx, the market for RFID is to grow from 2.7 billion in 2006 to 12.3 billion in 2010. The value is expected to be about 26.2 billion in 2016 or ten years to grow almost 10 times.

Selecting the company that could lead that market

Identify the correct market to invest is only part of the challenge. Possibly the bigger challenge is to identify the company that will lead this technology. This is where we have identified Intermec. Intermec is one of the leading companies in bar codes. Over the last few years Intermec has been focused on developing products that would comply with the new Gen 2 RFID standard rather than introduce products that supported the older Gen 1 Class and 0 Class protocols. This strategy has allowed Intermec to utilize its roughly 149 patents to allow Intermec to extract royalties from the entire RFID industry and appear to be essential when utilizing the Gen 2 RFID standard. The Gen 2 RFID standard and Intemec's patents are very co-depended of each other. In my opinion Intermec is gaining an integration monopolistic position.

Why monopolies have great success

Past monopolies have had great success from controlling the market like Intermec integrating their solution into and then helped become part of the standard. Compared to war it is the equivalent of having the high ground in battles - this approach is extremely valuable. Control in new revolutionary technologies is very rare. Our studies shows that in the past when companies achieved control they are usually able to hold it for 1-2 business cycles or from 9 -19 years. Some past successes that have demonstrated integration and or control of revolutionary products were Microsoft (MSFT-27.13) and Intel (INTC-19.78) in the Personal Computer, Cisco (CSCO-21.44) for the Internet and Qualcomm (QCOM-49.87) currently for Cell Phones. When I was young child IBM (IBM-84.32) controlled the standard for Mainframe and AT&T (T-26.81) the phone business. You can often see companies that are monopolistic in a revolutionary industry have a probability of achieving super wealth. Several monopolies we listed achieved the world's largest stock value.

Is Intermec a new monopoly?

Intermec or any company for that matter to have a chance to be great monopoly it must have a degree of control. The question is how much control does Intermec have over the RFID industry?

To answer this simple but very important question we devised an extremely effective test. Intermec claim's to be an integral part of the Gen 2 standard. The definition of de facto standard is recognized by all its peers as the standard.

Does the RFID industry recognize Intermec as the standard?

Companies like Symbol Technology (SBL-10.64), Zebra Technology (ZBRA-45.45), Philips Electronics (PHG-32.38), Texas Instrument (TXN-30.59) are some of the leading companies in RFID space that also have the size, technical background, law staff and other resources to verify or reject Intermec's claim. Accepting Intermec's claim means paying royalties to Intermec for years, you must understand if possible all theses companies would NOT want to pay royalties so their preferences is to reject Intermec's claim.

All the companies mentioned above and more have agreed that Intermec will receive royalties on every Gen 2 RFID product they make. No one wants to pay 2.5-7% royalty to Intermec to utilize the Gen 2 RFID standards. Especially leaders in RFID like Phillips, Texas Instrument and Symbol which all have a major leading position in the market, and their agreements with Intermec greatly validated Intermec's claims.

It was when the largest company and Intermec's closest competitor, Symbol Technologies, that created the biggest challenge to Intermec's claims. Symbol Technologies not only refused to pay early in the process, but sued Intermec asking for Intermec to pay Symbol royalties for their many patents and Symbol wanted their own version of the standard.

Symbol gave up their court fight and agrees to join Intermec's Rapid Start Licensing program. When your biggest competitor allows you to sign a controlling contract where Symbol has to pay royalties to Intermec every time Symbol sells a RFID hardware product. To me the Intermec/Symbol relationship Intermec has provided validation with a very high degree of control.

Many experts assign a similar agreement to the rise of Microsoft and the downfall of IBM when IBM accepted the Microsoft PC standard. I believe history will say the same thing when Nokia (NOK-20.52) then the largest cell phone company in the world signed and agreed to pay royalties to Qualcomm on all Nokia 3G phones.

It reminds me of a very old saying "the king is dead, long live the king" if you can dictate your will to the powerful companies your have a high degree of control.

Gutter vs. Shingles

Intermec is using their RFID control to establish what I call a gutter business. In Oregon it rains a lot and what we know are roofs. Water from shingles flow into a gutter. In some cases the gutter and shingles are co-dependent and need each other for the roof to work properly. First gutters have tremendous leverage. Second you could measure the number of shingles or measure the square footage of the roof to understand the amount of possible water flow or leverage the gutter might achieve We believe gutter based companies are far better companies to own. If you wanted fill a cup of water would you put your cup under a shingle or a gutter? It's my believe that by far most companies are shingles business models, but the gutter business model have far great potential to grow profits utilizing and leveraging the shingles.

In a few situations all the shingles combined could flow into a single gutter. A roof with a single gutter or a monopoly has one of the best business models and has a chance to leverage the entire industry to enrich its profits.

Intermec is possibly building this type of business model and has awarded the premier client of Cisco, and IBM while having alliances with Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. Companies that joined Intermec's Rapid Start Program and agreed to pay Intermec a royalty on every RFID hardware product they sell.

? Accu-Sort

? Avery Dennison

? AWID

? Datamax

? EM Micro

? Feig Electronics

? Hand Held Products

? LXE

? Metrologic

? Paxar

? PSC

? Psion Teklogix

? SAMSys

? Sato

? Symbol Technologies

? Texas Instruments

? ThingMagic

? Toppan Printing

? Zebra Technologies

All of these agreement occurred in 2005 after the new Gen 2 standards for RFID established in early 2005.

If we are right Intermec should have outstanding and accelerated growth for the duration of the Gen 2 RFID standard business cycle possible Gen 2 Standard last about 9 years based on many business cycles we followed.

Risk

Intermec's placement and degree of control in the Gen 3 RFID standard is very unclear, and will take many years from now to achieve any clarity.

A company could challenge Intermec's legal position. Even though Intermec has about 149 patents in the RFID industry the largest IP portfolio, a single company could sue making Intermec's patent unenforceable. Knowing that Symbol Technologies is well funded and a leader in the RFID industry and has attempted this and failed, it makes the hurdle even higher for a smaller less funded company to attempt this knowing that it would be a very costly approach.

Intermec appears to limit the companies that license their technology especially during their Rapid Start Program. If in future years Intermec is found to be a monopolistic company this could be very damaging in a court system. Intermec should give every company an equal chance.

RFIG Gen 2 is still not Intermec's core profit center and there are no guarantees that RFID will become revolutionary. Most all new technologies have gone through long incubation cycles before becoming mainstream which RFID Gen 2 will probably incur.

In my opinion the great appreciation will come when the royalties are the main profit center, and that may be many years if it ever occurs.

Conclusion

To summarize

1. The RFID appears to approaching a revolution growth cycle.

2. Intermec is the technology patent leader and has degrees of control over the Gen 2 RFID Standard.

3. Intermec is forming a gutter business model combined with a possible monopoly position giving Intermec the ability to have possible leverage over the entire RFID industry

If Intermec could achieve the three items above it has a chance to achieve

a: Modern Monopoly Effect.

A Modern Monopoly Effect is when a single monopolistic company achieves a stock market value roughly equal to all the companies' market value that supports the standard. In Intermec's case Intermec could achieve stock market values about equal to all RFID hardware partners businesses that supports Intermec Gen 2 Standard for RFID.

The water from all the shingles on a roof could roughly equals the water flowing into a gutter, a single monopolistic gutter named Intermec.

If Intermec becomes a Modern Monopoly Effect possibly it will become the fifth time we have identified and owned a Modern Monopoly Effect.

Randy Durig manages the Monopoly Technology and Monopoly Blue Chip Portfolio's He tries to own companies that measurably have control or monopolize their markets.

Monopoly Blue Chip Portfolio National Performance Rankings: 3rd

In the United States, Ranked by 3 year annual return , for Large Capitalization Blend, 4th Quarter 2005, By Money Manager Review

Durig Capital is a registered investment advisor. If you know someone that would like our research services just enclose the name, day time phone, and email or rdurig@durig.com or call toll free 877-359-5319

Randy Durig owns Intermec, Qualcomm and Cisco in discretionary client's portfolios and in his own account. Past performance is not a guarantee for future returns. All information we believe to be correct but make no guarantee to accuracy

For more information about monopoly investing please visit http://www.money-manager.us, http://www.durig.com,& http://www.investment-investment.us

Viagra and RFID tags

Viagra's popularity is a known fact. Ever since its launch in 1998 by Pfizer Inc., the erectile dysfunction(ED) drug has performed miracle in the sexual life of millions of its users. The proper usage of Viagra can help in overcoming the ailment of ED to a large extent. Its effectiveness in the treatment of ED is unparallel and due to this factor, lots of dubious companies are making huge chunk of money by manufacturing fake version of it.

Due to this rising business of fake drugs, big companies like Pfizer are incurred with heavy losses as the fake versions of Viagra are available at a much cheaper price. It is a big blow for the company's financial status as the making and manufacturing of Viagra is an expensive affair.

Therefore, to overcome this counterfeit business, Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of Viagra has begun to ship its Viagra product with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to its customers in the U.S. It's part of the company's initiative to promote patient safety by combating pharmaceutical counterfeiting. Pfizer is following on the heels of Purdue Pharma, which began tagging every 100-tablet bottle of the painkiller OxyContin since 2004 for controlling the fake drug business.

The reason behind Viagra's selection for the RFID project is because of the fact that it has been a major target for counterfeiters. The benefit of RFID tag is that it discourages counterfeiting because it is both difficult and expensive to duplicate. RFID tags incorporate the EPC into each package, case and pallet of Viagra so that pharmacists and wholesalers can use specially-designed electronic scanners to communicate the code over the internet to a secure Pfizer website.

This particular step taken by Viagra manufacturer is praise worthy as it can prevent Viagra users from buying fake version of the ED drug.

For more infomation on Viagra, visit: http://www.viagrapunch.com

The author is an amateur writer focusing primarily on health related topics or on the health related research findings.

RFID: California's Identity Information Protection Act

Utah introduced a bill designed to limit the use of RFID by state and county government. It was voted down. Maryland introduced a similar bill. It, too, was voted down. This is California's second RFID bill. The first was... voted down.

So, California's Bill No. 682 may not be an original idea, but it is important and relevant. And the strong bipartisan vote in favor of the bill is also important and relevant.

California Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) introduced the bill in February 2005. Yesterday the California state senate approved the bill in a 29 to 7 vote (21 Democrats and eight Republicans). If passed into law, the California bill will be the first legislation to limit the use of RFID.

An excerpt from bill 682: "This act would prohibit identification documents created, mandated, purchased or issued by various public entities from containing a contactless integrated circuit or other device that can broadcast personal information or enable personal information to be scanned remotely, except as specified."

Nothing wrong with that.

RFID is amazing technology that represents tremendous positive potential. RFID may be the best tool we have to keep our prescription drug pipeline safe, to alert us when an Alzheimer's patient wanders, or to warn us when our car tire is getting low.

It is not the best tool we have for identification.

New technology requires new vigilance. New uses of old technology also requre new vigilance. If we don't make deliberate decisions about the role of RFID in our lives, someone else will. It is that simple.

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning freelance writer and sales trainer. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including RFID, selling skills, motivation, and pharmaceutical sales.

You can contact her at sb14580@yahoo.com and read her latest articles on her website.

Five Companies Big In RFID Adoption (Case Studies)

RFID Radio-frequency identification or RFID is new data-collection technology. This technology uses electronic tags to store identification data. A wireless transmitter sends the data to a management system for analysis. Companies are using it to different functions. The main uses of this technology for the companies are in the field of supply chain management. It is used by companies across sectors. Retailers and their suppliers are using this technology mostly. RFID is becoming a unique tool in the business process. It is a very powerful and important system. Most of the companies today adopting RFID to their business. They are not using this technology to their business only, but adopting at their suppliers level also. These companies are helping their suppliers to use RFID in their operation and improve the efficiency.

Companies are issuing mandates, which ask the suppliers to put RFID tags to products that are shipped to them. Even the FDA is looking at the RFID as a way of solving the problem with counterfeit drugs. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is one of the companies, who are leading the way. Wal-Mart started with adopting RFID to their distribution hubs. It planned to use RFID to its different distribution hubs to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of these hubs. But as they were unable to complete the projected target and as some of the suppliers had problem with the ROI also, they shifted their efforts towards stores. Albertsons Albertsons is a food and drug retailer. It launched an initiative to use electronic tags for tracking goods through its supply chain. It also asked its suppliers to proceed towards adopting RFID in their process. Albertson is using RFID in its warehouses.

It is using RFID tags to track cases and pallets. The main focus is on improving the customer satisfaction by increasing supply chain efficiency. Albertsons this initiative is trying to use RFID technology to track pallets and cases of goods in the movement through warehouses and stores. Best Buy Best buy started with pre-pilot testing of OAT System Inc.'s RFID framework, for its business. RFID tags are being produced by using this framework. For supply chain, it planned to use another software. One of the main suppliers of Best Buy, iRiver started the pre pilot testing for Best Buy. Best Buy has a mandate for its suppliers to use RFID in their business process. According to the mandate, the supplied item to Best Buy should come with the RFID tags attached to them.

Best Buy plans are to move to item-level tagging and to take the RFID adoption to another level beyond simple tagging of pallets and cases. Here it tries to differ from Wal-Mart, Target, Tesco and other retail chains. Tagging individual items is the main objective of Best Buy, which will increase the efficiency. The company is following EPCglobal guidelines for tagging pallets and cases. It has asked for requirements for suppliers which are similar to those issued by Wal-Mart and Target. Target Target is the fourth largest retailer in the United States. Target plan is to use RFID tags on pallets and cases. These pallets and cases are sent to particular regional Distribution Centers (DCs). Target is using EPC standards. Target has put forwarded a mandate for its suppliers, which asks them to apply RFID tags on pallets and cases, which are sent to regional distribution facilities. Target has levied its Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) mandate, thereby forcing the industry to adopt RFID.

Like Wal-Mart, Target used RFID tags in the products they carry. The company planned testing RFID technologies at the pallet and case level with selected vendor partners at first. Target worked with EPCglobal to develop common technology standards. These standards are supposed to benefit both retailers and their suppliers.

Metro Like other behemoths of different industries and of the same industry where it is operating, Metro has also set out to use RFID in its operations. Metro is one of the top five trading and retailing groups in the world. To meet the competition in the retail industry, Metro has also started to use RFID technology to increase its efficiency and profitability. Metro Group used Intel Solution Services in adopting RFID technology. It helped the company to develop and integrate RFID technology across different supply chain processes. METRO Group launched a European RFIDInnovation Center. Intel Solution Services performed testing and provided consultancy to the Metro group. Challenges These companies often face challenges and barriers in adopting RFID technology like problem in integrating RFID with existing systems where they made significant investments, problem with the cost of implementing, which is very high, problem with ever changing RFID Sector, where technologies keep on changing fast, problem in synchronization of data, which is developing slowly, problem with operation in the implementation time etc. While adopting RFID to the overall business, companies have to overcome these barriers.

Bikash is an MBA who works as an freelance writer. He worked for on eof the best private banks in India. He has been writing for the last 5 years. He has worked with many US,UK and Indian clients. Visit him at http://bikiassam.tripod.com

Wireless Shopping with RFID

So wireless networking has got rid of your network cables and your USB cables... what can it do next? Well, the answer might surprise you: wireless is going shopping. There is a small army of uses for this technology and many are in use at this very moment.

RFID: Electronic Barcodes

Yes, that's right: RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a replacement for the barcode, using wireless radio technology. But what's wrong with barcodes, you ask? Well, they need to be scanned, for a start. Supermarkets and other shops have small armies of staff in their stores, in fact, doing almost nothing but scanning barcodes and taking money.

RFID lets barcodes be replaced with radio signals, which can automatically be scanned. In theory, you could have a shopping cart full of RFID-labelled products, put it near an RFID scanner, and the things in your cart would be detected and their prices added up instantly.

Imagine being able to stop in front of a machine at the supermarket's exit, and do nothing but put your credit card in a machine before you leave (if your credit card is RFID-enabled too, you might not even need to do that). You can checkout in a matter of seconds! It's a win-win situation: it saves you time, and it saves the supermarket money. The only people who lose out are the ones getting paid to sit around scanning barcodes, but hey, that's technology for you.

How on Earth Does It Work?

Believe it or not, RFID tags contain tiny antennas, allowing them to transmit small amounts of data by radio. The majority of tags in use today do not have their own power supply (a power supply makes the tag larger and more expensive), which means that they must rely on power they receive through the air by radio. This is such a tiny amount of power that it is only just enough to transmit an ID number. This does work, however, from as much as five metres away.

For shopping use, tags that send numbers are sufficient -- a barcode is just a number in the form of lines, after all. These tags are now as cheap as 40 cents, and mass production means the price is only going to come down -- RFID is likely to become widespread in the next decade. The smallest RFID tags are already thin enough to be almost invisible.

Privacy and Other Uses of RFID

There are privacy concerns around the use of RFID, simply because it makes it so quick and easy to tag just about anything -- and the tags can be scanned without any human interaction. This, however, is also what makes the system very useful.

Pets are already implanted with RFID tags so that they can be identified if found, and the idea of humans being made to have RFID implants as a replacement for identity cards isn't as science fiction as it sounds -- it is possible today. As long ago as 1998, a professor was able to implant a tag in his arm. The technology is being considered for used on prisoners. In countries that already have ID cards or that will have them soon, RFID tracking probably won't be far behind.

If RFID shopping tags are left on things, then people could leave tags on their clothes or other products without realising it. This has all sorts of implications -- someone might be able to point an RFID scanner at your house and get a list of everything in it that still has a tag, for example.

RFID is already widely used in many industries. Warehouses use them to track pallets of goods, some libraries put them in books and airlines use them to track baggage. Usage is particularly common in building access control (the ID cards for employees that open the door automatically).

Travel is another growth area: many parts of the USA have the option of using RFID cards to pay at toll booth's, and the London Underground now uses RFID payment cards known as Oyster cards. There are even RFID car keys that can open the door while they're still in your pocket, without you doing a thing.

Environmental Concerns

As a footnote to all this, many people are concerned about the environmental impact RFID could have. Although they are small, using computer chips as a replacement for barcodes could lead to the equivalent of many thousands of computers being thrown away every year.

Information supplied and written by Lee Asher of Eclipse Domain Services
Domain Names, Hosting, Traffic and Email Solutions.

RFID: NAVI (Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired)

Thanks to an engineering professor and a group of students at the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, RFID may play a significant role in increasing independence for people who are visually impaired or blind.

Jack Mottley, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, supervised a student research project to develop NAVI (Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired). The team successfully designed an RFID prototype that makes it easier for blind and visually impaired people to navigate the corridors and tunnels of the U of R buildings and campus.

Most commercial applications of RFID utilize a fixed reader and mobile, item-level tags or transponders. Mottley's team has reversed positions for their system.

NAVI consists of multiple fixed-position RFID transponders (tags) located throughout the testing hallway, and a hand-held RFID reader (transceiver), which emits low-frequency radio signals. When a reader passes near a transponder, the transponder detects the radio signal and sends back a unique, pre-defined electronic code. Each code activates a different site-specific audio recording, used to orient the NAVI user.

For example, as a NAVI user proceeds through a campus building, periodically passing transponders along the way, they will hear recordings that say, "Elevator is located 20 feet straight ahead", or "Proceed straight ahead ten feet, turn right, stairway directly ahead."

The NAVI system gives blind and visually impaired people the freedom to navigate the campus-- including unfamiliar buildings-- unescorted. That's quite an impact on quality of life!

RFID technology holds considerably more promise than current applications represent. Improvements in read distance and cost will be key to accelerating the adoption of NAVI-type systems on other campuses, museums, hospitals, and other public buildings.

NAVI is an impressive example of the power of RFID to benefit our lives. It is free from the privacy concerns related to commercial applications of RFID. It does not raise any issues of government surveillance, HMO interference or consumer monitoring. It is simply a good thing. Hopefully, it is the first of many.

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning freelance writer and sales trainer. She has published articles on a variety of topics, including RFID, selling skills, motivation, and pharmaceutical sales.

You can contact her at sb14580@yahoo.com and read her latest articles on her website.