| Feature
of the Month:
In this issue:
| Feature: TI Teams Up with Leading Reader and Printer Partners for EPC Gen 2 Interoperability |
|
TI has announced broad industry support for its Electronic Product Code™ (EPC) Gen 2 technology through its collaboration with 12 leading printer and reader manufacturers: Avery Dennison, AWID, Datamax Corporation, FEIG, Paxar, Printronix, SATO, Sirit Inc., SAMSys, ThingMagic, WJ Communications, and Zebra Technologies Corporation. TI is working with this alliance to ensure interoperability within the EPC Gen 2 radio frequency identification (RFID) infrastructure and to drive accelerated adoption of EPC Generation 2 compliant solutions in the global retail supply chain. All of the companies are committed to providing products based on the EPC Gen 2 standard, and are working in close collaboration with TI to bring to market a wide range of interoperable solutions for encoders, readers, printers, and hardware devices that support TI's EPC Gen 2 products which are planned for volume production beginning in 3Q 2005.
"TI is proud to continue its collaboration with leading global manufacturers of hardware devices with a common goal of delivering interoperable, reliable and scalable solutions to achieve the promise of the Generation 2 standard for mass adoption in the retail supply chain," said Tony Sabetti, UHF/Retail Supply Chain director, Texas Instruments RFid Systems.
"The UHF Gen 2 protocol is one of the most significant developments for RFID in the value chain. For multi-national companies such as Kimberly-Clark it will allow us to deploy a common technology platform across all of our businesses. Even if your business is more local in nature, you will realize the benefits from improved performance interoperability, and scalability. K-C is encouraged and pleased with the efforts of Texas Instruments and collaboration of others as they work together to deliver solutions to help drive RFID adoption," said Michael O'Shea, director of Corporate Auto-ID/RFID Strategies and Technology, Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
The EPC Gen 2 standard is widely supported by users and manufacturers within the RFID industry and will facilitate the widespread deployment of EPC RFID technology in the retail supply chain. In 2004, TI and other major RFID suppliers worked to define this next generation standard which was ratified by EPCglobal Inc. in December. EPC Gen 2 has several advantages over the first-generation EPC Class 0 and Class 1 standards including global interoperability, the ability to optimize performance in different global regulatory environments, read/write field programmability, faster tag read/write rates, the ability to operate in dense reader environments, and migration to future EPC classes.
"Achieving the highest level of Gen 2 interoperability is central to the rapid deployment of Gen 2 solutions," continued Sabetti. "The collective focus and work toward interoperability by Texas Instruments and of all the printer and reader companies we're pleased to be working with, assures the market that their commitment to Gen 2 is well founded."
The expectations of a rapidly growing market are fueling TI's investment in interoperability. TI and its printer and reader partners are dedicated to working together to bring customers a reliable, cost effective technology. Leading manufacturers are committed to TI's Gen 2 interoperability strategy:
AWID : "TI's a large global RFID tag manufacturer with decades of experience and extensive RFID resources, and is bringing these capabilities to its Gen 2 effort in 2005," said Jeff Jacobsen, president of AWID. "We offer a complete line of RFID readers with demonstrated EPC Gen 2 read / write capability, and as a strategic reader supplier of TI EPC Gen 2 tags, we are optimizing reader performance to provide TI customers with superior, low cost Gen 2 products today."
Datamax Corporation : "Datamax is excited and proud to work with an industry leader like Texas Instruments. Datamax believes that all in the RFID industry have a common responsibility to ensure interoperability of RFID components, ultimately making the users' implementation as simple as possible. This will help drive the adoption of RFID across the retail and other supply chains, helping drive down costs and increase efficiencies to never before seen levels, a good thing for all involved."
PAXAR : "Paxar is pleased to be working with Texas Instruments to ensure that the promise of open and interoperable Gen 2 systems will soon be a reality for RFID users," said Rick Bauer, Paxar's senior director, RFID Technical Research. "We expect to be one of the earliest providers of Gen 2 capable printer/ encoders and smart labels. Our testing has shown that the enhancements inherent in Gen 2 chips will provide significantly enhanced system performance for our customers."
PRINTRONIX : According to Andy Chapman, senior vice president, engineering and product marketing, and chief technology officer, Printronix, "Printronix is a leader in EPC RFID encoding technology and the manufacturer of the world's most widely distributed UHF printer globally. As such, we are committed to working with other industry leaders, such as TI, to provide EPC Gen 2 support quickly. Since entering the RFID market in September 2003, our mission has been to fast track RFID implementation. Our collaboration with TI will help accelerate adoption of EPC Gen 2-compliant printing solutions among the global retail supply chain."
SAMSys Technologies : "We continue to expand our RFID reader product line to support the open standard initiatives of EPCglobal Inc and ISO. We are delighted to be working in close collaboration with TI to help commercialize the new Gen 2 tag protocol standard so that end users can benefit from the inherent advantages of the Gen 2 protocol," said Cliff Horwitz, chairman, president and CEO of SAMSys Technologies.
SATO America : "TI's leadership position in the development of EPC Gen 2 technology is further stimulating the adoption of RFID technology, and accelerating SATO's development of EPC Gen 2 RFID Solutions to meet the demands of our customers," said Jan Svoboda, RFID Business Unit manager, SATO America.
Sirit Inc. : "Sirit and Texas Instruments have enjoyed a prosperous relationship for many years, and Sirit is very pleased to be one of the first RFID reader companies to receive the Gen 2 emulator from Texas Instruments," said Bill Staudt, president and CEO, Sirit Inc. "It continues to be imperative for suppliers of tags and readers to work closely together to meet the growing needs and demands of the market. With the Gen 2 emulator in hand, Sirit will be able to engineer new, and retro-engineer our existing products to perform to the new standard, and we anticipate offering Gen 2 compliant solutions across our entire offering as the rollout of the Gen 2 tags begins early this summer."
ThingMagic : "ThingMagic's Mercury4 readers are hardware compatible with native Generation 2 now," said Tom Grant, ThingMagic chairman and CEO. "A simple software upgrade provides full Generation 2 compatibility. Working with TI's emulator is one important step that helps ensure ThingMagic readers are ready before Generation 2 tags are available, a key step in ensuring infrastructure readiness for mass adoption of interoperable Generation 2 products."
WJ Communications : "WJ Communications is pleased to be a part of the early team receiving a Gen 2 tag emulator from TI and to be working with TI to ensure interoperability and early availability of Gen 2 products," said Michael Farese, WJ Communications president and CEO. "WJ's RFID engines enable major OEMs to provide multi-protocol RFID readers that support EPC standards. We believe that this program will benefit our customers and foster Gen 2 adoption by the industry."
Zebra Technologies Corporation : "Zebra and Texas Instruments have been closely aligned on RFID technology advancement since the late 1990s, when we collaborated on developing passive UHF RFID technology for supply chain logistics applications, culminating in the release of the first commercially available printer/encoder, Zebra's Model R-140. Today we're pleased to announce continuation of that technology partnership, as we collaborate and jointly progress to the accelerated implementation of Gen 2 technology," said Bob Cornick, Zebra VP/GM of RFID."
back
to top |
ExpressPay From American Express Gains Momentum With New Merchant Partners
Ritz Camera and Sheetz Latest to Offer Contactless Payment Convenience at More Than 1,500 Retail Locations Nationwide
American Express has announced that Ritz Camera, the nation's largest photographic chain, and Sheetz, the family- owned convenience store chain, have signed on as the newest partners in its ExpressPay contactless payments program. ExpressPay uses TI's 13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 14443 contactless payment technology. With more than 1,500 locations between them, Ritz Camera and Sheetz join CVS and a host of other prominent merchants as part of the ExpressPay program.
ExpressPay uses radio frequency (RF) technology in the form of a "wave- and-go" key fob or embedded in a traditional American Express card to make everyday purchases fast and easy. The user simply holds the fob or card next to a reader at the checkout counter to complete a purchase. The authorization takes place in seconds and no signature is required. Research conducted by American Express as part of its extensive pilot testing showed that consumers using ExpressPay benefit from significantly faster transactions relative to purchases using cash. Merchants can also benefit from greater efficiency and reduced transaction times, as well as from average transactions that are up to 30% larger with ExpressPay compared to cash purchases.
American Express has been testing ExpressPay in Phoenix since 2002 and in New York since 2003. In addition to CVS and Ritz Camera, merchants participating in the Phoenix pilot have included participating locations of Carl's Jr., Fry's (Kroger) supermarkets, Blimpie Subs & Salads, Dairy Queen, Cold Stone Creamery, Schlotzsky's Deli and many others.
"We continue to be very pleased with consumer and merchant acceptance of ExpressPay and are thrilled with its momentum in the marketplace, as evidenced by today's announcement," said David Bonalle, vice president and general manager of Advanced Payments for American Express. "American Express aims to be a superior business partner to our merchants and to provide real value for our merchants and consumers alike. ExpressPay is yet another way we help our Cardmembers and our merchant partners reap substantial benefits in terms of speed, convenience and customer service."
Sheetz has already rolled out ExpressPay acceptance in all of its 305 convenience stores nationwide. In addition, ExpressPay will be enabled at Sheetz gas pumps by June 1, 2005, expediting the payment process for all aspects of the Sheetz shopping experience. This system-wide implementation will provide unparalleled convenience to Sheetz customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.
Ritz Camera Centers will install ExpressPay in each of its over 1,100 retail camera and photo stores and 114 Boater's World Marine Centers locations nationwide, beginning with stores in New York and Phoenix.
ExpressPay adheres to ISO 14443, the interoperable standard that has been adopted by the major payment brands for conducting contactless payments. Many leading point-of-sale (POS) and reader manufacturers are integrating RF technology into their POS equipment, enabling them to read ExpressPay and other contactless payment products. The adoption of a common standard as well as the availability of low-cost RF solutions for the POS that are simple to implement is facilitating the rapid acceleration of contactless payments in retail environments globally.
The introduction of ExpressPay continues American Express' tradition of innovation. American Express introduced the industry's first plastic credit card in 1959, and, in 1972, issued the first magnetic stripe card nationally. In 1999, American Express delivered the payment industry's first wide-scale rollout of smart cards in the United States when it introduced Blue from American Express. The company also was an early adopter and industry leader in leveraging the Internet to develop new products, expand its customer service, and improve its overall operations.
For more information about ExpressPay, visit http://www.americanexpress.com/expresspay.
back to top
TI Joins Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum as Sponsor Member
The Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum, a non-profit industry association launched in 2004 by Nokia Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics and Sony Corporation to promote NFC technology, recently announced that 18 more organizations from around the world have joined the group.
MasterCard International, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Microsoft Corp., Motorola, NEC, Samsung, Texas Instruments and Visa International have become Sponsor Members, receiving seats on the Forum's Board of Directors. As a group, the Sponsor Members will represent the leading players in key industries in all the major regions of the world.
Additional organizations that have joined the NFC Forum in other membership categories include 3ALogics Inc., CETECOM Spain, Gemplus, Giesecke & Devrient, JCB Co. Ltd., Logitech, MeT Ltd., Mobey Forum, SKIDATA AG, and Smart System Technologies, Inc.
"The strong interest the Forum has received from key players in the industry is a clear endorsement of our goals and a predictor of energetic Forum activities," said Christophe Duverne, chairman of the NFC Forum.
The NFC Forum is a global standards development and advocacy group dedicated to advancing near field communication technology, educating the public about its benefits, and furthering its implementation around the world. NFC technology for short-range wireless connectivity will allow users to access content and services, transact payments and store tickets on their smart phones, PDAs and other consumer electronics by just holding NFC-enabled devices next to each other.
For more information, visit http://www.nfc-forum.org, call NFC membership services at +1 781-876-8955, or send a message to info@nfc-forum.org.
back to top
RFID Technology from Texas Instruments and RF Code Brings Service and Safety to Guests at Steamboat Ski Resort  From the top of the mountain to Gondola Square, guests at the Steamboat Ski Area in Colorado are enjoying a new suite of services this season with the launch of the Steamboat MountainWatch guest and amenity locating system. Steamboat is the first ski area to offer a radio frequency identification (RFID) guest location product using SafeTzone's Real-Time Guest and Amenity Locating System. The system combines passive and active radio RFID tags from Texas Instruments and RF Code, respectively, and allows guests to better locate all members of their group on the mountain; to discover amenities and recommended routes; to receive information and notification on lift status, weather and special offers; and to communicate with others in their group through kiosk messaging, all with a simple swipe of the wristband locator.
"The Steamboat MountainWatch locator bracelets are an important part of creating a family friendly environment that offers our guests access to a range of information services and peace of mind to enjoy a day on the slopes with confidence," said Andy Wirth, vice president of sales and marketing at Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation.
With the Steamboat MountainWatch location package, which costs as low as $25 for a family of four for a week's visit, each guest receives a Steamboat MountainWatch wristband, which combines a Texas Instruments 23mm passive, low frequency transponder and an RF Code Mantis™ series active RFID tag. The Steamboat MountainWatch product is offered free of charge to everyone under 16 years old who is enrolled in the Kids' Vacation Center, Steamboat Ski & Snowboard School and KVC Child Care.
The Steamboat MountainWatch wristband communicates information, including a person's location, via radio signals to a series of RFID readers and makes the information accessible through the half dozen Steamboat MountainWatch touch screen kiosks situated throughout the resort. RF Code's TAVIS™ data management software collects and consolidates data from the active RFID tags, while SafeTzone's patented Real-Time Location Module draws associations among the passive and active data to identify and locate each member of a group.
While the active tag communicates a person's location, the passive RF tag automatically identifies visitors as they approach the touch screen kiosks and scan their wristbands, linking them to onscreen icons marking the individual location of any member of their family or group within the resort and resort base. The instant, real-time location of group members and amenities enables new levels of visibility and safety for groups and families. The system's coverage includes Gondola Square and the entire base of the mountain up to the Christie II & III lifts. At the top of the mountain, coverage includes all restaurants inside and outside, and the bottom and top of each lift.
The Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation is the most recent company to incorporate the SafeTzone Location Services package into an entertainment park. Other deployments of the SafeTzone solution include Paramount's Great America (Santa Clara, CA), Wild Rivers Water Park (Irvine, CA), Dollywood's Splash Country (Pigeon Forge, TN), Wet'n Wild (Las Vegas, NV) and the Wannado City entertainment complex (Ft. Lauderdale, FL).
Questions about SafeTzone may be directed to its Director of Corporate Sales at 1-949-855-8987.or to its website at www.safetzone.com.
back
to top
|
