Apr 29, 2005The following are news announcements made during the week of Apr. 25.
PayPass Coming to Theaters Near You
Regal Entertainment Group, which runs the Regal Cinemas, United Artists and Edwards theaters (which operate a combined 6,273 screens in 558 locations in 40 states), has become the first movie theater circuit to accept MasterCard's RFID-enabled contactless payment system, PayPass. Two United Artists Theatres in New York City are currently offering the payment option, according to a Regal Cinemas representative. By the end of the summer, the company plans to add PayPass to approximately 560 Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theatres and Edwards Theatres in 40 states. Consumers carrying a PayPass card or key fob can tap or wave their PayPass payment device in front of an RFID-enabled payment terminal to pay for items. PayPass is currently offered at select CVS pharmacies, McDonald's restaurants and Sheetz convenience stores and gas stations. MasterCard has also conducted pilots test with mobile phone manufacturers Nokia and Motorola in which the PayPass payment device has been embedded into Nokia and Motorola phones so that users can use the phone as contactless payment device.
CDO Releases Locating System
CDO Technologies, a systems integrator based in Dayton, Ohio, has announced the availability of ATLAS, a real-time locating system that uses active RFID tags from RF Code, in Mesa, Ariz. ATLAS locates assets through a zone-based system: A facility is mapped out into zones, and a reader is placed in each of these zones. The ATLAS software associates each read with the zone in which it was read, thereby allowing users to know which zone the asset is in. ATLAS was designed to integrate with RF Code's TAVIS Auto-ID software platform, which acts as middleware that can also support other types of auto-ID technologies, such as passive RFID tags, bar codes and smart cards. ATLAS is available now. Pricing is based on configuration, customer requirements and installation size. A small customized installation begins at approximately $50,000.
New Printer-Encoder-Applicator from MPI Label
MPI Label Systems, a Sebring, Ohio-based provider of RFID smart labels and printer, has released the 3600RW, a device that the company says can print, encode, validate and affix up to 30 smart labels per minute, eliminating the need for pre-encoded RFID labels. The 3600RW's read-write head inspects each transponder at the point of label application to make sure the RFID inlay in the label is functioning. Labels with defective transponders are detected and discarded. The 3600RW uses an OEM printer from either Sato or Zebra, depending on the customer's preference. The 3600RW is available now; pricing, which varies according to the chosen components, starts at around $85,000.
Psion Teklogix Partners with Printronix
Psion Teklogix, a maker of mobile computing devices for wireless data-collection and RFID systems based in Ontario, Canada, has announced a partnership with RFID printing technology provider Printronix, based in Irvine, Calif. Through the partnership, Psion Teklogix will incorporate select Printronix printers into a new line of Psion Teklogix product offerings. These printers include Printronix's SmartLine, a multiprotocol printer-encoder label applicator that verifies the functionality of each label's embedded RFID tag. Customers who are conducting an RFID pilot can use the SmartLine Developer's Kit to test label read rates and label placements.
SAMSys Joins Oracle's PartnerNetwork
SAMSys Technologies, an RFID solutions provider based in Toronto, has joined the Oracle PartnerNetwork. By joining the network SAMSys becomes a certified Oracle partner and will enjoy increased exposure to the more than 14,000 other Oracle PartnerNetwork companies, including system integrators and value-added resellers, developing products based on Oracle's Application Server 10g Sensor Edge Server. SAMSys says its readers can be easily integrated into Oracle's e-business suite of warehouse management software and other Oracle offerings as part of a complete solution designed to meet RFID-compliance initiatives and/or improve business processes. SAMSys readers use a patented open architecture that supports multiple RFID protocols and frequencies. This architecture gives enterprises a choice of RFID tags as well as the ability to migrate to new tag technology at any time without being forced to change their reader hardware.
Tyco Announces Tests Results
RFID product developer Tyco Fire & Security has announced that during EPCglobal hardware interoperability testing, Tyco's multiprotocol Sensormatic RFID reader was proven to be interoperable with the following Class 0 and Class 1 RFID tags: Impinj Zuma, Symbol X1010, Symbol X2020, Alien EPC Class 1 96-bit, ASK 001, Omron V740-D12P01 and UPM Rafsec 3000476. MET Laboratories, a company that provides extensive testing and consulting services, performed the interoperability tests in a controlled environment located in its Baltimore facility. The testing is part of an effort by EPCglobal to improve Electronic Product Code (EPC) and RFID hardware interoperability within the EPCglobal community. EPCglobal, a joint venture of GS1 and the Uniform Code Council, is a not-for-profit organization entrusted by industry to establish and support the EPCglobal Network as the global standard for real-time, automatic identification of information in the supply chain.
