May 06, 2021Presented here are recent news announcements regarding the following organizations: Angelpaw, Borda Technology, Northern Cyprus Turkcell, Texi, the U.S. Air Force, Everactive, Silicon Labs, Skyworks Solutions, Calypso Networks Association, the NFC Forum, Sewio Networks, XO2Tech and PervasID.
Angelpaw Offers RFID Platform for Pet Aquamation
Angelpaw, a cloud-based software-as-a-service provider for pet crematoriums, veterinarians and pet owners, has announced the launch of its RFID-based real-time platform for pet aquamation. The platform digitizes the pet aquamation lifecycle to increase operational efficiencies and accuracy, reduce errors and processing times, and provide transparency to those within the ecosystem, the company reports, including for veterinarian office order capture, tracking and reporting.
Angelpaw uses UHF RFID technology to read and write data digitally from and onto water- and heat-resistant tags. Fixed overhead antennas, as well as proximity and mobile handheld scanners, track pets in real time through the aquamation processes at veterinarian offices and aquamation centers, as well as in delivery vans. Veterinaries can scan the plastic tag, and the pet and parent data will be instantly stored digitally onto the tag, thereby reducing errors and processing times. The tag is never separated from the pet and is designed to function throughout aquamation.
The system can read tags not in line-of-sight from more than 150 feet away, and within groups simultaneously. Loading-dock antennas automatically pre-check groups of pets within vans as they enter facilities, and tags within range are automatically updated with change-order requests. Pre-established handheld readers and proximity scanners scan pets into and out of stations once services are performed, along with recording time and user stamps, enabling operational efficiencies and full chain of custody, the company reports.
"Fueled by pet parents' desire to lessen environmental impact, aquamation is seeing explosive growth," said James Byler, the company's founder and CEO, in a prepared statement. "Applying Angelpaw's world-class pet cremation platform to aquamation is a logical step for us. Our aquamation partners achieve huge operational efficiencies and cost saving, veterinarians reduce errors and processing times by automating data transfers through their Practice Information Management Systems (PIMS), while pet parents have peace of mind and full transparency via our text and email notification platform."
Borda Technology Deploys IoT Wristbands with Northern Cyprus Turkcell, Partners with Texi
Borda Technology has announced that passengers' real-time locations are being tracked 24-7 via electronic wristbands and Northern Cyprus Turkcell's Güvende Kal (Stay Safe) mobile application, to ensure they stay in their designated safe areas during visits. "Our wristbands have been keeping thousands of babies safe in hospitals for over 10 years," said Akın Altunbas, Borda Technology's co-founder and CEO, in a prepared statement. "With this project, we are proud of contributing to the country's economy and minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission in Northern Cyprus." The project, intended to revive tourism, utilizes IoT wristbands developed by Borda and the Stay Safe mobile phone app.
The lightweight, anti-bacterial bracelets have a long battery life, the company reports, and are designed for daily use. The operation is managed by Northern Cyprus Turkcell's Quarantine Tracking Center, as well as its field-operation and call-center teams. Passengers can download the Stay Safe app to their phones before arriving at the airport, then wear Borda electronic wristbands. Within a specified time, they are expected to proceed to the quarantine area and mark their location from the app. Phone signals are checked by Northern Cyprus Turkcell's field operations team to ensure that visitors reach the quarantine area. Their real-time locations are then tracked via Borda's electronic wristbands and the Stay Safe app.
"In the COVID-19 period, smartphone applications were launched for isolation monitoring," Altunbas added in the statement. "However, these methods are insufficient in situations such as leaving the quarantine area without a mobile phone. When the mobile phone application and wristbands work together, the system detects any movement out of the isolation area or any disconnection or removal of the wristband. In these cases, automatic real-time notifications are sent to the operation center."
In addition, Borda and Texi, its textile logistics solution partner in Scandinavia, have announced the formation of a joint venture known as BordaTex. Borda says its objective is to become a leader in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for healthcare throughout the Nordic countries. According to the two companies, BordaTex will bring operational awareness and insights through actionable IoT data so hospital personnel can focus on patient care, enabling managers to make insightful, data-driven decisions.
"We are glad to enter the Nordic market with such a strong partner in the region and are excited to carry our knowledge and experience in IoT solutions throughout the Nordics," Altunbas said in a separate prepared statement. Anders Bergfeldt, Bordatex's CEO, added, "Both Borda Technology and Texi are known for their expertise in IoT, and this joint venture offers an outstanding opportunity to be the leading supplier of IoT for healthcare in the Nordics."
U.S. Air Force Awards Research Contract to Everactive for IoT Sensing Applications
Everactive, which sells batteryless, wireless Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract through AFWERX, the U.S. Air Force's technology accelerator, to identify additional sensing applications for military use. The company is currently performing on a Phase II SBIR contract, validating its batteryless Steam Trap Monitoring and Machine Health Monitoring systems at Hill Air Force Base (AFB), which covers one million acres with 1,700 facilities.
Everactive has already deployed its sensors to continuously monitor 650 steam traps and 550 rotating machines throughout the base. Now, the company has entered a Phase I SBIR contract to identify additional use cases that could benefit from its technology; Phase II would fund the development of the newly identified applications and their demonstration at an Air Force base. For depots like Hill AFB, the Air Force is investing heavily in IoT technologies to provide better ways to manage systems and to orchestrate the data. But with a base the size of Hill AFB, the company explains, there is a lot of machinery and infrastructure that lacks data-collection capabilities.
Adding battery-powered devices to monitor those assets would require maintenance teams to replace sensor batteries, whereas Everactive's sensors are powered through low levels of harvested energy, eliminating the need for batteries. The wireless sensors transmit data continuously up to a distance of 250 meters (820 feet) to Everactive's IoT gateways, then to the cloud, where the company analyzes the information to provide actionable insights for maintenance and reliability professionals.
"Without technology like Everactive, maintenance personnel must manually inspect systems, which is time-intensive and may not occur often enough to identify issues prior to failure," said Nickolas King, Hill AFB's base energy manager, in a prepared statement. "Everactive's ability to deliver real-time monitoring and insights through a batteryless solution is compelling, as it eliminates the maintenance and disposal of the batteries that would otherwise be required for a full-scale deployment."
"It is an honor to have been selected as part of the SBIR program, and especially the opportunity to continue with the U.S. Air Force to develop new, valuable applications using our batteryless technology," added John Greenfield, Everactive's VP of business development and partnership, in the prepared statement. "We believe our batteryless technology can provide the U.S. Air Force and other Department of Defense branches with significant cost savings, efficiency and valuable insights across maintenance processes, and we are confident our technology will show that at the completion of the SBIR contracts."
Silicon Labs Sells Assets to Skyworks Solutions, Focuses on IoT
Silicon Labs has announced that it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement to sell its Infrastructure & Automotive (I&A) business to Skyworks Solutions for $2.75 billion in all-cash consideration. The transaction includes Silicon Labs' power/isolation, timing and broadcast products, as well as intellectual property and associated employees.
Silicon Labs' two businesses, IoT and I&A, are fundamentally different, the company explains, each with its own unique markets, customers, supply chains, R&D and go-to-market strategies. After executing the I&A divestiture, Silicon Labs will focus entirely on providing intelligent, wireless connectivity for the IoT. Silicon Labs and Skyworks will collaborate to ensure a seamless transition for customers, suppliers and employees. "The outcome of this deal is a measurable testament to the industry-leading solutions and strong financial performance the world-class infrastructure and automotive team delivered the last 25 years," said Tyson Tuttle, Silicon Labs' CEO, in a prepared statement.
Silicon Labs expects to receive an estimated $2.3 billion in net proceeds after taxes and transaction fees. The company intends to return $2 billion to shareholders through a combination of dividends and/or share repurchases after the transaction closes. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which is expected to close during the third quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions. The firm does not believe the transaction will require regulatory approval in China.
The proceeds will enable Silicon Labs to focus its efforts on the IoT market. The company provided preliminary revenue results for the first quarter, ending Apr. 3, 2021, and it expects total Q1 revenue to be approximately $255 million. This represents an increase of 5 percent sequentially and 19 percent year-over-year, with the forecasted upside primarily due to solid growth in IoT, continued strength in bookings and durable demand trends.
"The massive growth in connected devices makes this the right time for us to exclusively focus on the large, diverse, growing IoT opportunity," added John Hollister, Silicon Labs' CFO, in the prepared statement. "Our updated operating model for the IoT business indicates a long-term revenue growth rate of 20 percent, outpacing the forecasted industry CAGR of mid-teens for our combined target IoT end markets of industrial & commercial and home & life." With the investments Silicon Labs is making in the IoT business, the company expects to drive sustainable growth and deliver long-term 20-25 percent non-GAAP operating margin.
"We're more than a semiconductor company—our hardware, software, tools and partnerships are designed to help IoT businesses get to market quickly with the world's most secure, intelligent, energy-efficient edge devices," added Matt Johnson, Silicon Labs' president, in the prepared statement. "Focusing efforts and resources on IoT enables Silicon Labs to gain valuable operating efficiencies and ROI. Our team will develop advanced innovations faster and provide a superior user experience no matter the customer's wireless protocol, ecosystem, application or embedded expertise level."
Calypso Networks Association, NFC Forum to Collaborate
The Calypso Networks Association (CNA), which brings transport operators and authorities together to evolve contactless ticketing systems, and the NFC Forum, a standards body for advancing Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The two organizations will collaborate to educate the market on the value of using NFC technology to deliver smart ticketing solutions.
Specific focus will be placed on how expanding this infrastructure provides travelers with secure, end-to-end ticketing services for use in mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions. NFC is among the most widely implemented technologies in the world is and available on three billion smartphones. The Calypso standard supports NFC technology to provide multiservice applications for transport ticketing, as well as leisure, access control, and bike and car sharing.
"At CNA, we believe that NFC is the best solution for providing users with simple, efficient, ergonomic access to all forms of mobility," said Philippe Vappereau, CNA's chairman, in a prepared statement. "The collaboration with the NFC Forum is an important opportunity to promote the benefits of open standards more effectively to all players in public transport and showcase the value of converging on-demand transport ticketing services that support a range of consumer mobility solutions."
"We plan to start coordinating NFC Forum efforts with CNA activities immediately," added Mike McCamon, the NFC Forum's executive director, in the prepared statement. "Activities under discussion include a white paper highlighting the benefits of NFC technology for public transit decision makers, as well as identifying and developing new NFC use cases in transit applications, particularly with MaaS solutions."
Sewio Networks Updates RTLS Software for Workplace Safety
Sewio Networks, a UWB-based real-time location system (RTLS) vendor, has released the latest version of its RTLS Studio 2.4 platform, enabling a new set of workplace-safety use cases due to its precise and scalable Tag Zones. According to the company, this latest version of its software offers increased support for enterprise-level and large-scale installations, in addition to easier integration with third-party systems.
Industrial safety is becoming increasingly important, Sewio reports, and companies are seeking new ways to protect their personnel. RTLS Studio 2.4 utilizes geofencing to allow the creation of dynamic Tag Zones that move together with their assigned entity. This enables alerting based on the proximity of two moving entities, helping to prevent incidents and fatal injuries. Contact tracing is facilitated via the tracking of people's movements and encounters. This function aims to minimize the spread of respiratory diseases by leveraging both real-time and historical data of any and all contacts between employees.
In addition, the RTLS Studio docker is now generally available, making the RTLS Studio platform-agnostic and thus simplifying the deployment of Sewio's RTLS platform. The integration of Sewio's RTLS with multiple complex systems is now easier, the company reports, due to the use of a Universal Unique ID (UUID), which streamlines the pairing between RTLS tags and the tracked entity.
"We are constantly working toward improving our software and bringing our customers easy-to-use, reliable and accessible tools to help them launch and manage their RTLS to create a safer working environment," said Lubomir Mraz, Sewio Networks' CTO, in a prepared statement. "We are excited to introduce the new 2.4 version of RTLS Studio, adding multiple new use cases to an already wide portfolio of safety applications."
XO2Tech Unveils New RFID Products
XO2Tech has announced three new offerings in the RFID space. The company's Digital Reality Series is a combined software and hardware solution that can interface with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets to wirelessly generate and integrate user voice, emotions, body vital signs and movement data. The system is configured to wirelessly capture, monitor and analyze user data with AI and voice, RFID or RF sensors, and to incorporate that data into the VR/AR headset or platform for single or multiple headsets.
The Digital Reality Series is designed for applications ranging from video gaming and well-being to healthcare solutions. The latter can range from addressing cognitive deficits or neurological disorders, such as concussions, strokes and genetic predispositions, to conversational healthcare applications for loneliness, social isolation, trauma or rehabilitation. The Digital Reality Series forms part of the company's Smart Care Platform.
XO2Tech's In-Car Sentient-Voice Assistant is designed to respond to driver commands and phrases; monitor and analyze a driver's voice, body vital signs and movements; create conversations using generated data; and provide driver interventions when voice, body vital signs or movements exceed determined measurements or levels using AI-based next-step data actions. The system wirelessly monitors and analyzes users via RF or RFID; provides conversation, commands and responses; and monitors and analyzes drivers' voices and utterances.
Finally, XO2Tech has introduced its Sentient Gaming Console, a video-gaming console module designed to provide Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC gaming with combined sentient, dynamic and static video-game features and learning. The system integrates a player's voice, vital signs and movements into a gaming console to create what the company calls a "more profound, coherent and connected player emotional, physical or body vital sign gaming experiences and interactions."
These experiences can integrate first-person action and role-playing to game mapping and strategy solutions, based on players' voice, vital signs and movements, as well as their responses to video game stimuli that can include audio, visual, physical, voice, questions, problem solving and more. A gaming console is designed to integrate with the Sentient Gaming Console module or the Smart Care Platform, which provides wireless voice and RFID or RF monitoring and analysis.
PervasID Wins Queen's Award for Enterprise
PervasID, which develops RFID reader systems for automating inventory and asset tracking, has announced that it has received a Queen's Award for Enterprise. The award recognizes PervasID's work in battery-free tag-tracking technology to allow enterprises to improve how they manage inventory and optimize their asset management. The awards are now in their 55th year, and PervasID joins more than 7,000 U.K. enterprises that have received this Royal recognition since 1965.
PervasID's passive RFID fixed reader technology, designed for automating inventory tracking, stock-taking and asset-management processes, was developed in Cambridge, England, and is sold around the world. The company's patented products allow organizations in a variety of markets to streamline processes by providing visibility into goods, assets and individuals.
A single reader can cover up to 400 square meters (4,305 square feet) with 99 percent accuracy in real time, the company reports, and it can be scaled to much larger areas, such as industrial warehouses, multi-story buildings or healthcare campuses. Its fixed reader products have been deployed in Europe, Asia and the United States, and its clients include department stores, industrial firms, healthcare establishments, systems integrators and large-scale enterprises.
"There are few things more critical to an enterprise than having clear oversight of where assets are and making sure that they are being used in the most efficient way possible," said Sabesan Sithamparanathan, PervasID's founder and CEO, in a prepared statement. "Our Cambridge-developed battery-free technology allows enterprises of all types to keep track of their inventory and asset cost effectively with unparalleled accuracy and speed. Our company has grown rapidly, with deployments around the globe, and we are delighted to have been recognized with this Queen's Award for our innovation."
