via Reuters
Hitachi aims to raise sales in its “traceability” business, including radio frequency identification (RFID) and IC tags, to 80 billion yen ($695 million) in the year to March 2011, against an estimated 5 billion yen in 2006/07, by introducing 125 different systems targeting specific industries and purposes.
Sobal Corp. developed so-called visible light tags. It uses visble light instead of radio waves for the communication between tags and readers. Visible light tags can, for example, be used in a hospital where the use of radio waves is restricted, or under water. Read range and scope can be modified by using optical devices, and people can visually see the communication range/scope since it uses visible light. Visible light tags are compatible with conventional radio frequency tags (RFID tags) at a protocol level.
According to Lnews, Visible Light tags:
1) are contactless IC tags that use visible light,
2) use visible light for downstream communication, thereby allows people to visually see communication areas
3) are upper compatible with ISO15693 and can replace part of existing RFID infrastructure.
4) not restricted by the Radio Law. no need to obtain license etc.
5) can be used at hospitals, underwater, and other places where radio communication doesn’t work
6) there’s no radio interference problem. visible light tag systems can be installed in an environment that are already crowded with RFID readers.
7) easier to prevent eavesdropping and “identity theft”
8) communication range and scope can be changed by using optical devices
9) can be customized
via lnews
Toppan Printing has developed a FeliCa sticker (called SMARTICS-sFe) that can be pasted on any appropriate physical objects including (non-wallet-phone) phones.
FeliCa is the RFID technology that are widely used in Japan, in particular, for payment and transportation applications. For example, SUICA, Wallet phones, and Edy use the FeliCa technology.
SMARTICS-sFe will likely be used at some schools, cram schools and companies — they will paste SMARTICS-sFe on their existing IP phones.
NCR Japan started shipping UHF Gen 2 tags on April 26. Japanese Radio Law was revised in January, making it easier to use UHF RFID tags in Japan. Yodobashi Camere, a big consumer electronics retailer, plans to introduce Gen 2 based RFID systems next month. So, NCR Japan intends to sell their Gen 2 tags to the suppliers of Yodobshi Camera, etc.
The Japanese electronics firm plans to market the interrogators, based on Impinj’s Speedway design, for use in Japan.
Three companies OKI, NYK Logistics Japan, and HILLS together developed passive RFID tags with integrated temperature sensors. Sensor RFID tags usually require batteries, therefore they are active RFID tags. The new sensor tags are passive, meaning they operate without batteries (using only the power supplied by reader devices). Application areas of these tags include transportation and management of precision instrument, drugs and food.
via nikkei tech-on!
[image from uid4u.com]
Personal Media Corp. has launched a new website called uid4u (www.uid4u.com) that describes various solutions and products using Ubiquitous ID Center’s ucode tags.
OMRON developed a new type of antenna technology that can electronically control the EM field emitted from an RFID reader.
While an electromagnetic wave from a conventional antenna propagates over a wide area as it travels in a given direction, OMRON’s new antenna technology allows a wave with directivity to propagate in any specific direction, with the direction of the propagation controllable from the reader. This makes it possible to direct the wave’s direction of propagation so as to avoid objects in the vicinity of the beam that may cause signal reflections. The result is reduced multipath interference, leading to significantly improved tag read performance of UHF RFID readers.
via JCN Network < RFIDblog.org
also: nikkei (thanks, regine!)
OMRON developed a new type of antenna technology that can electronically control the EM field emitted from an RFID reader.
While an electromagnetic wave from a conventional antenna propagates over a wide area as it travels in a given direction, OMRON’s new antenna technology allows a wave with directivity to propagate in any specific direction, with the direction of the propagation controllable from the reader. This makes it possible to direct the wave’s direction of propagation so as to avoid objects in the vicinity of the beam that may cause signal reflections. The result is reduced multipath interference, leading to significantly improved tag read performance of UHF RFID readers.
via JCN Network < RFIDblog.org
also: nikkei (thanks, regine!)
Speechio is an information appliance that reads a 2D barcode printed on a paper document and reads the document with a synthesized digital voice. It’s designed for people with visual impairments and the elderly.
The system uses a 2D barcode called SP Code that can encode a larger amount of information in a small space. So, a page of text information can be encoded and compressed in a small square at a corner of a document. When the document is printed, it’s easier for machines to read it – there’s no need for complex OCR processing.
Mitsui Sumitomo Bank recently announced that they will print SP Codes on some of their brochures for better accessibility.
via Nikkei BP
RFID in Japan 