USA today just posted an interesting article on hotel door security upgrades taking place. Out with the recent, in with the new it would seem.

“Changing technology has hotels looking beyond the traditional plastic key card as a way to unlock guest-room doors.

The Plaza Hotel in New York, now closed for renovation, will open later this year with radio-frequency cards that unlock the door when swiped past the lock at close range. Paper cards, cellphones, fingerprints and iris scans are popping up as alternative unlocking devices.

The plastic cards that decades ago replaced brass keys still dominate. But the alternative devices could gather momentum as lock suppliers show they can deliver better security, lower costs, greater environmental friendliness or a combination.

The standard plastic key card has a magnetic strip encoded at the front desk to unlock a guest-room door. They cost about 10 cents to make and are designed to be used 20 or more nights.

But guests often carry them away or toss them out after one or two nights of stay, says Brian McGuinness, an executive at Starwood Hotels, which has plans to install locks using radio-frequency technology at some of its hotels.

Among the new options:

•Paper card. Charlotte-based Cadmus makes paper keycards used at several independent hotels. Similar to parking stubs, they contain a magnetic strip on the back and can work in the existing locks that take plastic keys.

Paper cards are more environmentally friendly, without being more costly for hotels, says Ray Berger, CEO of Pineapple Hospitality, which markets Cadmus’ keys.

But Mark Goldberg, CEO of Plasticard Locktech International, one of the largest plastic key card manufacturers, says most hotels average about 10 nights per card — not one or two — and that plastic remains the overwhelming favorite among hoteliers because it’s more durable. “We’ve been here 20 years, and we’re confident we’re going to do (plastic) key cards for a long time,” he says.

•Radio-frequency identification (RFID): The Plaza is one of many hotels using or considering RFID, which unlocks doors by verifying information — room number and duration of stay — stored on a chip in the key card.

Aloft and Element, Starwood Hotels’ (HOT) new chains that plan to open their first properties this year, will be built with locks that will initially use traditional key cards but can be converted later to read RFID cards.

The RFID card, which is more expensive to make than the plastic key card, affords greater security because it’s harder to duplicate than a conventional key card, says Marc Freundlich, an executive at Assa Abloy, a hotel lock manufacturer. Based in Sweden, Assa Abloy makes the locks that will be used at the Plaza and the Aloft and Element chains.

Using a cellphone instead of a key

Assa Abloy is working with Accor, operator of Sofitel, Red Roof Inns and other brands, to take the RFID experiment a step further.

The French hotel company recently began testing in two rooms — one each at Hotel Sofitel Le Faubourg and Pullman Paris Bercy (formerly Sofitel Bercy), both in Paris — a new lock that allows guests with advanced models of cellphones or PDAs to flash their device to open the door.

It’s likely to be years before RFID in hotel locks becomes common. Freundlich says he says he knows of no U.S. hotel now using it, though some foreign hotels have already installed it.

•Iris-scan. In 2004, Nine Zero Hotel in Boston, part of the Kimpton chain, installed iris-scan technology in its penthouse suite. When guests check in at the lobby, a hotel employee takes a photo of their iris. Guests open the doors by flashing their iris once again while standing in front of the lock’s iris image reader.

South Korea-based LG, which developed the technology, says the image taken in the lobby involves an auto-focus camera similar to a home camcorder operated in normal indoor lighting.

•Fingerprint. Locks that use fingerprints as the keys have started to emerge. The SoHo Loft, a seven-room hotel in New York, is one of the first customers and has installed it in five of its rooms, owner David Drake says.

Its guests are escorted to their rooms, where their prints are scanned on the lock. Guests can open the doors by pressing their index fingers on the locks and keying in a numerical code issued at check-in. The code is issued as an extra layer of security, Drake says.

For protection of a guest’s privacy, the hotel throws out the scanned fingerprints every few days.

Repeat customers may request that the hotel keep them on file so that they don’t have to repeat the scanning process, Drake says. “I love it because I never have to worry about the keys,” he says.

Todd Morris, CEO of BrickHouse Security, a New York company that installed the hotel’s locks, acknowledges that many customers are concerned about their privacy and are reluctant to render their fingerprints. “The technology is there. The only pushback is that customers are a bit hesitant,” he says.

via USA today

Our goal was to nicely integrate the mobile phone into the user’s “desktop experience” and utilize the current coexistence of PC and mobile phone. Desktop widgets give a nice opportunity to show you relevant information in a polite way while you are using your PC and allow you to use the good UI capabilities of the PC (bigger keyboard and screen) for mobile related features.  

 

We have reported on individual pieces making this before. What’s positive news is that an open standard is being developed for use of mobile phones as integrated controller inside a number of wide use areas, like home automation and medical applications.

“The mobile phone has changed the way people communicate, but a consortium of Japanese researchers and companies are banking on the device to do much more.

The P2P Universal Computing Consortium (PUCC) has developed a set of networking standards that allow mobiles to remotely control domestic appliances from afar.

At CES the consortium showed off an iPhone application that allowed a user to control a flat in Tokyo.

The user could switch lights on and off, control the air conditioning and even turn the washing machine on.

The technology is already available in Japan where users of the NTT DoCoMo network can keep an eye on their home from afar.

The consortium has also shown off healthcare applications including a wireless nappy for use by bedridden patients and a heart monitor that allows a doctor to monitor a patient from afar.

Later this year the group will release software that will allow anybody to build applications using the standards. ”

via BBC

Last night arrived pretty suddenly! We had little under a week to have all things ready for a meeting of tech platforms. Hyves (the largest social network in the netherlands) gave us access to their API. We used it to present photostreams of their users detected within the radius of our bluetooth scanners. It’s a kind of location-based service, where, with your consent, your presence triggers your lifestream via photos to be remixed with those of others in proximity to you.

The reaction of the audience was noticably more positive than previous daytime or nighttime outtings. This time the audience was engaged and they were hungry for…well…….themselves! I wander what the VJs thought as the random selection of photos was hilarious.

Kudos definately go to roomware team members for pulling this off. Also great to test Tom’s completely rewritten code.

Thanks for the photo Boris. Here’s also a screenshot:

Following dinner with a new friend working with the open-eyed people at Trendwatching, persuing their site today i came across this RFID-dy/mobile-phone story and had to share it. It’s a funny proof of concept, which somehow befits a fast-food restaurant…(don’t imagine this in a gourmet setting except as a skillfully introduced piece of stagecrafted experience design).

“Working with SK Telecom, McDonald’s in Korea is testing food ordering by RFID (radio-frequency identification). A pilot program in Seoul’s Shinchon neighbourhood lets customers place an order by pointing their cell phone at the items they want. Actually, it’s not quite that simple—they first need to download software to their phone and then, seated at their McDonald’s table, plug an RFID reader into the phone and aim their handset at a menu with built-in RFID chips. Items are automatically charged to their cell phone bill. As soon an order is ready, a message is sent to the customer’s cell phone, letting them know that they can pick up their tray at the counter.

According to SK Telecom, McDonald’s “Touch Order” system is the first in the world that lets customers use RFID to place orders at a restaurant. Like GoMobo, the company that enables members to order food by text message at a growing number of US restaurants, Touch Order allows customers to avoid queues, making the buying process faster and more convenient for both the restaurant and its patrons. One to watch if you’re in mobile commerce or the fast food business! (Related: Food ordering by text message.)

Website: www.mcdonalds.co.kr

Being notified when you food is ready was something i also experienced in the US, earlier this year too. Some sandwich joint gave me a blocky wireless receiver which beeped when my sandwich was ready. Was pretty unexpected, and if only the sandwich were as good as the idea of signaling when the food was ready…..

via springwise

TerraNet, a startup from the university town of Lund, has developed the technology that allows people to communicate over a distance of 20km without mobile phone base stations.”

Peer-to-peer mobile trial in Africa – vnunet.com

“A property developer in Taiwan announced last week that residents of an apartment complex in Taipei County will be the first in the world to open their doors using a mobile phone. This is made possible using near field communication, by placing their phones in front of a sensor, opening their door. Each apartment is sold with 2 phones. Family members without a device can still open the door with using a finger-print recognition interface unit.”

What’s odd about this story is that you get a phone with the apartment. I understand the need for security(hence them giving you a “special phone”, i just wander which other services your new phone/key will run concurrently? Will you be able to voice with them?, Will you be signed up with a carrier? Of course, you already have a phone. Now you need to remember to take your door key..whoops…i mean extra phone too. I would suggest ditching the extra handset and using your finger-activated door key instead. It’s far faster than searching for your phone in a bag or taking it out of your pocket. This seems to be a very strange use-case for some wireless technology. What do Taiwanese know that we don’t or is this just plain crack-smoking design?

Taipei Times article

The picture seems to only be showing a demonstration of the technology rather than a real door, unless you are a mouse, or a bag of chips.

[Update - i found the original post, which explains more about the expected use of the mobile, it can be used for local services: parking, travel, building announcements. Apparently the property developer was involved in constructing Bill Gates mansion over in Seattle]

“Look out for BugLabs, a stealthy startup with an audacious aim: to do for consumer electronics what open source, “web 2.0″, XML, APIs and the rest did for the web. In essence, a sudden outpouring of innovation once everyone has the tools to create; I guess you could call it open source gadgets. From the site:

Bug Labs is developing BUG, an open, modular, consumer electronics web services + hardware platform. Designed for the general audience, not just the technically inclined, BUG is intended to bring to the world of hardware gadgets what the Internet, open source, XML and web services have brought to the world of software and media.

BugLabs is backed by New York-based Union Square Ventures, which funded del.icio.us, Feedburner, Tacoda and recently Twitter.

It’ll combine software and hardware, although exact details on the device they’re building aren’t available – Dave Winer spoke to the CEO and gives some thoughts. Hardware plays always seem riskier due to the real-world costs involved, but with new devices like the iPhone being more closed and proprietary than ever, its a movement that could gain steam, whether or not this product does.”

via Mashable

“A system called “Town Pocket” will be deployed at 153 shops including 109 apparel stores, 14 cafes and restaurants, 10 hair salons, 13 accessory shops, and 7 shoes/sports shops. All these shops will install an RFID reader device (photo) to which customers show their wallet phones in order to “bookmark” stores. People who don’t have wallet phones can also use QR codes (for camera phone users) or a special email address (if you send an empty email message to this address, you can bookmark the store).”

via RFID in Japan