Demo08 profiled a new Alcatel/Lucent supported start-up tikitag. The company sells kits much like the people at Phidgets which connect RFID tags to your computer via a USB connection. Tikitag’s take on this is to enable developers to build new social RFID services. It also is place for people with ideas to connect with developers. Check the video of their founder giving his demo pitch.

Apple is creating the future again with its partnership with Starbucks. What’s great is how the two can so easily support each other given the way they are organized. The basic problem they are solving is “How can you optimize drinks reaching people within a confined space (store/venue/booth)?”.

Apple can reach people with iPhones or iPodTouches via their infrastructure. They have the software (iTunes), the hardware (iPhones) and payment system (iTunes) and now partnership with a physical location and service provider(Starbucks).

Of course being one of the dudes behind the roomware project and although loving Apple for making great stuff, their remains that niggling question of whether this whole infrastructure could be more open? Could you do the same using Roomware Project code? Well perhaps. Certainly you need the right service providing partner who is willing to experiment. .

How this could happen? You need to be able to: receive the menu, need a mobile device that is the interface for making choices and send/receiving data, it would be nice if you could do payments automatically as money transactions are a big time hole, although not mandatory. You then need a partner willing to try this out. This is just a sketch, but it sure would be nice to get into a faster lane like we see in Starbucks (if you have an iPhone) or as happens when traveling and having a pre-printed boarding pass, stepping straight through customs.

So what do you think? Is this kind of problem something easily solved using our open source software (or that of other OS software providers) or are the hurdles just too high?

So say researchers and developers who are finding ways to make the tiny devices much more than just a hi-tech price tag that can help shops and supermarkets track cans of beans from warehouse to store shelf.

“It all started with simple radio tags and asset tracking,” said Gerd Kortuem, “but that really only gives you an identifier for an object.”

Now, said Dr Kortuem, tiny Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags are getting smarter and more communicative as bigger memory, basic processing power and wireless technologies are added to them.

“We are trying to embed a little more intelligence beyond location by adding sensors and by networking these objects together,” he said.

Safe and sound

Dr Kortuem and colleagues are working on a project that combines smart tags and personal identifiers to keep an eye on people working on construction sites using heavy machine tools.

“It’s to keep track of how long they are used, to figure out vibrations generated by these tools,” he said. “It’s for health and safety. We create personalised health and safety records for every worker.” read complete article over on the bbc News site here

This video is more to roll through use cases inside the digital home. Unfortunately it’s a little bit boring. The family is boring and the muzak and quality of production don’t help. Still it’s worth looking through to see the kind of issues and problems that might arise. It’s an older Philips project.

via IFTF

What is it?
It’s a combination of GPS with RFID with glued together within a wireless network service.

” These applications enable K – 12 institutions to track school bus locations, monitor their speed and condition while on the road and report on events within vehicles. The service enables school districts to improve student safety and to save money by routing their school buses as efficiently as possible — cutting down on fuel, maintenance and labor expenses.

MRM relays vehicle location, speed and other data across the AT&T wireless data network and sends it to a secure Web site portal. Both RFID and MRM data are available to designated educators and administrators who have access to a Web browser.

The integration of RFID and MRM applications is especially beneficial when trying to ensure the safety of students when they’re on their way to and from school. Deploying RFID readers in addition to tracking devices on school buses enables educators to determine when students get on or off, as well as the location of buses when they’re en route.

The company’s RFID application works seamlessly with any 802.11 standards-based wireless local area network (LAN) infrastructure and offers precise, on-demand tracking. Wi-Fi-based RFID tags, placed on ID badges that can be secured to equipment, bracelets, shirt pockets or book bags, send a wireless signal to locate, monitor and report on assets, students and educators. Additional AT&T RFID benefits include:

— Asset tracking. Minimize theft of high-value equipment and assets,
including computers, projectors, laptop carts and lab equipment. Also,
because many of these assets are mobile, locating them can be difficult
in a large school building. Active RFID allows the teachers and staff
to easily locate these assets, saving time and optimizing inventory.
— Daily attendance tracking. Automate the tracking of average daily
attendance, as well as notify administrators when students are not in
school by importing information in the student-information databases.
— School-visitor tracking. Monitor the location of visitors and even
alert school administrators when visitors enter unauthorized areas.
— Disaster response. Provide the location of school staff in the event of
a man-made or natural emergency or disaster situation.

“In today’s world of K – 12 education, enhanced visibility regarding the location of students, teachers and valuable assets is crucial,” said Bill Hughes, principal analyst for wireless research group, In-Stat. “By introducing mobile technology, such as RFID and MRM, school districts can save time, eliminate unnecessary costs, reduce theft and unnecessary inventory and, most important, enhance student and teacher safety.”

In fact, according to In-Stat, the U.S. market for RFID and GPS-based services is about $650 million annually, with projections to grow by 24 percent annually to $1.5 billion by 2010.

AT&T’s expertise includes designing, deploying and managing the solutions. These solutions vary from mobile devices and applications to AT&T’s Internet Protocol (IP)-based network and Internet data centers to education-facility infrastructure, such as RFID readers, tags and data-collection servers, LANs, wireless LANs, firewalls and routers.

“Our RFID and MRM services help K – 12 institutions rapidly deploy end-to-end solutions without significant capital investment,” said Ann Rotatori, vice president of Business Marketing for AT&T. “For the first time, school districts can now turn to a network services provider for all of their RFID and MRM needs, and that enables them to save money, make the most of their assets and resources and enhance student safety.”

These solutions are a continuation of AT&T’s strategy to deliver a range of RFID and sensor-based network solutions, and it’s another example of how the company is delivering converged, IP-based applications and services that enable users to access content, applications and information virtually anytime, anywhere and by using any device.”

via Ministry of Tech

“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

“Ah yes, phones have become so much more than just a bar of plastic that you talk into. NTT-Neomeit announced an inexpensive service that lets you control home devices with cellphones. The service is called “U-Consento” and it’s scheduled for availability this September (in Japan at least). They plan to rent out the home remote control system starting at around 500 yen ($4 USD) a month.
According to Pink Tentacle, the “service is designed to be compatible with a wide range of existing home appliances, so users do not need to purchase new devices or perform extensive home rewiring.” Imagine being able to adjust temperature, control audio and television, while monitoring the status of each.”

thanks (again!) to Ministry of Tech