Gary Johnson

TAMPERE, Finland—UPM Raflatac and Blue Spark Technologies have announced a recently formed partnership specifically targeting the development and launch of new and innovative products and applications in the emerging battery-assisted passive (BAP) RFID market.

Even where a thinner battery is needed and footprint is not a constraint, the choice is usually coin cells not the laminar batteries made by an increasing number of businesses. Because their products can cost ten times as much as coin cells, the laminar batteries are usually having success only where the need for thinness and flexibility is extreme. [...] several smart skin patches are about to be announced that incorporate printed batteries and such things as electronic swing tags for apparel retailing are near to significant orders thanks to the tremendous payback from adjusting prices remotely. [...] they should take high volume orders even at a loss so they can get economy of scale and get down the experience curve. [...] they must be standardised.