IDTechEx

The world’s only major conference on Active RFID and RTLS takes place in Dallas in December. The organizers, the analysts IDTechEx, have announced a new addition to the lineup of leading suppliers and users of RTLS that will be presenting at the conference and exhibition. It is the new supplier Q Track, with its unusual low frequency system that is very tolerant of water and metal. Douglas Hogg, CEO of RFTRAQ, says, “This is the first conference RFTRAQ has chosen to attend—ever—and we look forward to revealing some exciting developments along with our co-exhibitors.” This addition completes the set, with all the other types

By Raghu Das, CEO IDTechEx In 2007, IDTechEx expects that 1.71 billion tags will be sold. The total RFID market value (including all hardware, systems, integration) across all countries will be $4.96 billion. By far the biggest segment of this is RFID cards. For those not involved in that sector, the 2007 market value for non-card RFID (RFID labels, fobs, tickets) will be $1.97 billion. Excluding cards, 58.4 percent of the market in 2007 will be in the U.S. and 33 percent in Europe. The market will rise to $27.88 billion in 2017. This includes many new markets that are being created, such as

RFID is everywhere! Or so it seems. packagePRINTING has covered the topic several times this year. In addition, a second RFID Guide was just published by packagePRINTING for TLMI. It covers a range of applicable topics from standards and market entry approaches to converter experiences. The reason why RFID is such a hot topic is that RFID is not really everywhere—yet. But it will be. Everyone knows about the famous “requests” by Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense for pallet- and case-level RFID tagging that kicked off this craze. Much of the discussion today focuses on the next level of implementation—item-level RFID tagging. IDTechEx, an

Sensor systems used to be an esoteric subject concerned with such things as life support systems in hospitals. However, the prospect of ubiquitous sensors is becoming a reality, saving lives, improving the quality of life of the disoriented elderly, coping with natural disasters, and much else besides. Now there is even a merging of RFID and sensing, with location of items using RFID triangulation and more sophisticated techniques, and some RFID technologies where sensing is a property of the chip rather than an add-on. For instance, Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) tags can inherently sense temperature and strain but are used for RFID as well.

We unknowingly ingest more stuff than we would ever like to imagine. Between the microscopic bugs, bacteria, and viruses that find their way into the food we eat, we are walking hosts to a menagerie of living things—some of which can make us sick or even can be fatal. The good news is that there are layers of protection built into food production designed to keep what we eat safe from pathogens that cause food-borne illnesses. A growing part of this safety system is smart packaging. Smart packaging 101 There are several kinds of smart packaging that serve the food industry and protect consumers.