Tag Archives: ubiquitous computing

News: Scary Future At Singapore Expo

 Here’s an example of RFID — the intelligent radio tag technology — used without people’s permission to do something a tad scary. The Singapore Straits Times reports (no link available as yet) today that a local start up, Tunity Technologies, installed a tracking system using RFID that would pinpoint every delegate’s physical position at the… Read More »

News: A Positive Spin For RFID

 In case you haven’t had enough of RFID tags — tiny devices to track everything from car tires to clothing — here’s a long, positive piece from CNET. RFID, they say, “is changing how retail businesses work and could generate billions of dollars in revenue for software makers.”   RFID tags could also create “huge… Read More »

Update: Gillette Said To Abandon Tag Trials

 From the This Sounds Like A Good Thing, Or Are We Being Luddites? Dept comes news that privacy protests against the trial of RFID tags by Gillette at a Tesco store in Cambridge have prodded Gillette to abandon their trial, according to Indynews. RFID (Radio Frequency ID) tags are small tags containing a microchip which… Read More »

News: RFID Tags Could Save Us From Terror

 Further to my column a few weeks back about RFID, the little tags on merchandise that can tell retailers and others an awful lot of information about you, here’s a story from WIRED about how food companies are trying to get the technology declared ‘antiterrorist’.     “Facing increasing resistance and concerns about privacy,” WIRED’s… Read More »

Column addon: RFID

  Further to my column in today’s FEER (subscription required) about the possibilities and pitfalls of Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, here’s the full text of answers from Alan Melling, Symbol Technology’s Senior Director, of EPC Solutions.   What are the real benefits of this technology?    Without a doubt, the ability to achieve 100 percent real-time… Read More »