HK airport to deploy RFID

Motorola has won a three-year contract to supply Hong Kong International Airport with up to 70 million RFID-enabled IATA standard 21-inch RFID baggage tracking tags, reports Computerworld.

Specific to this baggage tag award, Motorola has teamed with Avery Dennison RFID for the AD-833 inlay and Print-O-Tape for the baggage tag.

Unlike bar code-only tags, which require the scanner to be in the line of sight to read the tag, the EPC Gen2-enabled RFID bag tags can be read at long distances and without direct contact.

Thailand's National Telecommunications Commission has funded a 3.8 million Thai bhat (R927 000) pilot project for an RFID-enabled system for a convenience store chain, says RFID News.

The investment went to the King Mongkut Institute at Lat Krabang University to develop software and systems for the Sun108 company's internal logistics network.

RFID tags and readers were installed throughout Sun108's warehouses to provide tracking of products loaded into the crates.

The European Commission has set a code of conduct for companies using RFID tags that it hopes will safeguard citizens' privacy and allow the quick roll-out of the new technology, states PC World.

Around 2.2 billion RFID tags were sold worldwide last year, a third of them in Europe, and were installed in a wide range of products including shipping containers and smart cards used in highway toll booths.

The commission expects the use of RFID tags to grow to five times the current level over the next decade, as tags are added to common consumer items such as bus passes, refrigerators and even clothes.