Korea details RFID plan

Korea plans to introduce hi-tech identification tags on steel, electronic and pharmaceutical products as part of its plans to improve inventory control, reports JoongAng Daily.

The $4.5 million government project will roll out radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and sensor network systems in eight companies including LG Electronics.

LG Electronics says 860 000 tags will be used within the year on its flat-panel displays, while another 5.9 million may be used next year on PC monitors.

Visa has rolled out a contactless payment system that uses RFID technology to turn the Apple iPhone into a credit card, states Wired.

Called In2Pay, the payment method uses a modified microSD card with a near field communications (NFC) chip inside.

In2Pay requires a compatible card reader; however, there are only 100 000 merchants in the US so far, that have compatible NFC payment readers.

Cubic, a company which makes electronics used in defence systems, has bought Impeva Labs for an undisclosed amount, says Bloomberg Businessweek.

Impeva Labs is a global asset manager that provides RFID tracking technology and the move is expected to boost Cubic's Cubic position in the US defence, maritime and homeland security sectors.

"We intend to leverage the next-generation technology developed by Impeva to become the market leader in global tracking for the Department of Defence, homeland security and commercial markets," says John Thomas, Cubic vice-president of finance and corporate development.