RFID revenue to hit $5.6bn

Spending on RFID, including transponders, readers, software and services, will amount to $5.6 billion this year according to ABI Research, states IT Jungle.

It's been just a few months since ABI released its prediction that RFID would grow 15% annually to reach $10 billion by 2013, however, overall IT spending has dipped due to the poor economy.

"The recession has had an undeniable effect on deployment plans," says practice director Michael Liard, "But despite some project deferrals and terminations, there will be market growth, albeit fragmented."

Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in the US have created an RFID tracking system to keep a close watch on storage and transportation of nuclear materials, says Wired.

The tags. which have a battery life of 10 years, not only monitor the condition of the nuclear materials, they also track environmental and physical changes to the packages. The system sends real-time alerts during storage and transportation, says Yung Liu, a senior nuclear engineer and RFID project manager at Argonne.

"The Argonne system can simultaneously monitor thousands of drums in real-time," says Liu. "If there's any abnormal situation like a sudden shock, it triggers an alarm and sends real-time alerts that can be immediately investigated."

SkyeTek, a global provider of RFID reader and software technology, has released the SR70 Desktop USB reader/writer, reports MarketWatch.

The SR70 incorporates SkyeTek's M7 reader technology and SkyeReader Console software to deliver a combination of reliable performance and plug-and-play usability.

The SR70 is the first in a line of finished RFID readers offered by SkyeTek that will cover applications on the desktop as well as those for standard-size doorways and smart-cabinets.