Drones relay RFID signals for inventory control — MIT — “MIT researchers have now developed a system that enables small, safe, aerial drones to read RFID tags from tens of meters away while identifying the tags’ locations with an average error of about 19 centimeters. The researchers envision that the system could be used in large warehouses for both continuous monitoring, to prevent inventory mismatches, and location of individual items, so that employees can rapidly and reliably meet customer requests.”
Supply chain
Dutch bank in logistics blockchain project
Dutch bank ABN Amro is working with Delft University of Technology and 14 other partners to launch a two-year project to apply blockchain technology to the logistics sector... More
NFC and blockchain combined to create supply chain security solution
Pharmaceuticals, fine art and forensic evidence could be secured along their supply chains by a new identity and authentication prototype, incorporating NFC chips and blockchain registration and verification, unveiled by US blockchain and internet of things firm Chronicled... More
Fashion brand adds NFC and blockchain for authentic personal clothing
Fashion brand Babyghost has partnered with Chinese blockchain-as-a-service company BitSE and its VeChain project to deliver a range of clothes incorporating NFC tags and verified using blockchain technology... More
FlexStr8 brings NFC tracking to hazardous chemicals
Smart label systems provider FlexStr8 has unveiled an NFC solution for the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) system that would allow users to print labels and give chemical handlers, emergency first responders and consumers access to important hazardous information by tapping their NFC devices against products... More
Ferngrove Wines to trial NFC smart bottles in China
Australia’s Ferngrove Wines is to equip smart wine bottles in China with NFC tags to help authenticate individual bottles throughout the supply chain, ensuring they are packaged, shipped, stocked and purchased in their original factory-sealed state... More
Stora Enso and NXP to make intelligent packaging with NFC
PARTNER NEWS: Renewable packaging solutions provider Stora Enso is to begin integrating RFID technology supplied by NXP Semiconductors into its packaging... More
German carriers and retailers promote NFC mobile payments in Berlin
The largest NFC mobile payment initiative in Germany to date has launched in the capital Berlin, as the country’s three mobile network operators, Vodafone Germany, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica, team up with six major retail groups to update more than 2,000 point-of-sale terminals to support NFC payments in nearly 500 stores... More
White paper explains NFC-enabled sensors and their uses
A new paper that explains how NFC-enabled sensors can be used to deliver service improvements in “hundreds of applications in many market sectors” is now available to download from the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre... More
Dauntless sets out to track world’s food supply with NFC
A US startup is seeking funds for a service that tracks produce all the way from farm to supermarket shelf, ultimately letting consumers tap a tag on a bag of coffee to see the farm on which it was grown and trace its journey... More
Thinfilm to offer NFC temperature sensors for product packaging
Printed electronics specialist Thinfilm is to introduce low cost NFC time and temperature sensors that can be incorporated into the packaging of food products and other perishable items, to enable consumers, distributors and merchants to use an NFC phone to check that a product has been kept at the required temperature all the way through the supply chain... More