Microsoft Tags Mobile RFID

by Cassimir Medford on 17 April 2008, 13:34

Categories: Security - Media - Communications
Topics: microsoft , rfid , ThingMagic , Cassimir Medford , BizTalk RFID Mobile , Yael Maguire , InnerWireless , Allan Krans

 
Software giant Microsoft on Thursday unveiled its plans for a technology that moves data to and from handheld radio frequency identification devices and helps develop applications that make use of that data.

The announcement of Microsoft's increased involvement in the market could be good news for RFID, a technology that has been plagued by high component and setup costs and low adoption rates among smaller businesses.

Microsoft BizTalk RFID Mobile is an extension of the company's eight-year-old BizTalk Server which acts as a kind of aggregation and management point for corporate data stored in various devices and applications. BizTalk Server already includes support for fixed RFID devices.

BizTalk RFID Mobile, which is expected to debut later this year, collects and distributes data to and from mobile RFID devices and allows companies to store, update, and share that data with the appropriate departments.

"For RFID to be widely adopted it has to be integrated into the general business operation, instead of being a separate piece requiring separate management," said Allan Krans, an analyst with Technology Business Research.

RFID has evolved as a fairly self-contained technology used in activities such as asset tracking, automated toll booths, supply chain management, and shipment tracking.

"Microsoft's product helps to integrate the use and management of RFID into the rest of the business operation particularly among SMBs where Microsoft is strong," Mr. Krans said.

RFID has been championed by very large entities such as Wal-Mart, and the Department of Defense, and has been heavily marketed by firms focused on large businesses such as IBM. But the cost of RFID hardware along with the various setup and upheaval costs has kept it out of the reach of many SMBs.

But integrating mobile RFID into Windows Mobile and Windows CE devices could expand the reach of RFID into the SMB sphere.

"If you are going to offer an RFID solution, you need to offer a wide variety of form factors to accommodate all kinds of devices and for Microsoft to offer an application that spans fixed and mobile devices is important," said Yael Maguire, CTO of ThingMagic, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm which designs and markets fixed and embedded RFID readers and antennas.

"Microsoft is going beyond supply chain and thinking about applications that involve mobile devices," he said.

On Thursday ThingMagic made a technology integration announcement with InnerWireless, a Richardson, Texas-based wireless location services specialist. The two companies are integrating RFID, WiFi, and other real-time location technologies into a single system for asset tracking, document management, and location awareness.