I found this article interesting because, I hate the bi-annual
inventory. As workstations get repurposed and routers go to EOL, devices get
loaned
out without transferring/changing the custodian. I have told
myself on a few occasions that I only need this equipment for a week or two and
I will return it. Then the original custodian forgets and I forget. Then
the equipment is DRMO’d without telling the original custodian.
Also, even if you change custodians there is no guarantee that
the change will make it to the group that does the inventory.
So I am hoping one day that instead of bar code labels to
manage assets in our unclassified spaces
that we will use RFID tags. While researching RFID
tags for that purpose, I came across the article below.
PS: I apologize in advance if this topic already has been
discussed.
< Fantasy Alert >
As
a pilot it would be interesting if an agency/dept in the federal space could
distribute MetroCheck disbursements
to
a future iPhone or current phone with contactless RFID.
</Fantasy Alert>
Anyway here is the article that I hope you find it
interesting.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/05/report_apple_testing_rfid_swipe_support_in_iphone_prototypes.html
A
site focused on Near Field Communications has reported that Apple has built new
iPhone prototypes with hardware support for sensing RFID chips.
RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) is a technology that allows a device to
sense embedded chips in nearby objects without making direct contact or without
using visible light like a barcode reader. Apple has already filed
patents related to a mobile "ID App" capable of using an RFID
sensor, a way to use RFID to sense
and connect to available WiFi networks, and a touchscreen
RFID tag reader.
New RFID support in future iPhones could enable a variety of
"touchless" technologies, ranging from swipe payments (where users
could pay for items at a checkout, vending machine, or toll booth by swiping
their phone near a payment pad), to swipe sensing of information kiosks,
objects, or even animals.
Very little data needs to be transmitted between the RFID chip and the device
to do useful things; a payment would only need to present the user's account
number. A kiosk could simply transmit a URL to allow users to swipe their phone
to open up a web page about the local area, with transit information and maps
or details on items in a museum display.
The cost of RFID chips is now down to just a few cents each in quantity, making
it possible to apply them to a wide variety of uses. Shipping companies and
retailers already use RFIDs to track packages much like barcodes; libraries use
them to track books, farmers use them to identify animals in herds, and the
army, theme parks and schools attach RFIDs to people.
RDIF in mobile
applications
In Japan, QR Code barcodes have long been a
popular way to obtain information about an object using a cellphone with a
barcode reader or camera that can read them. Mobile phones and credit cards
with RFID swipe features (like Sony's FeliCA)
have also been in use for years in Asia and Europe, and are just recently
entering the US.
Apple could leverage its micropayment system in iTunes, which already has a
hundred million users' accounts with credit cards in 23 countries, to set up a
payment system tied into the iPhone and iPod touch. However, simply offering a
way to read RFID tags would open up the device to a variety of industrial
applications where swipe sensing could be used to track inventory and discover
items in the area.
Adding support for an RFID reader is apparently easy and cost effective, and
can be built right into the screen according to a recent Apple patent, which
stated:
"The efficient incorporation of RFID circuitry within touch sensor panel
circuitry is disclosed. The RFID antenna can be placed in the touch sensor
panel, such that the touch sensor panel can now additionally function as an
RFID transponder. No separate space-consuming RFID antenna is necessary. Loops
(single or multiple) forming the loop antenna of the RFID circuit (for either
reader or tag applications) can be formed from metal on the same layer as metal
traces formed in the borders of a substrate. Forming loops from metal on the
same layer as the metal traces are advantageous in that the loops can be formed
during the same processing step as the metal traces, without requiring a
separate metal layer."
iPhone 3.0 already supports local discovery and networking setup via Bluetooth
on all iPhone models, but Bluetooth devices are too expensive to embed in lots
of devices that could use cheap RFID chips.