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
<http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/09/apple_filings_detail_id_app_other_potential_iphone_enhancements.html>
related to a mobile "ID App" capable of using an RFID sensor, a way to
use RFID to sense and connect
<http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/03/08/apple_may_turn_to_rfid_tags_for_easy_wi_fi_setup.html>
to available WiFi networks, and a touchscreen RFID tag reader
<http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20090167699&OS=20090167699&RS=20090167699>.
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
<http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/08/11/iphone_3g_rocks_japanese_smartphone_market.html>)
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.