New RFID Spec Promising 600 Reads Per Minute

As EPCglobal is still finalizing its High Frequency Gen2 tag protocol standard, a source working with the group said they are seeing speeds of 600 reads per minute, compared with 100 reads per minute for todays HF tags and about 250 reads per minute for todays UHF (Ultra High Frequency) tags.

"Thats huge," said Drew Nathanson, an RFID analyst for Venture Development.

Nathanson is finishing up a report on RFID activity within the transactional kiosk space and was surprised at the popularity of smartcard-reading kiosks that no longer support magstripes.

How many of these transactional kiosks does he see turning their back on their old friend, the regular credit card? Quite a few. In 2005, about 4.5 percent of such kiosks shipped with no magstripe support across the world, a figure that jumped to 11 percent last year and then to almost 16 percent this year, he said.

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To read more about why RFID and EPCglobal have faced public policy challenges, click here.

In the United States—where banks have been much slower to embrace smart cards—the numbers are smaller, but they still show an extremely steep increase, from 0.5 percent shipping in 2005 without magstripe support to 1.5 percent last year and 4 percent this year.

Retail Center Editor Evan Schuman can be reached at Evan.Schuman@ziffdavisenterprise.com.

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