Dec. 6, 2010—
RFID Journal announced today that—in collaboration with passive ultrahigh-
frequency (
UHF) RFID technology provider
Motorola Solutions, as well as several other vendors—it is now offering RFID starter kits. These out-of-the-box solutions are designed to enable end users to test passive UHF RFID systems based on the
EPC Gen 2 standard for tracking retail goods, IT assets, returnable transport containers and many other items.
Each
starter kit includes a quantity of passive UHF RFID tags, a Motorola handheld RFID
reader and a packaged software solution designed for general asset-tracking or specific applications, such as tracking IT assets. The solutions are aimed at companies seeking a simple, easy-to-deploy tracking solution, or those that want to test passive UHF RFID systems within their own facilities before investing in a more robust solution.
"Lately, I have been frequently asked if there are packaged solutions available that would allow end users to test RFID systems in their own environment," says Mark Roberti,
RFID Journal's founder and editor. "Our goal is not to become a seller of RFID systems, but rather to help end users test out the technology, and encourage the development of a healthy reseller channel to support the industry."
The RFID starter kits currently being offered are:
•
Retail Item-Level Starter Kit, from
Cybra
•
RFID Asset-Tracking Starter Kit, from
American Barcode and RFID
•
RFID Item-Level Mobile Asset and Inventory Starter Kit, from
Xterprise
•
IT Asset-Tracking Starter Kit, from
Fluensee
•
RFID Inventory- and Asset-Tracking Starter Kit, from
DataSpan and
EnaSys
•
RFID Asset-Tracking Starter Kit, from
epcSolutions
"We believe that now is the time to begin offering these kinds of out-of-the box starter kits," says John Rommel, Motorola Solutions' senior manager of RFID channel development. "The market has matured to the point at which end users want to experiment with
radio frequency identification in their own environment, and this gives them a chance to see what the technology can do."
More information about each kit can be found at the
RFID Starter Kits Web page on
RFID Journal's Web site.