SYSTEM UPDATE
A Guide to Today's Middleware
The software platform between your RFID hardware and business applications could determine the success of your deployment.
COVER STORY
RFID's Silk Road
Because of its growing importance as a manufacturing center, Asia will play a pivotal role in the global adoption of RFID technologies.
LAB TEST REPORT
Choosing an EPC Gen 2 Interrogator
There are important differences between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 protocols. The RFID Alliance Lab found that there also are significant differences among the four commercially available EPC Gen 2 certified interrogators it tested.
VERTICAL FOCUS
RFID Is In Fashion
Apparel and footwear retailers are finding that tagging goods—that is, individual garments and shoes—is well worth the investment.

Columns

Inside the Labs
Achieving Perfect Readability
By developing new chip and antenna technologies, we can improve the read rate of item-level tags.
Ashton’s View
Do We Need Digital Turtles?
The RFID industry is losing its memory about the reasons tags should carry only IDs.

Departments

Editor’s Note
All About Asia
Out in Front
RFID Earrings for Polar Bears
Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey worked with RFID technology providers to develop tags that could withstand the harsh Arctic climate.
Out in Front
RFID Could Help Crop Yields
Cotton growers can lose 200 to 300 pounds of cotton per acre if the plants get too much or too little water. Worse, the damage can be done to the plants before they show any outward signs of being distressed.
Perspective
The End of HF for Items?
Wal-Mart has come out in favor of using UHF RFID tags instead of HF to track unique items, but it's not clear whether other end users will go along.
Perspective
RFID Goes to School
Over the past 18 months, many universities have jumped on the RFID bandwagon and opened RFID labs.
Product Developments
Interrogators Start to Evolve
Vendors are responding to end users' needs by introducing interrogators designed for specific tasks and locations.
Product Developments
RFID Meets Wi-Fi
Active RFID systems are ideal for tracking large assets over long distances.